Vendée Globe

December 28. 2008 at 08:39Most frightening period of sailing

"I am now the only one of the three in my area who has not been knocked down yet in the hideous conditions that we have.  I am anticipating it…..  but praying that I can avoid it.  As the breeze picked up yesterday, after about 3 hours of ok sailing, I dropped the main again, lashed the boom and carried on under staysail only.  I checked that the headsails still plugged in on the bow were furled as well as possible, with their furling lines tight and locked off, and I removed every line from the cockpit floor and stowed them in bags so they couldn’t get washed away.  I removed the stb steering foot chock and MOB lifebelt from the transom and stowed them below.  As  I was finishing this I looked out of the back of the boat at the most enormous pair of waves, towering about 30 feet over the back of my little boat – they were coming from opposite directions and smashed into one another with such force – breaking high and loud and violently.  with this I went below and closed both hatches tight, filled the aft ballast and looked at my options.  After about 1 second I realised that I had zero options other than ride out the next 24 hours and try and get through with minimal damage. I set about lashing anything I could find down below that could move, I stowed all the loose gear that was possible, and set my bean bag and nav station on the leeward side, so if I did get rolled I would have less far to fall.  The breeze built, but more importantly so did the sea state.  Every now and again we get on a wave and hit 20-25 knots, totally out of control, before we plummet headlong and at pace into the wave in front. At this point the boat stops and tonnes of water engulf the boat – slowly she manages to shake the water off and get going again, but how many times will she manage?  It has been relentless for us back here, and I am sick and tired of living in fear of the next wave, the next pooping or a knockdown.  Reading of Dereks plight last night does not help, and I hope he is ok.  Rich also had a couple of knockdowns during the night, so am I existing on borrowed time?  This is most certainly the most extreme, most difficult, most frightening period of sailing I have ever undertaken, and I shall be overjoyed when it is over…  I am ok, just fed up and worried.  I have done all I can to be safe, so must now be patient and hope…"
Jonny Malbon (Artemis II) in his daily message
 

December 28. 2008 at 08:18Marc Guillemot explains...

"I dropped the aluminium anchor and 15 m of chain and 15m of polypro cable. Once anchored, I climbed the mast and 20 minutes later, a huge disappointment to discover that what I had prepared wasn't going to work as the damage was much worse above and below. I think the mainsail must have unhooked and pulled off the track and titanium section. I came back down. It was dark and raining. Extremely disappointed, I thought about setting off again, even though that meant I would only be able to sail with three reefs in. After talking it over, I changed my mind. An hour and a half to prepare the section of track measuring around 50 cm, a quick meal and a short nap until it was daylight. In the middle of the night, I heard a strange noise. I was drifting into weed. I unfurled the jib and headed south. The mooring rope was sliced through. With a few tacks I get back to my initial position. I can feel that there is weed wrapped around the keel. I anchor with the big anchor, + 15 m of chain and 10 m of a spinnaker sheet. At dawn, I am better prepared technically and psychologically, full of positive energy. Around 2h30 later, I'm satisfied. An explorer is strolling along the beach taking notes about the animals. Two worlds almost came together for a few hours, but we never got to meet. I head out of the bay with tons of weed around the keel and bulb. Over time they disappear. I enjoy that moment, setting out on a boat that will be capable of dealing with the lighter winds on the way back up the Atlantic."
Marc Guillemot (Safran) in an e-mail this morning
 

December 28. 2008 at 07:05An awesome experience for Sam

"It was just another normal day in the Southern Ocean, crisp and cold, a whitish grey light, and grey-blue sea. I looked aft, and there were two polar dolphins jumping in our wake. They've been following Roxy since last night. They are beautiful and stripy, and as far as I can see, they don't have a dorsal fin like their Atlantic cousins. There was an Albatross circling around us, and every so often he dipped towards the waves and when he climbed up again he was pedalling his feet like he was riding a bicycle! Very comic! Maybe he was just doing it to show off in front of me! At the same time, Roxy was hooning along, occasionally dipping the pole in the water and then zooming off at 23 knots down a wave, the pilot happily in control! I was just riveted to my perch on the dome, taking it all in! It's hard to do the scene justice with words, or even photos, but I couldn't stop smiling at how awesome this is and how amazingly lucky I am to be out here experiencing days like this."
Sam Davies (Roxy in her daily message
 

December 28. 2008 at 06:12Algimouss-Spirit of Canada suffers a knock-down

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) has suffered a massive knock-down and the top two spreaders on his mast have broken in half leaving the mast unsupported on the leeward side, the broken spreaders banging against the mast. At the time the Canadian skipper was sailing along under bare poles, when a huge wave knocked the boat on its side putting the mast in the water. Derek states that he was not injured and is going on deck to further assess the damage to the mast and come up with a plan of action.
 

December 27. 2008 at 23:02Marc Guillemot back in the race

Marc Guillemot and Safran left Sandy Bay off Enderby Island in the Auckland Islands at 20h30 GMT. Marc was able to carry out repairs to his mainsail track and set off less than 12 hours after dropping anchor in this sheltered bay.
 

December 27. 2008 at 20:05Greatest distance over 24 hours

Over the past 24 hours, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) currently in the lead, 9841.8 miles from the finish, sailed the greatest distance towards the finish.  Between 19h yesterday and this evening, he covered 337.1 miles
 

December 27. 2008 at 19:39Same themes, same problems, same places, even the same people.

Sunday 26th December  2004  Less than 10,000 miles to go for the leader, Jean le Cam
Sébastien Josse back in the race after hitting a growler on 23rd, which threw his rudders out of alignment

Monday 27th December 2004 Jean-Pierre Dick and Sébastien Josse continue with the repairs to their rudders

Tuesday 28th December 2004  At the front, Jean Le Cam increases his lead

Friday 31st December 2004  Marc Thiercelin in a bay in New Zealand announces he is abandoning the race.
A violent storm with 60-knot winds batters Sébastien Josse and Dominique Wavre.

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.