Vendée Globe

February 26. 2009 at 11:00Brian getting used to life ashore

"It is now just over a week after the finish of the Vendée Globe and I am home on the Isle of Wight with my wife Nathalie and children Genevieve and Tristan. Although I spent nearly a hundred days at sea, that time now feels very far away, as I quickly get reacclimatised to ‘normal’ life. I am relishing the freedom to walk, to run, to go outside the 60 foot radius I was limited to. I am loving being with the family, and to see people and talk to them face to face rather than over a scratchy phone line. I am absolutely amazed to go to a shop and see a cornucopia of goodies that I was not able to have for so long; fresh milk - just go and pick it up, vegetables - take what I wish, chocolate - which flavour would I like? I am relishing listening to the radio, picking up a newspaper, going to the cinema, walking on grass, seeing the first daffodils appear. It’s all new and fresh to me.

" Do I miss those last few weeks and days of the race, being stressed and covered in hydraulic oil, coaxing Bahrain Team Pindar to the finish line to keep 5th place? Not really.

" Do I miss the Southern Ocean, the warm tradewinds, the purity of the sea? Yes, I have been immensely privileged to see it once again, to live in that world for so long, to really understand we do live on a blue planet, wrapped by the sea. I am sure I will be back, hopefully in another Vendée, perhaps on another speed record attempt, and then one day cruising and showing the kids this wonderful world that we are entrusted with. I will never forget the finish of course, it was the most amazing experience, the most perfect morning to bring the circle to a close."

" There was a flotilla of boats at the finish that sped out at dawn from Les Sables to meet me like those helicopters in Apocalypse Now. As I crossed the finish line I sat on the bowsprit and enjoyed the feeling of elation and relief. Not till the last mile was I really sure I was going to make it, as just that night my keel pin had broken in two and I was sailing with just a free swinging keel, so was always concerned about Dee catching up during that final night. But the last mile I truly enjoyed, with all family, friends and supporters in the boats alongside enjoying the moment too. "

" Coming up the channel in Les Sables it was just astonishing to see so many people lining the walls to welcome me back, total strangers who just embraced the adventure of the race and wanted to be part of it. I had not really slept in two days but the energy of the crowds kept me going all that day, and those memories will certainly never fade. Thanks to everyone who wrote to me during the race and those who logged on to our site and had their own Vendée experience."

Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar)

February 26. 2009 at 09:19Slow in the Water

Les Sables d'Olonne is glassy calm this morning, with just a few ripples out on the water. At 0800hrs GMT this morning Steve White still had over 20 miles to sail against what wind there is. He was making just over seven knots but it is does not seem like he will break the line before 1100hrs (midday local) and then will have a wait of three hours to get in the canal. But it is another lovely sunny day, with mild Spring-like temperatures and so the wait continues.....

February 26. 2009 at 08:52Steve slowed this morning

Steve White's progress towards the finish was slowed down this morning. The skipper of Toe in the Water is having to tack in fading winds blowing at just 5 knots. At 07h30 GMT, he was still 23 miles from the finish. This means he is likely to reach the finish line at around noon today

February 26. 2009 at 07:21Slow finish for Steve

At 0330hrs GMT this morning Steve White still had 37 miles to go to the finish line to complete his eighth place in the Vendee Globe. Winds are very light this morning and Steve has slowed to just 3 knots since and so he is not expected on the finish line before 0830hrs GMT (0930hrs local time) to 0930 hrs GMT (1030hrs local time).

February 26. 2009 at 07:17Happy Birthday from One Adventurer to Another

Rich Wilson, USA (Great American III): 

"1823 utc 32/26 n 41/47 w   5.1 kts @319T   solent and full main, broad reaching, more stable in light winds than big sail i think. difficult 24 hours. tried to get across high pressure ridge last night. as one wraps around where you think the end of it might be, the wind will supposedly
follow you. as we weren't making much progress, at 1-2 knots, thought best  to try to cross perpendicularly, to make the crossing shorter. as ridge was ne/sw, we headed nw. 4 times the wind changed direction to suggest it was coming in from s or sw, so gybed 4 times, and then it did, but then it didn't, so gybed back, 8 gybes in all last night, all at 2-5 knots, very frustrating. would try to sleep in between, do the gybe, turn off the lights on the instruments so i couldn't see them, and sleep, since i hadn't been in the bunk really for weeks. worked ok, got some good naps, but also awoke twice to pilot off, and mainsail aback and solent aback when one of
these wind shifts would come in. all a tease. ended up this morning simply heading higher on starboard up into ridge, it seemed as though we actually were across almost, and then late in the afternoon gybed back nw again because we were getting lifted right back up into the zero wind zone. and as we get to nw, should get headed up toward north. then the next huge high
comes in with ne winds. and the grib file shows that the long range shows a giant depression in bay of biscay when we get out of the high finally. we'll see how to approach that."

