Newswire : Let's get out of here

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December 07. 2008 at 10:13Let's get out of here

"It's cold now, very cold - sea surface temperature has dropped below 5C and so it’s painfully cold at night. It’s also wet as we are trucking along at pace so water is everywhere all of the time. I have a heater but, I fear, not enough diesel to risk using it - at least until I have passed the half way point when I can reassess the fuel levels. The food is generally good but the portion sizes are a bit small for the Southern Ocean intake - so I am always looking for something else to add to the pot. Outside now it is blowing 30kts from the north-west, the sea state is becoming high. It is uniform grey with visibility down to around 1 mile. I can hear the pilot ram screaming under the strain of recovering the boats course after each surfing wave. The radar is intermittently scanning for ice, I can see on my Maxsea that there are satellite identified bergs 60 miles to the South of my position - ice is present even if for now it remains unseen. Looking out for bergs is a waste of time, at 20 knots in 1 mile visibility we reach the limit of visibility in only 3 minutes - that's not even enough time to make a coffee! Sea surface temperature and my radar are probably the best protection. Strangely I am excited by the prospect of seeing icebergs, the ones you see are not the ones which you fear - if that makes any sense! Only one "course of action" then - sail fast - and lets get out of here!"
Mike Golding (Ecover 3) in his log yesterday evening.

December 07. 2008 at 09:55First boats past the Kerguelen Gate

The first boats have now passed the Kerguelen Gate, the second Ice Gate. Sébastien Josse (BT) was the first to inform the Race Directors that he had passed to the north of this gate at 1h20 UTC. He was followed just over an hour later by Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec Virbac 2) at 02h29 UTC and Yann Eliès (Générali) at around 02h40 UTC. Since then, Veolia Environnment, Gitana Eighty, Ecover 3 and VM Materiaux have also passed this compulsory waypoint.

December 07. 2008 at 08:45Brian loses a wand

"Last night there was a steady 35-40 knots of wind, and the boat was going well. All seemed to be fine, until I checked the masthead this morning, and the shorter of the two wind instrument wands had come adrift of its mounting and was hanging by its cable, its wind cups still spinning gamely as it hung upside down. The tall wand is still working well, and I have everything crossed that it continues to do so. Not sure what happened, either the slamming broke the socket, or perhaps a bird tried to land on the top of the mast. I have seen birds try to do that in the day time, but they would probably have hit the tall wand first, so it was probably the slamming that broke this wind vane. There is no way to go up the mast in these conditions, so it will have to stay up there for now, and hope it stays out of the way of the halyards. Out here on the IMOCA 60 it's business as usual, 35 knots downwind, drizzling and with the boat leaping around like a rodeo bull as we go over and through the waves, going around the Antarctic and heading for Cape Horn, 11,000 miles away. It’s a downwind race the whole way there till we turn the corner back into the Atlantic again. But I am getting ahead of myself, there is a month to go in the Southern Ocean and I need to focus on getting through each day as fast as possible and with as few technical problems as possible, whilst staying on the fastest course. There is plenty to do, and these are the most challenging and unique sailing conditions in the world, big waves, storms and cold waters. It's what makes this race, the Vendee Globe, the toughest in the world and the Mount Everest for solo sailors."
Brian Thompson (Pindar) in his daily message yesterday evening

December 07. 2008 at 07:05Jonny's crash gybe

"Just as it was getting dark last night I was deciding whether or not to shake a reef out – yes, no, yes, no – “I'll give it five minutes” this went on for about an hour and then I decided yes shake a reef,” you can always put it back in” I said to myself. Shook the ref out, boat sped was up pilot was coping, happy days. I went down below and hung my oilskin jacket up to dry. The boat started to load up and take off on the occasional wave, and obviously because I had shaken a reef, the wind had increased. So, up she went onto one particularly large wave – the rumbling noise of the water on the hull increased as we picked up speed – 18, 19,20,21. at this point the boat was very arced up and the pilot seemed to be playing “how fast can we go”. The answer was very fast, but I didn’t have time to look – I launched myself through the hatch to get to the wheel, as torrents of cold water hosed the boat down. Disengage pilot, bear away, that was the plan, but too late. We basically broached to weather – I managed to bear away hard, and the acceleration was immense – water everywhere, mainly down my oilskin trousers and into my boots. Bore away so hard with such pace (I was steering kneeling down on the cockpit floor) that we crashed gybed – wheel the other way, boom comes back, jibtop comes back, I am soaked, cockpit full of water – nice job. A couple more firsts for both the boat and me!! I then laughed at myself as I put the reef back in taking us to the same place that we were about an hour ago – only I was exhausted and now totally wet through. Brilliant, must try that again!!"

