Vendée Globe

December 29. 2008 at 20:05Greatest distance over 24 hours

Over the past 24 hours, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) currently in the lead, 9558.6 miles from the finish, sailed the greatest distance towards the finish. Between 19h yesterday and this evening, he covered 398.6 miles

December 29. 2008 at 18:12Unai heading for Portugal

After retiring from the race on 7th December, Unai Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia) is continuing to head up the Atlantic and is currently sailing off the Canaries. He now intends to stop in Cascaïs in Portugal on 2nd January to spend a few days there, which will allow him to get some more fuel, rest and study the weather before heading up the coast of Spain into the Bay of Biscay. His goal is still to sail all the way home to Bilbao, which he should reach in the first half of January.
 

December 29. 2008 at 17:37Derek explains

"I have just notified the race committee that I must officially retire from the Vendee Globe 2008/09. After the knock down and damage to the mast I continued to look for solutions to fix the broken spreaders while the mast is still standing. After considering all the options we have concluded that it is not possible to make a repair without outside assistance, which is not allowed in this race. I was hoping I would wake up and it was all a bad dream. It's time to move on with a plan to move forward. We have accomplished so much; building the IMOCA 60 in Canada, preparing and qualifying for the hardest race in the world and unfortunately being knocked out indiscriminately like so many others, among them some of the elite single-handed sailors in the world. At first I was devastated, not for me, but for those individuals and corporate sponsors that have helped us get this far. But in the last few days, their words to me of encouragement have shown me that we have nothing to be ashamed about; that we tried our best and played well. I'm not sure if we made a difference or not but I think you will agree that this type of event truly captures the imagination of the world. These thoughts have turned it around for me and now I'm ready to move forward. The immediate plan is to take the boat to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It's just under 900 miles away and it will take me about 8 more days to reach port. If the mast is still standing when I get there, we will be able to remove it from the boat and fix the spreaders and the mast will be whole again. We have been in contact with other teams and preparing ourselves to ship Spirit of Canada home, saving all the wear and tear on the boat and crew. Once back in the northern hemisphere, we can refurbish the boat and prepare it for what's next."

Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada)
 

December 29. 2008 at 16:51Derek Hatfield officially retires

At 1527hrs GMT it was confirmed that Derek Hatfield's retirement from the sixth Vendee Globe has been received. Hatfield said:

" I have now considered all of the options for our continuing and have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to do so without assistance to help with the mast. I therefore must resign from the race effective immediately. I will continue to Australia and consider how we will repatriate the boat back to France."

December 29. 2008 at 15:15Sébastien Josse officially retires

At 14h01 today, The Vendée Globe Race Directors received an e-mail from the team director, Mark Turner officially declaring that Sébastien Josse was retiring from the race. He becomes the thirteenth competitor to retire since the start. Sébastien Josse decided on Monday morning to head for Auckland (New Zealand) because of his damaged rudder (see photo).
 

December 29. 2008 at 14:48Bernard Stamm on Reunion Island tomorrow

Currently  aboard the Marion Dufresne, Bernard Stamm is due to reach Reunion Island tomorrow with his Cheminées Poujoulat, which is also aboard the supply vessel.
"Since leaving the Kerguelen Islands with the Marion Dufresne, things have gradually calmed down. I’m getting my spirits up a little and I can start thinking and functioning again by looking a bit further ahead than the few minutes which follow each event. The boat has to be assessed and I’m going to analyse her as fully as I can, so I can learn as much as possible about what happened before, during and after racing. I was incredibly lucky that the Marion Dufresne was in the Kerguelen Islands when I arrived. Without that the boat would have been matchsticks. We don’t yet know if the boat can be repaired or not. We’re going to examine the boat and only after this will I be able to clarify what the next few months will involve."
 

