Vendée Globe

December 26. 2008 at 07:07Jonny's horrrendous Christmas

"We finally passed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin, last night at approx 2000 utc.  The conditions have been horrendous for Christmas, wit the worst sea state I have ever seen.  The wind was 25 to 55 in the gusts again yesterday and I have really been struggling to keep the boat and myself in one piece.  Don’t know how to sail fast in these conditions – and that’s all I want to do, sail fast for home, and try catch up with the guys in front.  Have to say that I am having a really hard time at the moment, as I'm sure the others are too.  Just want to make some good progress towards home.  It wasn’t a great Christmas, but I know that I will make up for it big time when I get home.  Hopefully it can only get better!"
Jonny Malbon (Artemis)
 

December 26. 2008 at 06:45No sign of the wind letting up

"Christmas aboard was a day of fighting with Autopilots, leaking ballast tanks and broken battens trying to jump out of the mainsail. The wind has been at 42kts all last night and today, showing no signs of letting up. The mainsail is looking pretty sad with the top portion of it unsupported, not holding it’s shape at all and I cannot do anything about it until the wind drops off hopefully there will be less wind in about 12-16hrs further to the south."

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada)
 

December 25. 2008 at 20:05Greatest distance over 24 hours

Over the past 24 hours, Jean Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2)currently in seventh place, 888.2 miles from the leader, sailed the greatest distance towards the finish.  Between 19h yesterday and this evening, he covered 387.2 miles.
 

December 25. 2008 at 17:30Dee in the Top Ten

Dee Caffari (Aviva), the first woman to sail non-stop around the world the wrong way alone has just overtaken Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar), who after repairing his ballast tanks has had to climb his mast to repair his lazy jacks. She therefore enters the Top Ten, while Sam Davies (Roxy)is now in eighth place
 

December 25. 2008 at 10:54Sam's Christmas presents

"Well, Father Christmas found Roxy last night and I am a very lucky girl! I had loads of presents to open this morning!(still on the Roxy Roller coaster!) And I am not sure I should tell anyone this, but now I am no longer alone! I have MEN on board! A "surfing Ken" (one of Barbie's ex's) and a "Grow your own male stripper"!! Leave that to your imagination!!! They must both be quite freezing, as Ken is in boardshorts and a T-shirt, and the stripper - well - it looks like he's already done his job (except the bow-tie!)
Christmas pants, santa sox, pens, make-up, beauty products, puzzles, games, even a salad growing kit.... I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks playing with all of that! I also had a great video with messages from everyone recorded on it - it made me smile!!"
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message
 

December 25. 2008 at 08:15Broken lazy jack on Fondation Ocean Vital

"Major broach this morning under staysail and 3 reefs in the main. 50-knot squall and some violent gybes. . Some damage - broken lazy jack, a real mess inside. Sailing with three reefs in the mainsail but it's not stable. Trying to find a way to bring down the mainsail without smashing the coach roof and solar panels. Very high seas"
Raphael Dinelli (Fondation Ocean Vital)
 

December 25. 2008 at 07:48Moped with kangaroo juice

"Father Christmas has not been kind. How on Earth can I open my presents heeled over at 25° with my "moped" jumping around like a kangaroo? This was not forecast. We'll manage somehow I suppose, but it's not nice. I should have remained on the other side of the International Date Line. I could have cheated by opening things, while the seas were still reasonable. Got to go now to take in a reef..."
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his Christmas Day message
 

December 25. 2008 at 07:21Temporary setback for Steve

"As I sit and write this, listening to my Christmas CD, I can see on my starboard side white foam covering the backs of the waves as they go away from me, and to the port side a confused and heaped, untidy sea with haphazard waves left by the big wind shift we had last night, all a glorious deep blue under a bright sun. To windward there is a huge and ominous black cloud that looks like it will be trouble - we have already had a few squalls where the wind goes from thirty to fifty five knots quicker than you can count and suddenly I am not under-canvassed any more - the sea becomes a total white-out with sleet and rain and the boat charges off like a mad thing banging and crashing into the big cross sea at over twenty knots and threatening to shake the generator loose and rattle the teeth from your head. The barometer is as low as it can go but still falling, and I don't have a proper handle on the weather situation as it is very confused and complicated at the moment, and to top it alI I am really having to nurse the boat as the gooseneck pin which holds the boom to the deck has broken, and if I am not careful the boom will come off - that problem has finished a few people's races, but I am sure there is a way to repair it, just not at the moment - it's difficult enough to stand up - so all in all not ideal really, and not how I thought Christmas would be a couple of days ago. Still, it will calm down and I will get the boom off and sort it out - nothing last for ever. This is a temporary setback, and you have to offset it against the good stuff, it could be much worse and I am here of my own choosing - if I had to close the toolbox I'd get bored anyway just sailing and watching the birds! If anyone has a book entitled "How to make a lathe using a marine diesel engine, a screwdriver and other things commonly found on an IMOCA 60" I would very much like to hear from them, that would be a great present!"
Steve White (Toe in the Water) in his daily blog
 

December 25. 2008 at 06:50Derek takes a battering

"It’s Christmas Eve and all we want from Santa is to get through the next few low pressure systems. We have been fighting a storm since yesterday afternoon; it started with 35kts of wind but built to 47kts at times. The waves have been building all day, there was no relief from the wind. the
boat has been knocked down three times, once particularly bad and resulted in some damage to the mainsail battens. Below deck is soaked which changes the quality of life aboard very quickly as things don’t really get a chance to dry once they are wet. The weather file shows little chance of
letting up over the next couple of days so we have four reefs in the mainsail, not as much racing going on as survival at times."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada)in his daily message sent during the night
 

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

Over the past 24 hours, Vincent Riou (PRB) currently in sixth place, 379.4 miles from the leader, sailed the greatest distance towards the finish.  Between 19h yesterday and this evening, he covered 380.9 miles.