Vendée Globe

January 27. 2009 at 07:06Happy Birthday, Norbert

On the eve of his birthday at around 20h00, the Austrian skipper passed the final Ice Gate. Today, Norbert Sedlacek is celebrating his 47th birthday! The route is clear ahead of Nauticsport-Kapsch. He can now dive south to get around Cape Horn, which he is likely to reach in a week or so.

January 27. 2009 at 06:55Spanners out again for Brain

“Bahrain Team Pindar is through the Rio doldrums and heading up past the coast of Brazil. Sailing upwind in 6-13 knots of breeze, the wind is quite shifty with more squalls than usual in this part of the world, but we are making decent stop 'n' go progress towards Les Sables. The air here is crystal clear so the clouds are incredibly sharp. At night the stars are almost down to the horizon. The sun at midday is straight above me as the sun’s declination is similar to the boat’s latitude, so the combination of clear air and the vertical sun could make a recipe for sunburn. But little chance of sunburn as just when I thought I would start getting on top of the job list a spanner gets thrown at me! Both Sunday and today I have spent a lot of time working on the alternator down below. It had overheated in the early hours of Sunday because the fan disc at the front had become loose and then damaged. I had the old alternator, and I tried to cannibalise the parts of that, and it took most of the day on Sunday to take apart, as it had been put together with powerful air tools. Eventually I got it done, which was a big relief, and ran the engine. Concurrently, I worked on the wind generator which was not charging either, but have not yet solved that one. Today I noticed that the alternator fan disc was still not quite right and worked again on improvements by further adapting the 2 broken alternators to make one good one. Fingers crossed this time it’s a winner, I will be trying it tonight.”
“All these repairs mean that I cannot be quite as on top of the sailing as I would like and I consequently end up reacting to events rather than anticipating them and taking best advantage of them. Using squalls would be an example of this, and I am letting the pilot do all the steering except in the lightest conditions and biggest of gusts. I have lost a little to Sam and Marc, but I think that is more a function of the differing winds we have. I am still on deck every 10 minutes, but then I am usually back below to continue work straight away. Overall, the boat is going well with the J1 and the full main. At times, I take a short break and just watch the boat sail, and take in the amazing SE tradewind scenery of sky, clouds and sea. And there can be a great sense of satisfaction to have overcome another set of hurdles. At the same time the mileage to Les Sables shrinking, and that’s when the checks, repairs and maintenance will end.”
Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) in his daily message
 

January 26. 2009 at 08:44Mainsail car problem on Nauticsport-Kapsch

Yesterday evening at around 22.00 GMT, the mainsail car on Nauticsport-Kapsch got stuck again, but this time not at first reef, but second. It was very windy and wet and Norbert found it very difficult to free the car. After a struggle, he managed to bring it down and lower the mainsail. After that, the Austrian sailor had to remove the car and dismantle everything to be able to get the car back on its track. This took him seven and a half hours, but the result is that now he can only use his mainsail to second reef.

January 26. 2009 at 08:04Rich approaching the Horn

“On course for Cape Horn 150 miles ahead. Solent and 2 reefs in the main, broad reaching, being very conservative, considering where we are. Planning to go across the shelf as seas are moderate. A wave in the weather system is coming through later tonight, don't know what to expect exactly, but will gybe to the south, when the wind shifts to the west, and then back when it shifts back later on. The goal is as much Staten Island, 150nm beyond Cape Horn as Horn island itself, as only after Staten Island can you then turn north. A day of gray, misty rain, some sun between the clouds, steady wind about 20 knots. Hoping this continues through the night and that the fronts of the wave are not too harsh.”
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message sent last night
 

January 26. 2009 at 07:44No rest on Sunday

“There was no such thing as Sunday being a day of rest today on Aviva. Looking at the weather files I knew today was going to be light and there is a chance that we will only have light conditions for today. After that we should see ourselves in breeze of varying strengths all the way to the doldrums, but this transition zone was going to have to be crossed. This did signal alarm bells but also a realisation that this was my chance to get the repair sorted on the mainsail. When conditions are light you hate stopping your boat but it was a case of needs must. I dropped the main just before lunch as the wind was easing and, asking my pilot to keep us heading in the right direction albeit slowly, I began fixing the mistakes I made last time and then doing the same job on the other side of the mainsail. More sikaflex, perhaps more over me than the sail, more tape and this time some stitching. Three hours of backwards and forwards, especially when stitching, as I had to go from one side of the mainsail to the other - it must have looked quite comical. Then eventually I re hoisted - pleased with my work. I really had then hit the light patch of wind, so my exercise levels continued as I changed headsail for the code 0, to try and keep us moving. Progress is up and down now but I am too exhausted to worry too much. I am drinking loads of water as I have caught a bit too much sun on my back doing the repairs. I am pleased to have got the job done and now I am satisfied that I continue to ghost along with every puff of wind and hope I can make up any miles lost during this maintenance session today.”
Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message
 

