Vendée Globe

February 03. 2009 at 12:30Latest ETAs

Armel Le Cléac’h, now in second place is expected to reach les Sables d’Olonne between 18h00 GMT on Thursday 5th February and 06h00 GMT on Saturday 7th February.
Samantha Davies and Marc Guillemot are likely to reach the finish between 18h00 GMT on 9th February and 18h00 GMT on 11th February.
Brian Thompson ETA between 12h00 GMT on 10th and 12h00 on 12th February.
Dee Caffari between 00h00 on 12th and 12h00 GMT on 14th February

For Armel Le Cléac’h conditions will be difficult to Cape Finisterre with a NW’ly wind blowing between 35 and 45 knots (gusting 50-60 knots in squalls) and heavy seas with 7-10 metre high waves. The wind is expected to reach its maximum strength between 18h00 this evening and 06h00 tomorrow morning
 

February 03. 2009 at 08:05Rich re-discovers the sun

“What a difference a day makes! Crystal blue skies, sea down, wind down, drifting along first NE then tacked NW to get to new wind a bit earlier, had a shower in the cockpit, had a shave, washed hair (pretty shaggy, will have to cut it soon). I saw a small pod of whales cross our wake about 1/4 mile behind, one pretty big one, and an errant flying fish, heading south, all by himself. I shouted to him "Wrong way! The warm water is this way!", but he paid me no mind. Jonny Malbon called today, what a great guy. He's taking a bit of time to de-stress from his Vendée Globe effort in the French Alps. Had a good chat, talked about wiring the other instruments on the deck somewhere. Really kind of him to call, and I greatly appreciate it. Contemplated going aloft to try to replace one of the instrument sets, but I need to get back to a routine of better sleep and food before tackling that, if indeed I decide to try it. We have a long way to go upwind, and the instrument steering is so much more efficient than compass steering. We'll see, no commitment one way or the other. Still off Buenos Aires, and the air IS good here. Sun was hot today, that is a first since we were in the South Atlantic so long ago.”
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message
 

February 03. 2009 at 07:20Psychological warfare

“Well, I’m totally becalmed! Just a few puffs now and then with the boat drifting at 1.5-2.5 knots south-eastwards. It’s really hard having to leave the sails up as they are flapping, so I’m worried about them. The cracking, rustling, dragging and clinking, when you are completely parked up at this stage of the race is like psychological warfare. Took advantage of the day to sew up the sail so I can use it two-thirds of first reef. Have also been taking photos and filming and have carried between 40 and 50 manoeuvres trying to get the boat moving since yesterday.”
Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch) in his daily message sent yesterday evening
 

February 03. 2009 at 06:57A scary fish and a friendly boat

“The trade winds train continues Northwards with Roxy, and it is starting to cool down a bit. I have got out my fleecy blanket to curl up in when I sleep, and soon the seawater showers are going to be "invigorating!" This morning, as I did the daily flying fish death count and clean-up, I discovered a really scary looking long fish!! He wasn't a flying version, and was probably minding his own business chasing his dinner when his world got churned up and dumped on Roxy's deck, the poor beast got trapped under the outhaul line, and his meal got spared to live another day! I have just crossed paths with a French cruising boat, who is on passage from Cape Verde to Pointe a Pitre! Luckily I have had my radar on as we are also crossing the "Transquadra" fleet. I saw the little blip on my radar cross just a mile and a half from Roxy so I called them up and we had a nice conversation and I gave them the latest weather information! That was the first time I have spoken to anyone on the VHF since the beginning of the race! They told me they'd seen my nav lights and my mast is so tall they thought that Roxy was a ship!”
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message
 

February 02. 2009 at 18:53Bilou moors up

Bilou has moored his boat in Ponta Delgada on the island of Sao Miguel. Welcomed by Nicolas de Castro and Luis Guervos, the sailor managed to bring his Veolia Environnement safely into port. He had repeated on several occasions that the duty of a good sailor above all involves taking care of his boat and not putting his or anyone else’s life in danger. Mission accomplished, even if everyone was looking forward to seeing the boat enter the harbour in Les Sables d’Olonne.

February 02. 2009 at 17:30Cali in, Dee out

"I’m close to Fernando de Norhonha, which is around ten miles to my beam. This is the first time I have been to the east of these islands. I was slowed during the night and this morning, but now I’m off again. The skies have been overcast since yesterday, which is a sign that I’m in the Doldrums. I haven’t yet had any squalls, but I have had a few calms, although I get going again afterwards. It’s not easy seeing what is ahead. I have some weather charts and the Doldrums don’t look as nasty as they were for Dee Caffari. I have narrowed the gap, but now she is out of the Doldrums, just as I’m going in. I could be out by tomorrow morning or still be here in three days. It takes just one cloud to get stopped. I’m pleased that I haven’t had to start the generator for 3 days. My fuel saving measures are working and the goal is to have enough left for the Northern Hemisphere."
Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) talking to his shore team earlier today
 