" The best thing about today is that it is my mother's birthday - Happy Birthday Mom! My mother was the original adventurer in our family, going to Alaska to work at a radio station in Fairbanks in 1938.This was 20 years before the Alaskan Territory became a state. Her show was called "Tundra Topics"!. When people nowadays go to Alaska as a great frontier, I wonder what it must have been like for a single woman to go there 70 years ago. And she thinks nothing of it! What an inspiration she is. We have a photo of her with a friend swimming in a lake there, with a distant shore of trees a mile or two behind, and on closer inspection, you see that the white in between the two swimmers and the shore in the distance, is ice! There she was, my mom swimming in an ice-filled Alaskan lake! She looks as though she is working on her stroke! Elle est incroyable! Happy Birthday Mom! I love you very much and wish I was there with you today."

February 26. 2009 at 07:11Dee, at home in the UK

"It is lovely to be back in the UK and today I was able to catch up with some very special people locally. The morning started early as I joined Julian Clegg on the morning breakfast radio show at Radio Solent. From here I went to school assembly at Alverstoke Junior School. I had a very special person to return. Sizzles the bear is the only bear to sail around the world in both directions and he returned to the children at school where he is resident in reception. The children asked questions and showed me their work they had done as they followed Aviva and I around the world on the Vendee Globe.  The afternoon allowed me to keep the washing machine going and slowly unpack from being away for so long before appearing live on Meridian TV. Tomorrow I am returning to Leeds Met Carnegie for an assessment following the physical exertion of the race. I am looking forward to having my body checked by physios."

Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message yesterday evening

February 25. 2009 at 10:09Dee returning home

"Today I leave France and head home for the first time since my arrival in Les Sables D'Olonne. I am very excited and yet quite sad to be leaving a finished chapter of my life behind. This really is now the end of an 18 month project.  My final few days in France have been wonderful and it began by greeting Arnaud Boissieres (Cali) sailing on Akena at the end of his race. We share a special bond after spending so much of our race sailing together and it was fabulous to see him home and get a huge welcome as the local boat and sailor in the race. The day was busy as I headed to Paris to meet Sam Davies for an interview in French on National French TV. Thankfully Sam's fluent French helped me out loads. Yesterday was a day for the local Vendée region and it began with a visit to the Sodebo Factory. They are the race partners and make the greatest pizzas. I saw how they are made and realised just how big the Sodebo empire is. It was a dream come true for me to have lunch with Sodebo food and I would like to thank them for great hospitality and of course the fantastic food. In the afternoon I went back to school and went into the class at the College Jean Monnet that had followed Aviva in the Vendee Globe Race. The children had prepared a presentation of all the work they have done covering languages, geography, science and art. It was lovely to be met with such enthusiasm and I signed many posters. I was also able to return Gully, the Seagull who completed the race with me onboard Aviva and who was a present from the children. The evening was fun as Cali and I were on TV Vendée. We did the show together before the race and so it was great to do the same again and he is always very patient with my French and I must say his English has improved loads during the race as we have communicated often, him in English and me in French. I am still quite tired and I know it will take time to recover from the race but I am pleased to be going home to sleep in my bed and use my bathroom."

Dee Caffari (Aviva) in her daily message sent yesterday evening

February 25. 2009 at 09:40Latest ETAs

Based on this morning's weather charts and positions, Météo France has come up with the following ETAs for the next three boats.

- Toe in the Water: between 09h00 and 18h00 GMT on Thursday 26th February
- Great American III : from Thursday 5th March to Saturday 7th March
- Raphael Dinelli : between 9th and 11th March

February 24. 2009 at 20:53Frustration does not come close

Rich Wilson, Great American III: "Heading away from France, trying to cross high pressure ridge, after that, you have to look at the weather maps to see how long this could take, a high pressure system comes in very far north to give ne winds from here to France."

" Frustrating does not describe what I feel."

February 24. 2009 at 09:10Latest ETAs

Based on this morning's weather charts and positions, Météo France has come up with the following ETAs for Steve White and Rich Wilson.

- Toe in the Water: between 03h00 and 18h00 GMT on Thursday 26th February
- Great American III : from 00h00 GMT on Thursday 5th March to 00h00 on Saturday 7th March