Newswire : Steve loses his Code 5

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December 10. 2008 at 17:54Steve loses his Code 5

"I signed off last time about to do a sail change in a building breeze. I had to roll up and take down the Code 5 in what was by the time I got on deck about 35 knots of wind, which is over the limit for an old sail! This is a perfectly normal procedure, I started rolling the thing up but it got jammed half rolled up and half unrolled! There it was, flogging itself silly at the front of the boat. I went up the front to try and free it up, but the furling drum is right at the end of the bowsprit - I was not going out there I can assure you - there was a big sea and we were surfing at nearly twenty knots sometimes! I taped my big kitchen knife to the deckbrush handle and went up to deal with the problem, which was that the cover of the furling line had wrinkled up like Nora Batty's stockings (a character in a British sitcom-editor) inside the drum, got caught on a cunningly placed spike and wedged itself up very very tightly! Whilst hacking away I took my eye off the ball missed a big wave which we surfed down, and got hosed down the deck, knife in hand, as we buried the bow in the wave in front at high speed - everything went dark, there was a whooshing noise in my ears as they filled up, and I held my breath as water went down my neck right down to my boots, up my nose, up my arms, everywhere. I took some sizeable pieces out of my fingers as I tried to grab stanchions and guardwires on the way past - the force of the water was incredible and I still have the bruises to testify! When I came to a stop at the mast I had managed to keep hold of the knife luckily! I had several goes at cutting away at the drum, rolling and unrolling the sail; I cut forty five metres of cover of the rest of the line with a pair of scissors on my hands an knees, and still it was up there, half in, half out and flogging like nobody's business. After nearly three hours I decided it had to be dropped on deck as it was whilst I still had a mast! I sailed as far downwind as I dared without gybing, and went for it - first time I aborted and winched it up again before it went in the water, then second time I had it on an "inboard roll" of the boat - it was there on deck, coming down, coming down, then,outboard roll - whoosh, over the side, in the water. The boat stopped short and rounded up into the wind with a parachute handbrake over the side. There followed another two hours of struggling as I tried to get the thing back onboard, but things were going badly wrong - bent stanchions, then the first rip, then around the keel - the stuff of nightmares. I finished up dragging the thing off the bowsprit after trying to save the boltrope for my poor old broken gennaker, but I couldn't get the thing out of the middle of the partially rolled sail. In the end I had to let the thing go before I had to get in the water and get it off the keel. I watched it sink. A twenty thousand pound sail lost because of a hundred pound piece of string with a loose cover. All I had left was the swivel and two thimbles and a ten inch piece of the head.........I don't mind admitting that nearly killed me, I was fairly well beaten up and bruised, and soaked to the skin, and rapidly becoming cold. It was 1400 when I went on deck, and 1915 when I came back down."

Steve White (Toe in the Water) in his daily message

December 10. 2008 at 16:40Rich Wilson getting ready for a deep low

"Have shockingly beautiful sunny day, crystal blue sky, big bank of clouds overtaking of course, but great sailing today so far, reacher and 1 reef in the mainsail. Spent considerable time working on video editing and conversion and uploading this morning, many computer battles fought, some won some lost, but did get some good video last night of the moon and got it uploaded. Inspected forward two watertight compartments today in anticipation of low coming along in a couple of days. Bailed a couple of buckets out, but otherwise all ok. So hard sometimes to tell if you have a leak, or if its just condensation. Gybed this morning for he ice gate, reacher and full main, 25-27 knots true, that was exciting, likely won't do it again, should have put in reef first, ended up broaching upon the gybe, but did have the new runner on so all was ok."
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message

December 10. 2008 at 15:44No opportunities before Australia

"There are 27/32 knots of wind. I put my foot down on the accelerator for an hour, but the seas got rougher and so now I have reduced the sail. I don't want to go too far south, as there is the risk of encountering icebergs. Even if our routing indicates that there is the possibility of gaining miles, I have seen that in the conditions in the deep south, the polars the machine comes up with are 15% above the real speeds. If we glide along downwind at 145° to the wind, we get closer to the polars. I don't want to push too hard. We'll see whether I am right or not. In any case, the weather situation tends to indicate that there won't be any opportunities to make a getaway before the gate to the south of Australia. In other words, we could say that it's not worth pushing too hard here, as there will be no rewards, with everyone arriving at the next system together."
Vincent Riou (PRB) talking to his shore team today

