Vendée Globe

December 27. 2008 at 06:25Sam back on the attack

"At last, the wind has shifted aft of the beam, after what seems like days of upwind sailing. That definitely wasn't in the brochure! What's more, the sun's come out, and the fire hoses have (temporarily) switched off, and it's actually quite pleasant on deck! Roxy's been averaging an easy 15 knots all day and so we're BACK ON THE ATTACK! The Wind Gods are definitely smiling on Roxy today! I actually feel rather guilty here enjoying the "summer sailing" I've got, when a lot of the fleet are suffering storm force winds and perilous waves. I am so sad for JoJo, who was having an amazing race, before his boat, BT, got "dumped" by a freak wave. I am in pain for him, I can imagine what a terrible feeling it must be to see potential victory snatched away from you in an unlucky handful of seconds. I really hope he manages to repair and get going quickly. He's one of my favourite three skippers in this race! Go JoJo - you can do it! Yet again, these are signs of how powerful this ocean is, and how fragile we are within it."
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message
 

December 26. 2008 at 20:05Greatest distance over 24 hours

Over the past 24 hours, Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air) currently in sixth place, 310.4 miles from the leader, sailed the greatest distance towards the finish.  Between 19h yesterday and this evening, he covered 342.6 miles
 

December 26. 2008 at 17:45Not a typical Christmas

"Christmas Eve I was in the 60 knot storm and had to take the mainsail down for half of the day, then a lazyjack broke during the night, which is the rope that holds up the boom and the mainsail. The bit of broken lazyjack rope up the mast had tangled itself helpfully around the three parts of the main halyard. Without the lazyjacks the part of the mainsail below the reefs would just fall down on the deck if I hoisted the mainsail, and there was much too much wind to go straight to the full mainsail."

"On Christmas Day morning the wind had lightened and I needed to get the main back up. The waves were still quite large but the wind was a ‘mere’ 30 knots by this stage. I got my climbing gear ready and thought that only going up 10 or 12 metres would be relatively straightforward. Unfortunately it was not to be, and with the motion of the mast with just a headsail flying, and some problems with the climbing gear, I both failed to sort out the lazyjacks and I also got thrown around the mast quite thoroughly. I was wearing a wakeboarding wetsuit to protect my upper body and a helmet, both of which I was very thankful for. By the time I got down I felt like Muhammed Ali at the famous Rumble in the Jungle fight, getting pummelled by George Foreman for 15 rounds."

"When I got down I walked weakly down the sidedecks and crashed out on the beanbags, had a drink from the water bottle and just lay there recovering for a good while. Then I got as much food and drink as I could, to get my energy levels back up. It did not feel like the typical Christmas morning to me!"

"For the next few hours I worked on improving the mast climbing equipment, putting in non-stretch ropes instead of the very elastic mountain climbing ropes and then gybing the boat and setting up the equipment on the mast for the return fight. The wind was dropping as I was just in a high pressure ridge and the waves had decreased a little too. I did a trial run just going up and down 3 metres, to test the new equipment, then I set off on up to the level of the lazies with the new piece tied to my harness. I got up there quickly, did the job, and got back down within 30 minutes. Still got thrown around but it was infinitely better than the first time."

"Now I just had to splice up the lazyjack system which took a little thought and trial and error, but pretty soon I had done that enough to hoist the mainsail to the 4th reef and then refine it further. Again, fortune was benevolent as the wind suddenly dropped to 15 knots before a squall, so I seized the moment, turned the boat upwind and in a few passes, got the head of the main through the lazyjacks and up into the air."

"Then it was time to finish the lazyjacks and, as I was doing that, I looked up and there was another boat - Aviva, a mile away! I had not seen another boat or ship since seeing Temenos off Brazil some weeks ago. I went down below and called Dee on the VhF and we had a short chat before I got back to finishing up and then hoisting the mainsail. It was good to be sailing again, and during the night the wind increased and the boatspeed was in the high teens. I opened a few presents during the night and had a freeze-dried Christmas dinner and some mince pies, a small slice of Christmas."

Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) in his daily message

December 26. 2008 at 16:37Water water everywhere

"The days and nights are full of 35-45 knots of wind, big seas, some as large as 25 feet I think, and babysitting the errant auto pilot, who for some reason loses the plot and decides to head north. Life on board changed drastically about two days ago as far as comfort for the skipper inside the cabin. I was in the cockpit and we came over the crest of this big 20 foot wave and
for some reason the pilot turned and went straight down the wave with the bow going into the trough all the way to the mast. I ducked down and grabbed something to hold onto as I knew there would be some heavy water following. After the plunge into the trough the boat stopped so suddenly that the boat slewed sideways and the rolling water came crashing over the side and into the cockpit. I found myself waist high in water for about 15 seconds before it cleared out the transom. The travesty of all this is that the cabin door was open as usual and when inspecting down below, I found that a lot of water had managed to come in the door and soak the cabin. Damage report: nav station soaked, computer making funny beeps and eventually lost the mouse and USP ports for charting software. All the instruments were soaked but I managed to dry them and keep them going for now. The real travesty was my bed; totally soaked. Both sleeping bags onto the floor and into the water, all my dry foul weather gear that I have been so careful about keeping dry, soaked without going outside."