February 02. 2009 at 16:14Marc on the attack

Marc Guillemot (Safran) talking to his shore team this morning about his decision to head further west to round the high:

“I couldn’t stand it any more, as we were really slamming. I was tense and stressed like never before, so it really gave me a headache. That’s not why I chose this option, but since I changed course, it has been less violent. I could see off Brazil and as I went through the Doldrums, that as soon as I’m upwind and the wind eases off, Roxy is much faster than me. I could not remain passive in my fight with Sam. I’ve been thinking about it for two days and finally took my decision yesterday morning. It’s an option. So naturally there are some risks, but for the moment I’m not unhappy about what I’m doing. All of the routing shows I should have more favourable conditions than Sam (Roxy), but also in comparison to Armel (Brit Air). We’ll see…"

 

February 02. 2009 at 15:01Latest ETAs

Armel Le Cléac’h, now in second place is expected to reach les Sables d’Olonne between 00h00 GMT on 5th February and 06h00 GMT on 7th February.
Samantha Davies and Marc Guillemot are likely to reach the finish between 12h00 GMT on 9th February and 12h00 GMT on 11th February.
Brian Thompson ETA between 10th and 12th February.
Dee Caffari between 11th and 13th February
Arnaud Boissières between 13th and 15th February.

For the final four, the ETA’s are still not very precise. Steve White should finish around 20th February, Rich Wilson on around 27th, Raphaël Dinelli around 6th March and Norbert Sedlacek on 11th March. These ETAs are based on the current positions and do not take into account changes in the weather for the weeks ahead.
 

February 02. 2009 at 10:55Dee's thoughts on Michel Desjoyeaux

“To watch him is totally inspiring. Even for people who are not interested in sailing, it has been an amazing performance. It makes me think about what I have to do to be like that. If you look at the race, it has probably been the hardest race there has ever been so his victory means so much more. It’s a bigger achievement than previous wins. There were 30 skippers at the start and now there are 12 and all the things that have happened along the way means that if you finish, you can take a lot from it. It’s no mean feat. He didn’t just win, he did it in such style. He had to restart and was 40 hours behind everyone else when he did that. He sailed a truly incredible race throughout. It is impressive to be part of the same race. And then when he arrived in Les Sables d’Olonne he would have looked cool. He would have had a shave and a wash and a change of clothes. He would not have come in looking like he’d spent 80 days at sea. He would have come in looking like he was going out for dinner. That is part of the Desjoyeaux package. So cool."
Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message talking about Michel Desjoyeaux’s victory
 

February 01. 2009 at 21:10The most difficult 24 hours

“The past 24 hours have been among the most difficult so far. A huge low, much wider east-west than forecast, has taken its toll. After finally  getting to the west side which had the southerly winds, we took off at high speed with storm jib and 3 reefs in the mainsail in the late afternoon/evening. Into the dark the wind built from 25-30-35-40-45-50knots. It turns out that we had the fastest run for that period in the fleet. It was not intentional. The pilot was doing well, set on its highest response settings, but the wind and boatspeed kept rising. The highest I saw was 24.5 knots, the fastest of the whole race. Finally at about 3 am I realized that this could only end in disaster, the wind was not abating, and there was not way to know how much we might get, or how big the seas might get. Already, they were 25' and climbing, just gigantic, breaking in every direction, angry, and huge, gigantic masses of water with no good intentions. Another risk is if the mainsail is down and the boatspeed drops to 4 or 5 knots with just the storm jib, then you are at the mercy of the seas, and could get rolled over. There is dynamic stability in speed. Anyway, decided to try, had one arm in the foul weather gear, and the worst happened, the boat veered high, then low as the pilot tried to correct, I saw the number 40 degrees low, OH NO, then a huge CRASH, and the boat laid over on its side. The boat had gybed, and now the wind was on the wrong side of the mainsail, and the keel was canted fully on the wrong side. The boat laid over at about 70 degrees of heel and just sat there, then the autopilot alarm went off, just to add to the fray. Got the jacket on, helmet on, gloves on, and went into the cockpit sideways. All old handholds are useless when you turn your world on its side. Waves were washing down the deck, but not too much coming into the cockpit because it was to leeward. The mast was still there. I tried to jam the tiller over, no response. Then I remembered, that is not the sequence. This has happened in various conditions 3 times before. OK, got to the keel, walking along the walls below, center the keel with the keel motor winch, was able to do this, and good that the batteries were up. Then go to the cockpit and try the tiller again, to try to gybe back. The boat was now more upright with the keel movement, and I pushed the tiller over hard, nothing, then something, then here it comes, she's turning, oh boy there's going to be a gigantic CRASH when it gybes back, hang on and duck, BAM, the mainsail gybed back again. I write this in the late afternoon, the wind is down to 35 knots, the seas are still gigantic, and perhaps I'll try to get the main back up before it gets dark if the wind continues to abate a bit. Anyway, dodged a gigantic bullet there, could have lost the rig, runners, could have gotten hurt trying to get the boat back in its right direction, or in bringing the sail down.”
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message