December 29. 2008 at 11:45An unexpected visitor

"I passed south of Auckland Islands last night and had a pretty bumpy ride during the night time hours. When dawn broke I had a call asking for my position out here in the middle of nowhere in the Southern Ocean. Three hours later a call came again with a familiar voice and asked for my position again. Ten minutes later a plane was overhead and Dave Greenberg with three buddies were flying around Aviva and saying hi. It was awesome to hear a familiar voice and see people in the plane even if I could not see faces. It was quite murky still and the wind was gusty but I sat on deck grinning like a Cheshire cat. In 2004/5 on the Global Challenge, Dave was the winchman involved in the rescue of a sick crew member on New Year’s day. Then again in 2005/6 on the Aviva Challenge, Dave flew out off the South Island of New Zealand and collected some video tapes from me on Valentine’s Day. Now here we are again in his neck of the woods and he came and took some photos of me and Aviva. It was very cool and it seems that I am not destined to pass New Zealand without a visit from either a plane or a helicopter. Still it made Aviva happy as she is after all a kiwi!"

Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message
 

December 29. 2008 at 10:22Christmas over for Steve

"Since I wrote last, there have been some real highs and lows, I think for me the most extreme of the race so far. I have to say Christmas day was thoroughly miserable,  so much so I nearly wasn't going to mention it. I felt I was on a go slow at the back of the fleet on a broken boat, on the opposite side of the world to my family who I really missed, and I have come here to race after all not cruise, and it was very, very difficult at that moment as you see the leaders slipping away, those behind gaining on you as you feel you are just firefighting breakages all the time. Alone on a boat all emotions are heightened, so all of the above coupled with some very touching Christmas cards and a sad book for a present meant I was really struggling. I had to give myself a really good talking to and examine why I was here, what I have gone through to get here, and what the event meant to me. Sometime in the early hours of Boxing Day I awoke to a sharp cracking noise and thought the worst, that the boom had come off, but no, it was my small wooden Christmas tree which had come unstuck from the chart table and had hit the chart table all at once with a sharp crack right by my ear. I took that as a sign and packed it away and put Christmas and all of the associated emotions firmly behind me. So after having given myself a good kick up the backside I pulled my finger out and had quite a good run over the next period - maybe I tried a little too hard, the generator ripped off its mountings and is currently lashed down! Another job, but a quick and easy fix when it calms down in the next forty eight hours. I am absolutely fine now, and looking forward to getting past New Zealand, getting the boat mended and weather wise having a somewhat nicer time in the Pacific that we have had in the Indian Ocean. I want to try and get a few miles back on the boats in front of me by Cape Horn.."
Steve White (Toe in the Water) in his daily mesage
 

December 29. 2008 at 08:05A hard job

"For once, I'm going to talk about sailing. I know that's not really an original idea, but it is in the news. Today I lowered the mainsail to replace a batten and that is the first time I've had to do that on this boat. Eight years ago, I had to do that almost every day, changing them over, repairing them, as I only had 12. Up until the Azores I worked on them. In the end, I was an expert. I hoisted the mainsail in two goes, really annoyed. In fact, what is hard is not lowering the sail nor changing the battens, although it was the top one, it is getting the sail around the outside of the lazy jacks, as this requires patience and care. I had forgotten how good it was to see the job done. In any case, the Pacific is being kind to us for the moment with lots of sunny days, which is a change in the dark world we had on the other side of Tasmania. Perfect for some work in the garden this afternoon."
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in his daily message
 

December 29. 2008 at 07:24An inspiration to so many

"Despondent about Derek. After returning for repairs after the start, he had sailed brilliantly through the Atlantic, catching up many miles. He was relentless and had gained on our group of 2 (with Artemis) to make a group of 3. Brothers in arms through the last week of severe gales of 45-55knots each. Our group talked on the phone through these gales, and through Christmas. We were all in the same sea state that rolled Derek, so it could have happened to any of our 3, frightening. We will miss him from our little group. Derek's project is one of the great ones in the Vendee Globe. Starting with no sponsor, no boat, he raised money via a group of 10,000 supporters that he gained one by one by relentless pr work, he built the boat by himself, an extraordinary feat, he made hundreds of corporate presentations to no sponsorship avail until the very end, almost too late to help, no big shore crew, and on and on. He is a great ambassador for the Vendee Globe to Canada and North America. He has so much to be proud of with his project, even if he won't finish this race. Surely hundreds of thousands of people are inspired by his total effort, people whom he will never meet will change their lives because of him, and his retirement from the race does not dilute this impact one bit. Derek, I'm sure you'll be disappointed and discouraged by not finishing this course, but be proud of your total effort, be proud of the inspirational impact you will have on countless numbers of people. You're an inspiration to me for certain."
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message