"The mainsail is now down on deck as the three broken battens were shredding the sail. It was a tough decision to take it down but I need to fix the sail so we can race again. It may be a few days before I can get it fixed. Right now I have only the staysail up and we still are doing over 20 knots at times. I need the wind to come down so I can cut and fit some new battens and then climb into the mainsail and try and replace them. The pilots are not so happy but managing. I
tried switching to the backup pilot but cannot get the wind instrument for that pilot to work. The pilots need the true wind reading to operate well when going down wind. I have four wind instruments on board and only one is working right now so I'm trying to resolve this. So, all in all a tough couple of days thus far and I'm not sure any respite is in the works. The low pressure systems are back to back and as soon as one moves on, another one develops right behind it. I don't think it's always this way."
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada)in his daily message
 

December 26. 2008 at 14:13Survival mode still on Great American III

"I cannot in my memory now discern the different lows that have gone by, they just all blur together over about the last 4-5 days, and by the forecast, we have another 2 days of this to go. The staysail is mostly too much sail, the storm jib is right for the 45-50+, but too little for the 35. Very difficult. Big breaking seas that throw the boat around, and all the contents, including skipper, inside. Have had 2 autopilot alarms today, very startling, very nerve-racking. We have a fault somewhere in the wind speed sensor system. Fortunately , if sailing on a wind parameter, the pilot defaults to compass, and hopefully this will hold until the sailing instruments can get reset. Checked the stern compartment where the autopilot rams are today. Needed to crawl back through the boat, very cramped, and luckily only a bucket of water in there, compared to the 8 buckets I took out of forward compartments yesterday. Everybody's nervous here in our pack, we're in survival mode. Last night, thinking that the grib file showing 30 knots might be correct, I set the 3rd reef in the main, a very difficult manoeuvre downwind, entailed sailing upwind into 20 foot seas with the storm jib so the mainsail would flag away from the mast, and so I could try to hoist it through the lazy jacks, took an hour, then, instead of 30 knots we had 40-45, too much for the pilot. A horrendous night."
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message
 

December 26. 2008 at 13:21Forgetting to zip up

"I have a tricky problem: I want to go on the attack and I want to finish the race. I put up the sail at the right time, but I lower it earlier than usual so as not to put too much pressure on the damaged rudder. I'm spending a lot of time doing odd jobs. I'm looking aftr theinitial repairs and strengthening them with some additional parts. I have just produced a little brother for Ivory: Ebony! That all takes a long time and that's how I'm spending most of my time. This is a different race from before, when I was concentrating on sailing. I'm spending a lot of time in the cockpit. Something funny just happened. I went out in my dry suit, but I forgot to zip it up. A huge wave arrived and came right inside my oilskins. the water is at 3°C and it certainly feels cold. I was soaked and had to change everything."

Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) in his daily message
 

December 26. 2008 at 12:27Desert island fix

Auckland Island is a volcanic island located at 50°42 of latitude south and 166°50 longitude east. Belonging to New Zealand, it measures 43 kilometres in length and 20 kilometres in its widest part. It is one of the most remote and wildest places on the planet, where just a few scientists and animal photographers go to study and record pictures of some exceptionally well preserved flora and fauna. Its windward side has fabulous basalt cliffs measuring 300 metres in height. On the eastern side, the lee, has a series of fjords including Port Ross, to the north east, where Marc Guillemot plans to shelter.  The climate is of course rough at all times of year at this latitude, in the Furious Fifties. This explains why the main island holds the record for being the shortest human settlement: two years and nine months with a small British colony. Marc Guillemot will be following in the footsteps of the great French sailor, Jules Dumont D’Urville, who explored these islands in 1839.
 

December 26. 2008 at 11:08Dee's Christmas treats

"Well what more can a girl ask for?  Clean knickers, chocolate and smellies. After a good baby wipe session I put on my Christmas knickers, changed my base layer and felt like a new woman. The smellies will have to wait until I am in the Atlantic again and the water is warm enough for them to be used! My Christmas dinner was absolutely delicious. This is real food in a packet, boil the kettle, add hot water, stir and wait ten minutes and magic. The only washing is a spoon as the packet goes in the bin! I did spend time speaking to friends and family and it was great to know they were all well. The day finished with a chat on the VHF. The last time the VHF heard voices was in the Atlantic and yet here was Brian Thompson calling me. I answered and then realised that he was about a mile and a half to leeward of me. It was a real treat for Christmas to have sailed all these thousands of miles and be alongside another boat talking to someone that I could almost see. He had just finished tackling his repairs and done a fantastic job so he was ready to tidy up and get sailing again. He was still to sleep and do his Christmas thing so I wished him well and was grateful to be so close to someone at this time despite being solo racing."

Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message
 

December 26. 2008 at 08:35Whatever happened to ...

Four years ago, Conrad Humphreys was sailing to the south of Tasmania in the 2004-2005 Vendée Globe. Today, he is to the north of Tasmania taking part in the annual Sydney-Hobart Race on the 70-foot Australian boat, Ichi Ban, currently in third place.  Meanwhile, Pete Goss, who came fifth in the 1996 -97 Vendée Globe reached Cape Town yesterday in the first leg of his voyage from Cornwall to Australia on board a replica of a 37-foot traditional fishing lugger. 
 

December 26. 2008 at 08:10Living in a fridge

"I hope that Father Christmas delivered to expectations, and that you have all eaten, drunk and watched too much Christmas TV.....Out here it is life as normal, trying to squeeze that extra half a knot of boat speed out of Roxy in less than ideal conditions.... oh well, that's the luck of the draw and I'm making the best I can! I was just having some "foie gras" on toast for lunch today and I noticed the little phrase on the packet "once opened keep refrigerated" It's a phrase which causes much anxiety normally, in temperate conditions, and one is challenged to find the coolest spot on board, and then quite often defeated into throwing the rest away for fear of food poisoning! I reflected on the phrase, realising it has not at all bothered me in the last few weeks....So does that mean I'm now living in a fridge?"
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message