“Fantastic sailing on board Bahrain Team Pindar this afternoon as the wind has started to appear and push me fast towards the finish at least as far as Buenos Aires. Last night I fixed the engine problem that I had, which was caused by the clutch sticking on the engine driven hydraulic pump. This was overheating and causing the burning smell I had earlier. To repair it, I had to ease the clutch away from the engine, and then cut some shim plate and use it to keep the clutch away from the engine by just 2mm. Now working on the open port iridium communication system and the wind generator.”

“Happily the solar panels are really kicking in some power in the bright Southern hemisphere sun and clear air. I would be really keen on working on the alternative energy sources for this boat. It is particularly applicable to a really long race like the Vendee, where it adds redundancy, saves weight and reduces our carbon footprint. With a combination of the latest technology solar panels, wind generators, and a specially developed water generator off the transom it could provide all the power needed. It has been interesting to see what an impact the alternative energy has made to our fuel consumption on this trip, I think I am taking less than half the fuel of most boats.”

“Earlier today I had to stop for 20 minutes to clear weed from the keel and the leeward rudder. There are lots of clumps of heavy kelp around, probably broken free during storms from the Falkland islands. I rolled the gennaker, trimmed in the mainsail, eased off the mast rotator and runners and spun the boat into the wind. It soon weathercocked head to wind and started to go backwards. I saw the kelp come off the rudder and a little bit float away from the keel. I went down to the bow and looked underwater with the endoscope, there was still kelp on the keel, that had somehow wrapped itself around the keel fin. I was pondering whether I would have to go swimming in the 9 degree water, as I went head to wind again and then tried sailing off on starboard. Luckily for me, that did the trick, and the weed had gone when I checked again”

Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) in his daily message
 

"Another calm day, but that doesn’t worry me. Today I carried out an inventory of my food supplies and I have enough for at least 70 more days. I spent the day filming, taking pictures and tidying up. Worked a bit on the book and thought things over. It was really my first relaxing, calm day at sea, which I really enjoyed, as I didn’t have other things on my mind. I think that is fine as there will be tougher days ahead."
Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch) in his daily message from last night
 

"Today has been a peaceful day in the South Atlantic. With a light wind and a flat sea, the decks have remained dry and Roxy has been full main + solent for the first time in weeks! It is so nice to be able to go on deck without oilskins and boots, and to be able to move around without risk of being catapulted off balance! I have managed to get some rest, go through my check-list, and also some maintenance and running repairs such as splicing work to repair my chaffed reef lines. Roxy has been drying out and so have my oilskins (at last!)I have also spent a fair amount of time pouring over weather files, none of which say the same thing. I have concluded that the next few days will be complicated, frustrating and a little slow. I need to cross my fingers, whistle for the wind and trust my feelings! Right now Roxy is gliding along happily under the starry night and I'm going to set my alarm for 90 minutes and get some "zeds" whilst the conditions allow..."
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message
 

"I had a very interesting night behind Staten Island as the storm force northerlies blew down. For the first couple of hours it was relatively calm with 20 knots of wind and the boat comfortably sat hove to by a couple of tiny granite islands with just 4 reefs in the mainsail. Then the clouds started to increase, the rain began and the wind crept up. I started to sail up and down the 30 mile island to find the most sheltered spot.  I certainly seemed to have found the windiest at one point with violent 50 knot williwaws (gusts) coming down through a gap in the tall mountains. I sailed away downwind of this spot in driving rain so thick the radar could not pick out the tiny islands, and a very general chart on the computer. I used the old track of the boat on the computer and the GPS to reference our position against the landmarks so as not to hit the islands. A few miles downwind of the gap the winds fanned out and weakened to 30 knots so I hove to again with just the 4 reefs, lashed the wheels together to protect the rudders, and went below to monitor our position. Fortunately there was a current taking us to windward and with the leeway the boat was making through the water, we sat in roughly the same spot, 2 miles off the land. I stayed up to monitor our position and the weather until the wind dropped away at dawn as the depression passed almost overhead. The barometer dropped to 963mb which is very low. I then set the wind alarm and grabbed a short sleep. Before long the wind had started coming in from the SW, at 10 knots. Within 15 minutes this was 30 knots and I was heading for the west end of the island and the end of the Tierra del Fuegan holiday. By the time I was clear of the island it was up to 45 knots and the 4 reefs in the main quite adequate in the short sea that was coming from the previous northerly winds. So for a few hours I was in the eye of the storm as all around the winds raged in all directions. The day was spent sailing fast to the Falklands in increasing winds and seas. Wind was steadily between 45 and 55 knots and the seas got up to at least 7 metres despite the only 200 mile fetch to Patagonia. It felt just like the other side of the Horn. It was certainly the right thing to do to shelter from this storm, as I was not in the windiest zone, and it was plenty enough wind. In the evening I was approaching the Falklands so I did not sleep at all to make sure that we avoided the rocky coastline. The Falklands are likely to be the last land I see until the finish in about a month’s time."
Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) in his daily message

"Boat taking terrible pounding in 18-22 foot cross seas, breaking seas. Boat motion is violent, dangerous outside on deck, and dangerous inside also--must be braced in every direction at all times. I eased the keel cant some last night so that the boat would crash land more on her side than on her bottom, that seemed to help. To go into the engine/keel compartment for that adjustment, I felt it necessary to wear my helmet in case I got thrown across the compartment. With a winch, jammers, and a vise, all very hard objects that I might fetch up on, I could get hurt. Only about 2 hours sleep in last 40 or so, watching instruments, trying to think of anything I could do to ease the onslaught. I kept easing the mainsail out, until almost not bearing at all, and that seemed to help. The sea state is big and chaotic, and no sail adjustments are going to solve that."

Rich Wilson (Great American III)

After a long voyage back up the Atlantic following his retirement from the Vendée Globe on the 7th December because of a damaged rudder, the Basque sailor Unai Basurko finally reached his home port of Getxo (Bilbao) late this morning. It was clearly an emotional time for the skipper of Pakea Bizkaia, as the crowds turned out to welcome him home in brilliant sunshine.