December 10. 2008 at 14:21A pleasant summer day

"The jibe to the East last night really felt like I'm headed home. I know we are only past the 1/4 mark but if you look at the course, straight ahead lies Cape Horn and then the sail north to the finish line. There is a long way to go but it seems now I am headed in the right direction. I have some good winds now and speeds are back up to where we are making good progress. I'm looking at the next competitors and starting to attack the course a little more aggressively. I have to be patient as with the limited sail inventory on board, I don't want to make any mistakes that will ruin any sails and leave a gap in the performance band. Otherwise the boat is in good shape; I've noticed a small hole in the mainsail at the third spreader and I will have to fix at some point with kevlar tape. I managed to switch back to the Raymarine autopilot that was having difficulty after doing some work on it and it is steering the boat very well down wind. It was very cold yesterday but today it is sunny and 14 C outside so it is a pleasant summer day in the Southern Ocean."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) in his daily message

December 10. 2008 at 13:50Séb Josse on a massive dinghy

"I've been flying for the past two hours, I'm sometimes over 25 knots with a reef in the main and the reacher! It's great, there's no strain on the boat as the seas are flat, it's very stable and with the aft ballast full the bow is out of the water, I'm just like on a massive dinghy. Tactically, the Kerguelen passage is pretty much a no-brainer, it will only be a matter of keeping the speed up. We're looking at a straight line, and the next objective is to go and catch the shift to the north - west in order to aim at the Australian Ice Gate. That passage could be tricky and things might happen then, but it's a bit early to be too specific."
Sébastien Josse talking to his shore team this lunchtime

December 10. 2008 at 11:48What to wear

"After the ‘Moon Boots’ episode yesterday, today is ‘Fashion is Southern Ocean headgear’. I have a favourite oilskin top from last year, which I love and wear all the time. The trouble is, I broke the neck seal in it a couple of weeks ago, so it is no longer waterproof. So, now my best option for on deck manoeuvres is a simple drysuit top, great because it’s light and quick to put on. The trouble is that it has no hood, meaning my hat, which has become compulsory on deck due to the cold, and consequently my hair gets wet. I have been fed up with putting my hat in the engine to dry each time I come in from on deck, so I had a brilliant idea: I’ll make a waterproof balaclava! So, out of the highest quality Ziploc, re-inforced with duck-tape, I have made myself a fantastic waterproof balaclava! I reckon that any chances of Roxy offering me a job as a designer on return from this race have now gone out of the window. Anyway, staying dry is so important out here that I am willing to risk a heavy fine from the Fashion Police. I already noticed that the Abatrosses were giving me very strange looks yesterday as I pottered around on deck with a plastic bag on my head!"

Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message

December 10. 2008 at 08:58Shortbread treat for Dee

"Boy is it cold. This south westerly air flow comes from Antarctica and it is bitterly cold. My extremities are like icicles. I have piled the layers on now and look forward to running the generator as it adds a little heat. Today was exciting as it was a new food bag day. I packed my food into ten day bags and to open a new bag it always a treat, as I can't help but eat my favourites first so the last few days are always the boring food. Now I am back to treats again. One treat that I have not been without for big offshore events, ever since my first transatlantic when I worked for Mike Golding, is Mummy Tourell's homemade shortbread. I have saved my box until the south but I have to admit it is disappearing pretty quickly. I was sure I could have a piece everyday in the south but I have been incapable of eating just one piece. It is too yummy!"
Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message

December 10. 2008 at 07:48Shades of grey

"It's grey from morning to night. Light or dark grey. It's all a question of the shade. On top of that it's freezing with the water around 5° and the air between 1 and 6° yesterday. Great!! Mustn't grumble. It was advertised to be like this. We put up with he balaclava, the big collar even if it's not very sexy. But we're not here to seduce anyone, are we? Some people dream of the sunshine when they're in the Vendée Globe. I'm dreaming of fine sandy beaches, palm trees and warm water. Going to pull the duvet up another 20 centimetres and get myself a little grog."
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia)in his daily message

December 10. 2008 at 07:142 English girls to take care of

"Hi, After a few headsail changes yesterday and a big gennaker rolled up like a potato, I put up the smaller gennaker, which is easier to handle. That seems to be the solution with the cold I can feel here. It's very damp. A chilly or even cold night with the radar on around 3 to reassure me. The sun has come to warm up my veranda now. About time too. I've now got two English girls to take care of..."

Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas)in his daily message

December 10. 2008 at 06:50A busy night for Bernard

"Hi, Had a bad night. Had problems unhooking the headsail, so was stuck for several hours with too small a sail, so poor speed and probably a poor course too. At dawn, I was able to solve the problem, but that meant I didn't get any rest and that affects decision-taking. Pity, because the weather is good and normally the night should have gone smoothly. It's all part of the race. Now I'm going to have to find the time to get some rest without affecting the boat's progress. So that's what's going on this morning. I'm going to get something to eat and then I'll feel better."
Bernard Stamm( Chéminées Poujoulat) in his daily message