January 26. 2009 at 06:52Holiday weather for Sam

“I am writing this as a little squall is passing over Roxy. We are going upwind on starboard. Yesterday has been pretty full-on, as I am sailing Roxy at the top of the wind range for the solent. This is perfect sailing, except the fact that all morning yesterday I had squalls that were shifting the wind quite considerably, so I was easing the sails in the gusts as we were being lifted onto a tight reach. Easing is fine, trimming back on after the shift has returned is a different matter! In these conditions, the sheet load is maximum, and I have to put all my weight on the grinder to get the winch to turn! Quite exhausting work! The conditions are ideal, it is hot, sunny and the sea is turquoise blue - real holiday weather! I'm making the most of it as I believe things are quite different back at home!”

Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message
 

January 25. 2009 at 07:25Roxy "on fire"

“Today I have had a whole 24 hours without stopping for the first time in 6 days! Yippee! At last Roxy is happy to be doing speeds of over ten knots. She's skipping over the waves. No more slowing down until we're in the channel in Les Sables d'Olonne, I hope! Everything is in maximum stacked positions, the rig and sails are just perfect and we're "on Fire." When I download my weather information, morning and evening, I take a sneaky look at the messages page on my website. It is so amazing and encouraging to see so many people who are supporting me in this race from all over the world. It is a moment in my day that I look forward to now and afterwards I am motivated than ever.”
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message
 

January 25. 2009 at 06:50An unsettling position

“Solent and 2 reefs. Gray, gray, gray. Albatross flying around. Barograph steady at 993mb. Heading south as a bit more favorable within the parameters of wind shifts in the next few days, bit awkward wind shifts that will make it longer to get to Cape Horn. Not planned, tried to stay away in fact, but had to gybe this morning because of our lift, and now find ourselves eerily in the lat/long of our capsize in 1990 (55s/79w). Did not want this reminder, did not want to think about it if not necessary. A bit unsettling.”
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily log
 

January 24. 2009 at 07:36Dee's special day

“I have had a very special day today. I think being alone at sea allowed me to celebrate my birthday with more people than I would have at home. I had messages and phone calls from other skippers, messages from friends and family as well as an overwhelming number from supporters following the race and Aviva's progress. The team had stashed some presents and numerous cards onboard so I was able to open them and enjoy the fact that a present was a chocolate sponge pudding and a bottle of diet coke. They both tasted fantastic but were over way too quick.  The other present was the fact that the wind filled in this morning.  Probably a couple of hours after Brian on Pindar which explains his get away, but Aviva has been sailing a great pace all day in the right direction. Blue skies with fluffy clouds have surrounded us and the sea has been smooth making it comfortable sailing. My only concern is listening to the fluttering of the repair I did the other day on the mainsail blowing in the wind, as half of it has come unstuck and now it will need to wait a couple of days for the right conditions to drop the main and fix it again. Still while we are making good progress it reduces the number of days my mainsail needs to last for!”
Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message
 

January 24. 2009 at 07:10The show must go on

“After yet another agonisingly slow day, I really do hope that we have finally hooked into the Easterly trade winds. The wind certainly does not do what it is forecast to do, as instead of 10-15 knots, today I had a frustrating 2-4 knots all day. As you can imagine, it has been tough for the morale as I have seen more miles evaporate away as Roxy wallows around and everyone else speeds on forwards. I had a music session on my ipod at dusk, to try to forget my frustrations. I discovered some good songs, amongst others, from Queen’s greatest hits that worked well "The Show Must Go On", "Killer Queen"..... Now I have found my ten knots of wind, although difficult at first as I passed through a line of squalls that shifted the wind more than 100 degrees several times. It is pitch black and I have just been on deck trimming the sails for the next squall cloud and I was surprised by a very cheeky black bird who is sitting on my coachroof, just a meter away from me. I squawked back at him, which made him flap his wings a bit, but he stood his ground and carried on staring at me as if to say "get on with your job and stop staring at me". But I couldn't help giving him a big blast of torch light right in the eyes just to show who really is the boss!”
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message