Jonny Malbon (Artemis) on his daily message.

December 07. 2008 at 06:44Activities available on Foncia

"As for the routine activities on Foncia, we have several on offer an a few workshops: bailing out the bilges, foot massage, stock-taking, as I'm a bit of a naughty boy and don't finish my meals leaving what I don't like. Then, for those, who like exercise there's plenty of stacking to do. Always a way to do better, a typical attitude for the friends of Michel Doré (Mike Golding - -editor). This tack is only going to last two and a half days. While you're doing that, I'll be taking a nap. It's tiring when there's nothing to do, so I'll go and rest..."
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his daily message during the night

December 06. 2008 at 20:05Greatest distance over 24 hours

Over the past 24 hours, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) covered the greatest distance towards the finish. From 20h yesterday evening until this evening, he covered 397 miles. Currently in 9th place, he is now only 87.4 miles from the leader.

December 06. 2008 at 17:01Rich passes the Ice Gate

"At 1510 UTC today, at 40 deg 20'min S and 1 deg 05 min E, GA3 passed north of a point of the first ice gate. We are with gray overcast skies, periodic rain, 25-30 knots of wind, and making 12 knots with solent and 2 reefs in the main. The pilot is doing a good job. The barometer is rising slightly as the very steady weather pattern of the last several days, being sandwiched between a moving low to the south, and the South Atlantic high to the north, is changing finally. We are en route for the second ice gate4-5 days down the track. The boat surges from time to time into the 20 knot range, like on a rail, she stands up straight and drives ahead, the faster boat speed makes a faster wind speed which makes a faster boat speed which makes a faster wind speed which makes a ... you get the picture. It cycles up until something throws it off, a wave, a flaw in the wind... but from the chart table, especially in the dark, it is very, very tense... the loads go up as the speed goes up, and you just hope that everything comes out OK at the end of the surge."
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message

December 06. 2008 at 16:35Down in the sail locker

Among the videos received from the skippers today, we can see Sam Davies (Roxy) and Rich Wilson (Great American III). The American skipper shows us around down below and you can hear the continual noise the skippers have to put up with. To watch these videos, just click here.

December 06. 2008 at 16:05Derek sees his first albatross

"Last night was fast and furious again with a top speed of 25.3 knots, a best for this trip and for this boat. I can feel the effects of the high pressure system now and the barometer is starting to rise. It's going to be very close to make it through before the high develops here. I spotted my first albatross for this trip early this morning. They are magnificent birds and seem so at home here in the southern ocean. They soar around, doing a wheeling pattern into the trough of the waves and up high and back down again, only flapping their wings occasionally. I watched one last trip for over five minutes and it never flapped it's wings once, gliding on it's huge wings and relying on the wind between the waves to keep going. I'm wondering if they can do this wheeling and soaring pattern in their sleep. I've read that they will spend months at sea and never touch land."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) in his daily log

December 06. 2008 at 15:12Nickelback in the southern seas

"To be overtaken by somebody who is on their fifth lap of the planet is not too bad to be honest. You can really see the difference between the guys who have done it before and the rest of us. Look at Bernard. He is clearly more at ease with the conditions down here so would not have had any qualms about putting more sail up. It is not nice to lose miles to these guys but in a funny way, it gives you confidence. It is hard to relax. I am playing my Ipod pretty loud at the moment. Before I left I loaded a new album on that I had never listened to before - by The Script. I absolutely love it so I'm listening to that every day. If I want a singalong, I play Nickelback and reckon I am singing louder than the noise the boat makes. I had a couple of days when I freaked out a bit and was super sensitive about everything. I phoned my boyfriend Harry in a flurry of tears. It was a combination of everything - I was in the south. It was full on and it would be like this for a while. I had never done this before and I was on my own. Its fine now but I just had a small panic I think, which is a bit weird because I am enjoying it."
Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message