Vendée Globe

December 27. 2008 at 15:25Seb Josse speaks about his knockdown

"Two nights ago I was in the centre of a big low pressure with around 46 knots and big gusts of 50-55 knots plus snow. During the night a big wave catch the boat and put the mast on the water at around 120 degrees - close to a capsize. For a few minutes I didn't' really know what had happened - if the keel had gone or wave - but finally I could check the keel and realise it was okay and that a wave had knocked the boat over. The mast was fine but inside food, clothes, electronics were everywhere."

" After the near capsize I tried to put the boat back on the right course and I understood that the rudder system was not right. First thing I did was to furl the staysail which was okay and drop the mainsail but to drop the mainsail in 40 knots is not easy as the wind push the sail against the spreaders and it gets stuck so it took around 45 mins to get the sail down. When I finished I came back inside to look at the structure and I see the roof is broken (cracked both laterally and longitudinally) because some water was coming inside the boat and also realised the central bulkhead had cracked."

"The plan now is to go north and catch the high pressure where there is less waves and wind to check the rudder system in a safe environment - although the waves will still be around 4 meters!  The auto pilot has now reference point now so it is not functioning properly (the rudders are misaligned so the auto pilot cannot configure a reference point)."

"During the time of the incident it was very tricky- big squalls of 55 knots and 10 meter waves and you are on the limit in this size of boat and the limit for you too in trying to do any manouevers.  The problem is at the bottom of the wave there is no wind but you need speed to escape and at the top of the wave you have too much speed going down into the wave so in 50 knots you are at the limit."

"My options now? Now I have 2 options: first is to check the rudder system and if I think its okay, I go east and keep in the race but in a safe condition but ahead is the rest of the Pacific and Cape Horn which is famous for storms... Second option is to go back to New Zealand and the race is finished but I make sure the boat is safe."

December 27. 2008 at 14:10Words of sympathy for Josse

"Front has gone through now and as the satellite photo showed there are clear skies behind, though the wind is much lighter than forecast. Seas were very lumpy when I got lifted after the front, and I had to go on starboard gybe for 2 hours during darkness to stop the boat crashing into too many waves. Now back on port as the seas have calmed a little and sailing under masthead code 0 and full main at 9/10 knots. Wind has to come back soon as Akena seems to be making over 12 knots behind me. Going to use the mild conditions to do some jobs, repair some small holes in the fractional 0, rebuild a halyard swivel, fix the port primary winch, do some more work to the A3, and give the boat a good check over after the Christmas Eve storm. I've read about Seb Josse’s knockdown, that sounds horrendous. The force of the water to do that much damage to his coachroof meant that the boat would have been picked up, turned sideways and then plunged into the water, not just a rollover. I know how impeccably that boat was built so there was no weakness in the structure, just the overwhelming might of nature. I hope that he does not find any problems that cannot be fixed, and that he can be back in the race soon; he has done an awesome job so far."

Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar)
 

December 27. 2008 at 12:00Ice Gate modification

The Race Directors today informed the competitors that the East Pacific Ice Gate (Number 10) has been modified due to ice being detected by Sat radar on their potential route after passing the West Pacific Gate. The new coordinates are 44°00 South between 110°00 West and 102°00 West.
 

December 27. 2008 at 10:27Safran stops for repairs

Marc Guillemot (Safran) reached the Auckland Islands to the south of New Zealand this morning at 9h GMT. He has stopped in Sandy Bay, to the south of Enderby Island. It is already dark, but Marc must now climb his mast to repair his damaged mainsail track.
 

December 27. 2008 at 08:30Lazy jack repaired

"This morning I managed to climb up to the second layer of spreaders to deal with the starboard lazy jack. There was still a very heavy swell before the calmer conditions arrived as the wind backed to the NW. Then, I changed a broken batten. Finally, Fondation Océan Vital is back on course and I'm pleased to be able to see her logo again in the mainsail and I can finally get out my Christmas presents. So rather late, Happy Christmas to everyone. I'm exhausted. I need to get some rest now, especially for my right arm. Before resting I'm going to take care of some damaged solar panels. I'm going to have to limit my consumption still further."
Raphaêl Dinelli (Fondation Ocean Vital)

December 27. 2008 at 08:03Pacific war

"It's strange how there is so much subjectivity and everything is relative. This afternoon, a nice breeze on the water, brilliant sunshine, a few squally showers, heavy to very heavy seas, with waves reaching up to 9-10 metres, the equivalent to three floors. Now they're round 6m on average, and we don't take any notice. Wind: a bit, let's say 40 knots, often 45-48, squalls up to 53 knots, not km/h! White water, parallel to the wind, the crests of the turquoise waves as they break. Not easy though to find the right pace and sail to make headway. ET said: "Throw a bale of hay up and it will come down again." Coming down. Sailing downwind. We'll get there somehow. Somewhere out to the east. I said it was all relative... A day spent studying the sea. You know the squall coming up will have 55 or 51 knots, you know if you should furl the staysail or whether you'll stick it out as the front goes over in ten minutes. So I'm taking a sleep after dinner, there was 42-45 all the time. I wake up 40 minutes later, get up and look at the sea: It's really eased off! I'd say 25-30 knots, almost calm here. I look at the dials. It's eased off, but there's still 35-40. That's what the machine says, but I thought there was less. You get used to it... Pacific, means peace, anti-war?! The Roman said: «Si vis pacem para bellum». The sailor says "If you go to the Pacific, prepare the lowest reef"
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his daily message

December 27. 2008 at 07:10Rich gets a black eye

"Well it was inevitable, the being thrown from the bunk, finally happened last night, and I had a one point landing on my left eyebrow after a fall of 1.5 meters with my head leading the way. Coming out of the bunk and through the opening in the bulkhead is as if your body is funnelled so that your head lands first. I'd had several good naps, this was the third, I awoke either in flight or on impact, scrambled to get up, onto the chart table bench, felt my head, no bumps, forehead, no bumps, then felt that it hurt just above my eye, felt there, not damp nor wet but soaked in blood, the whole left side of my face was dripping blood. On the floor, on my down booties, on my sea boots, went to the mirror, what a mess, didn't know what was underneath all that blood, took paper towels and cold water and started to gently mop up, and gradually got down to the core problem, a cut under the eyebrow about 1" (2.5cm) long. I tried to see if there was anything in it, but couldn't. Eventually got it to stop bleeding, then let it scab a bit, cut and put a bandage over it. A black eye is coming. We checked for double vision, after all my whole head took a real hit, no problem with the vision, that's good. Another gale is en route, this one looks severe, will try to get organized for it early, we've had a wind shift already, totally "unforecast" on grib files, so don't know what the future here holds."
Rich Wilson (Great American III)
 

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