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December 21. 2008 at 20:05Greatest distance over 24 hours

Over the past 24 hours, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) sailed the greatest distance towards the finish. Between 19h yesterday and this evening, the leader, currently 11785.5 miles from the finish, covered 375.9 miles.

December 21. 2008 at 18:54Another race for Jean-Pierre Dick

"As you know I am now sailing with the starboard rudder down (the one that was damaged last week following a collision with a UFO)! The operation appears to have been successful, although we mustn't count our blessings too quickly. The use of the system needs to be tested, in particular the top attachment and I'm going to have to get used to it. Lots of ropes were attached to deal with this and the work was very tricky. So now I'm setting off again watching how I sail and paying attention to the speed, while at the same time knowing I will have to ease off if necessary not to break something. I'm gradually stepping up the speed to allow me to get back in the race and move up the rankings if possible. It's hard knowing I gave up the lead because of such an incident, and had to suffer after doing so well. But that's life. Tthat's sport. Now we're in another race. Let's hope that it remains a pleasure! "
Jean-Pierre Dick in an e-mail sent this afternoon

December 21. 2008 at 16:10252,000 skippers in the virtual Vendée Globe

252,000 players are currently sailing around the world based on the real sea and wind conditions. Just as in the real Vendée Globe, the Virtual Regatta skippers are having to deal with similar worries to those that the Vendée Globe skippers are experiencing: sail changes, sleep management, strategic planning, race tactics, etc.
As more than 252,000 players have registered this year for the virtual round the world race, it is becoming a real addiction, as if you want to have any hope of moving up the rankings, you need to keep a permanent eye on the boat's progress, watch out for wind shifts to find the best trajectory and draw up the finest strategy.
Sébastien Destremau, a skipper in the real world is taking part alongside many other skippers in this virtual round the world voyage. Here are his comments: "Having gone through a few emotional moments, I am now comfortably installed in the warm in front of my computer analysing the weather situation in the virtual Vendée Globe. When I look at the charts, I can imagine the scene. Around me, there is this hostile wilderness, where everything is grey. Sitting curled up in our armchairs, we find ourselves where our boat has taken us after a few harmless clicks on the mouse. It doesn't take long to see that the race leaders have got a long way ahead and it's going to be long, hard and tricky, if we want to catch them."

December 21. 2008 at 14:07Torn solent on Akena Vérandas

"During the night, my solent ripped in several places, in particular on the leech. I managed more or less to furl it. Am going to have to sail halfway around the world without it. This is a relatively serious handicap, which will limit me. It tore without warning. Not a nice thing to happen and a little bit upsetting. The only good thing is I managed to furl it without any problems."
Arnaud Boissières (Akéna Vérandas)

December 21. 2008 at 13:50Brian's race against the clock

"The repair that I did yesterday with carbon laminate on to the broken longitudinal bulkheads, did not hold because of the very slight movement of the boat, even going as gently as possible. This did not allow the glue to set properly on one side of the crack. Though on the other side of the crack the laminate has bonded really well. So the bond could have been good, it just never got the chance for the glue to stay in one place and harden fully. I think that this would have been the right way to do the repair in the harbour, and would have come up with a solution that would get around the world. But I am still 1000 miles from a harbour and with a couple more depressions to sail through before getting to the longitude of Tasmania. We have had to come up with a new approach and with the help of Tom Faire, the boat’s build manager in NZ, we are looking at a whole other solution. This is to cut up floorboards to stick to the maximum area of the damaged section, and use the thickness of the floorboard to add strength. I need to cut the floorboard to be a tight fit so that it is also wedges in place, so plenty of cutting and sanding to come. Then have to sand all the surfaces and then add laminate to the floorboard in the area of the old crack to make that area stronger. Plus make backing plates for the inside of the tank, to take the bolts. I have about 18 hours before the next depression starts rolling through to get it done. I am doing a mid ocean pit stop, fortunately still doing 10 knots. The Vendée Globe is a massive challenge in every way and this is just another example of that."
Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) in his daily message

December 21. 2008 at 12:05Australian Navy video now online

You can now watch online the successful rescue operation that was carried out by the Australian Navy yesterday. In a short clip filmed by the rescue team, we can see how Yann Eliès was taken off his boat. To watch the video, just click here.

December 21. 2008 at 11:32Elation after a few emotional days

"I was so elated yesterday when word finally reached me that Yann had been rescued and the message was he was going to be alright. I think I may have underestimated the emotional influence the whole incident had on me. All day I was down and had a tough time turning it around. The fact that I have two small children at home seems to play a big emotional factor that was not there five years ago when I did the first race around the world. For example, now I have two safety straps that run the length of each side of the coachroof and each time I go to the mast, I grab onto the strap and hold it as I go forward. I call them "Sarah" straps after our four year old daughter and I think of her each time I go forward and hold on to one.
I look at the position reports for the front runners and it's very impressive the high average speeds that the leaders are putting in, very impressive. I would like to be a fly on the wall on Foncia, just to see how Michelle has it set up and what sails are up. I suspect every thing is up, all the way up, most of the time. The pace is brutal up there and I give them full credit for holding it together so far."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) in his daily message

December 21. 2008 at 09:18Supplies for Mike

HMAS Arunta, the frigate which rescued the injured Generali Skipper, Yann Eliès yesterday, has made a rendezvous this morning with the dismasted Ecover 3 and supplied Mike Golding with 200 litres of fuel, meat and some fresh bread.

December 21. 2008 at 08:05Sam back racing

"At around 11 UT yesterday I had the phone call that I had been hoping for, from the guys on the HMS Arunta, to confirm that Yann was safely on board. It was a great relief! Since I had known they were on scene, I had been getting Roxy ready to race again, stacking, preparing the correct sails, and drying me and her out! So, as soon as race direction called to give me the all-clear, we gybed off towards the SE, and the next safety gate. Once set up on course, I decided that Roxy was quite happy to sail herself, so I set my alarms on Tactique (wind direction change and wind speed change), the Radar (in case of close encounter with Safran!) and AIS, but no wake-up alarm! I had a lovely deep sleep, whilst Roxy sailed herself proudly though the mist like "The Black Pearl" in The Pirates of the Caribbean! Today, I have been studying the weather and routing, as I hadn't looked at that really for 48h, and planning the next few days of the race and the approach to the next gate. Roxy has a new neighbour - Safran - and we are sailing not too far from each other. It's nice to have company. The wind is quite light - good for resting but not good for boatspeed! I have also realised that I passed Cape Leeuwin - without noticing!! So 2 Capes down, the big one to go - Cape Horn!"
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message

December 21. 2008 at 07:15The joys of stacking

"If you say gybe, the first thing that comes to my mind is "stacking": moving all the gear, a dreadful job that you get crewmen to do, when you're a helmsman, a dreadful job that you have to do yourself, when they are down the pub and you are alone at sea. The operation involves shifting all of the dead weight from one side to the other to balance the weight. If you do it well, that means everything is moved before changing tack, enabling you to sail with around 600 kilos of stuff that you would love to do without on the leeward side: sails, food, safety gear and spares. Synonym: punishment."
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his daily message sent during he night