Vendée Globe

December 21. 2008 at 06:38Latest update on Yann Eliès

Jean-Yves Chauve, the Vendée Globe doctor has spoken with Yann Eliès and the doctor taking care of him aboard HMAS Arunta.  Some reassuring news. Yann is awake, rested and is beginning to eat normally. He is still taking his pain-killers, but has been able to cut back on the dosage.  He is due to reach Fremantle at 3h GMT on Monday.

 

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

Over the past 24 hours, Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) currently in fourth place, 162.3 miles from the leader, sailed the greatest distance towards the finish.  Between 19h yesterday and this evening, he covered 324.6 miles.

 

December 20. 2008 at 19:45Confirmation from Yann's medical officer

"Yann was very pleased to see us. He was in his bunk. A diagnosis confirmed a fractured left femur. An examination also revealed several broken ribs. Everything else appeared to be normal.   After his transfer he was able to eat and drink. His left leg is now in traction. He is very tired after the past 48 hours, but has been able to ring his wife. We shall be monitoring him closely until we reach Australia."  
Dr. David mcIlroy and Medical Officer William Bee, who have been taking care of Yann Eliès

 

December 20. 2008 at 17:49Robbie Williams helping Dee

"I’ve come out of a black and white scene where I’ve been sailing most of the Southern Ocean, into technicolour. The sky has blue in it, the sun has come out – momentarily — and even the sea looks a shade of blue in it. I’m on the edge of a high pressure, heading on a southwards gybe and it’s actually pleasant sailing! Robbie Williams is a good feel-good factor so I shall play him whilst I’m doing my checks on the boat, because it’s a lot easier to move around without the fear of something else happening while you’re busy in another area of the boat.
I’m in 15-20 knots which is almost like a little respite. As always, just when you think everything’s nice there’s a little monster on the way, but hopefully I’ll get as far east as I can and miss the worst of it."
Dee Caffari (Aviva) on today's radio session

December 20. 2008 at 17:08Steve repairs his autopilot

"I was trundling along quite happily when suddenly the pilot stopped working. I am used to that happening, because it has done it periodically for as long as I can recall - it did it in the Atlantic on the way down with a spinnaker up  - anyway, it was doing it more regularly now, and in thirty to forty knots of breeze it was getting pretty un-funny! Each time the boat would stop steering but lock the helm, and crash tack, leaving you with the boat laid flat, pinned down by your sails and the water ballast on the wrong side, the boom held above you by the vang but waiting for the vang to break as it did the first time, and for the boom to come crashing across the boat with huge force into the runners, breaking the battens and possibly many other things too.  Initially,switching the pilot off and on would get it going, but then I got error codes and things became more serious. I think I had eight or ten wipe outs, and each time any loose gear would fly across the cabin, I would fall out of bed or if I was up, my sleeping bag would go on the floor or once into the engine compartment, all of which are wet because of the various leaks.  After my final wipe out at about 0330 GMT yesterday, I got the boat going again but slowed right down as a front was coming through, and I just didn't want any more wipeouts with lots of sail up. When it calmed down I fitted a new autopilot control unit, a new rudder reference unit on the starboard side, put a resistor in the starboard instruments which fixed them and wired up everything as it was supposed to be, and recommissioned the pilots. The back-up pilot worked, and I steered with this for a couple of hours - hooray! The main, port pilot would not work, and it just said "NO PILOT" and I lost my rag in a minor way and nearly put my fist through the chart table as I had had enough by this point. Then I remembered there was a cable I hadn't plugged in - I commissioned it and it hasn't missed a beat in nearly twenty four hours!"
Steve White (Toe in the Water) in his daily blog

 

December 20. 2008 at 16:31Marc Guillemot's film of the rescue mission

This morning, the Australian frigate, Arunta successfully carried out its rescue operation under the watchful gaze of Marc Guillemot (Safran), who was able to record these historic moments.... The commentary from Marc is in French.   To view this clip, click here.

December 20. 2008 at 16:01Nasty scare for Derek

"Finally, I am around the Kerguelen Islands; it seemed to take forever and a lot of work jibing downwind to get by. It looks like an interesting place to visit from the charts but after Bernard’s and Dominique’s experience, I will probably pass this time. I had a nasty scare last night when I tried to start the engine to charge the batteries and all that came from the engine was the sickening sound of the starter clicking trying to kick in but not enough power to do so. I rushed to turn all the surplus instruments off, at this point the chart plotter was the only extra piece running and tried the engine again and it started. I was sh ocked as there is no way to jump start the engine and I was thinking that a visit to Kerguelen might be in the cards after all. Further investigation revealed a loose wire on the starter motor and not an under charge situation. Whew, another disaster averted. There are so many small mechanical things that hold the race in the balance."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) in his daily message

 

December 20. 2008 at 15:12Yann in good spirits

"He does have a broken femur, that’s clear. He’s probably got some broken ribs and he has probably got some other injuries which the doctor and his team are assessing. At the moment we’re heading north to provide him with more care ashore. He’s in good spirits though and he’s just about to ring his wife! It took about 45 minutes — probably took longer to find his passport, which he had hidden pretty well, but we got that!" 

The Commanding Officer of HMAS Arunta  talking after the successful rescue operation.  

 

December 20. 2008 at 14:39Christmas away from the family

"Had the reacher up for several hours this afternoon, much effort to get it up, much more effort to get it down when the wind built to 30 knots, one of the sail changes that shows very little result for the effort. Thinking of Yann all the time on the foredeck. For the last week, I've been wearing my helmet all the time on deck, and now I'm even wearing it down below, at these high surge speeds. Spoke with my mother and sister back in Boston today. Quite emotional for me, as my mother is 92. She is the original adventurer in our family, having moved from Seattle to Fairbanks, Alaska in 1938.  Should I be so far away at Christmastime? I have two goals, finish the racecourse, and deliver a great school program. But do those outweigh family? In light of Yann's terrible distress, all questions are valid."
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message

 

December 20. 2008 at 13:55Norbert changes his alternator

"Yet another typical Southern day. I spent some time at the helm. Then, I changed the alternator, because it seems the old one wasn't charging properly or maybe I have been using a lot of electricity.  Unfortunately, I have been unable to install the system to furl the main genoa, and so I can't use it. It would have improved my speed by 0.5 to 1 knot, but it's not reasonable to use it under these circumstances.  I can surf along too with a reef in the mainsail and the second genoa."
Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch) in his daily message