Based on this morning's weather charts and positions, Météo France has come up with the following ETAs for the next three boats.
- Great American III: Friday 6th March or Saturday 7th March
- Fondation Océan Vital: between 9th and 11th March
- Nauticsport-Kapsch: between 13th and 15th March
"Heading north by a little west, trying to get to the high, to then get to other side for favorable westerlies. sailing with staysail and 3 reefs in main. supposed to get lifted during the day. Only now, late, are we getting that. angle was so bad that I headed in the other direction east by doing a
gybe, to see if i would be close to the course, and given the sea state. I wasn't , so had to gybe back to this course and continue north."
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily log
"Solent to staysail to storm jib, one reef to two reefs to three reefs, 35 knots of wind, ne, heading 335T, 8 knots, need I say more? Boat pounding itself badly. This all to get north into the high to wrap around and go to France. France right now is perpendicular to our course. Upwind with 3
reefs and the storm jib, so what else is new?"
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message
After setting sail from Ushuaïa on 31st January on board the Russian cargo vessel Peter Rönna, Vincent Riou's monohull will be back in Brittany tomorrow. She is due to be unloaded tomorrow evening at around 20h. From first light the next day, PRB's shore team will take her from Lorient around to Port La Forêt, which should take around 6 hours, as the voyage is around thirty miles. Late on Sunday morning, PRB should be back in her home base, where she will undergo a minor refit next week.
At 22.00hr GMT yesterday Derek Hatfield departed Hobart, Tasmania on the reconditioned IMOCA 60 Algimouss Spirit of Canada. The Canadian, forced to retire from the Vendée Globe because of damage to his spreaders, is determined to sail his boat back to the North Atlantic.
Harry McGougan has joined Mike Golding as Technical Team Manager/Boat Captain. He joins the team after working alongside Alex Thomson for the past two editions of the Vendee Globe. He will immediately set to work on the minor refit that is planned for Ecover 3 in Gosport. A few small modifications will be made and she will be given a new paint job before being relaunched. The replacement mast, which is currently stored at JMV in Cherbourg will arrive in Gosport on the 5th March. Meanwhile Ecover 3’s carbon keel has just arrived at JMV and is currently being surveyed. It did not actually fail, but there are cracks appearing on the keel head which need to be explored fully. On completion of the work the yacht will be launched and fully sail tested to ensure that rig, keel and all modifications are in order.
