Vendée Globe

March 07. 2009 at 11:48Aviva back in Gosport

Since her celebratory voyage up the Thames last week, Dee Caffari's Aviva has returned to her home port of Gosport, where she will be taken out of the water and stripped down next week. The yellow monohull will then be prepared for the Calais Round Britain Race, which is the next major date on the calendar for Dee Caffari.

March 07. 2009 at 10:55Tacking towards les Sables

This morning, Rich Wilson (Great American III) is still being pushed along by a westerly flow forcing him to gybe towards Les Sables d'Olonne that he is likely to reach on Tuesday. In spite of sailing at more than ten knots, his speed towards the finish is only around 7.7 knots. He is still followed by Raphael Dinelli (Fondation Ocean Vital) who has accelerated since repairing his boom and is now some 600 miles behind the American. Finally, the Austrian, Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch) is1700 miles from the finish and was sailing at 7 knots this morning at the latitude of Madeira.

March 07. 2009 at 08:19Close but not finished

"Approximately heading for Cape Finisterre. High pressure system is rotating on its axis and we should get a bit of a header to bring us closer to course, but it hasn't happened yet. Had a dicey gybe in the very early morning dark with two reefs in the mainsail. Too much wind to do that; should have gone to 3 reefs before gybing. When you get both backstays on, with the main trimmed hard in the middle, the pilot has a very hard task, and the boat rounded up and wouldn't steer off to do the gybe. I'd rolled up the solent beforehand, so there was no head sail to push the bow downwind. That bit of conservatism contributed to the problem. Also, had taken some keel off, so we weren't really upright. Anyway, finally got it sorted out, but it showed that we have a long way to go yet, and we have to keep at sailing the boat, night and day. Just because we're close, doesn't mean we've finished."
Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message
 

March 06. 2009 at 13:52Jean-Pierre back in 2012

Jean-Pierre Dick was forced to retire from the Vendée Globe 2008-09 on 1st January and today reaffirmed his desire to return to the race in 2012: "I haven't yet fulfilled my Vendée Globe dream! Racing around the world is something I enjoy. This is a magical voyage and you can do it again and again without growing tired of it. I remain just as determined as ever and like taking risks and innovating. Our partners remain faithful and to build our new boat, we have now sold Paprec-Virbac 2 to the Spanish. Personally, for my team and partners, it is important to start with a blank page. We've always worked like that. It's an opportunity to raise questions, as boat design is permanently developing. Our projects are also based on reliability. We've already tried and tested a certain number of parameters, but that doesn't stop us from reflecting still further and taking advantage of the very latest design solutions. After eight years of working with Farr, the choice was a tricky one. We've gone for a Verdier / VPLP design, as we are in tune with their approach. We've already worked with Guillaume Verdier on another project and we discovered a real genius, as is Vincent Lauriot whom we got to know during the invitation to tender. They understand the problems of solo sailing and the quest for power. I see sailing as a sport requiring a lot of physical effort, but also where you can expect comfort and efficiency inside and outside. We have the same way of looking at things."

March 06. 2009 at 09:04Zigzagging his way to Les Sables

"Our downwind zigzag continues with the wind directly behind us on the route to France, so we must gybe back and forth, increasing the distance by nearly half to actually get there. Went to solent and two reefs in the main today, averaging 11 knots. May reduce sail through the night to be conservative. Got a bit of sleep this afternoon at the chart table, and trying to keep up the nutrition and fluid intake. Should have half moon light, although cloudy, for half of tonight. "

Rich Wilson (Great American III) in his daily message

March 06. 2009 at 08:25Paprec-Virbac back in Lorient

Jean-Pierre Dick's Paprec-Virbac 2 is due to arrive back in Lorient today and will go back into the shed she left last October before setting out for the Vendée Globe. The boat and mast left Le Havre on Wednesday by road. The mast reached Lorient on a long loader yesterday evening. The blue monohull, which was forced to retire from the Vendée Globe on 1st January is being transported on a special trailer to enable the boat to pass under all the bridges. Some parts of the cradle put in place in New Zealand had to be removed to enable the total height to be reduced to below 4.6 m. Once back in her shed, Paprec-Virbac 2 is due to undergo a spring refit.

March 06. 2009 at 07:54Latest news of Raphaël

Raphael Dinelli has finished repairing his broken boom, which should enable him to continue the race in reasonable shape. After preparing all the pieces of the boom, he placed them inside his boat to take advantage of the temperature of around 25° to get them to dry quickly. By yesterday everything was dry and the repair seems to have gone smoothly. He still had to manoeuvre the boom out onto the deck and get it back in place. The sea conditions and wind were good and should have enabled this operation to run smoothly. As for his physical well-being, Raphaël is suffering from a broken rib and said yesterday that he had not been able to get much sleep, as it is painful for him to lie down. The skipper of Fondation Ocean Vital is due to be contacted this morning and should give us more details about his repairs and physical condition.

March 05. 2009 at 12:36Latest ETAs

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: Between 12h00 GMT on Sunday 8th March and 18h00 GMT on Monday 9th
- Fondation Océan Vital: Between 12h00 on Tuesday 10th and 12h00 on Thursday 12th
- Nauticsport-Kapsch: Between 12h00 on Thursday 12th and 12h00 on Saturday 14th March
 

March 05. 2009 at 08:38Derek forced to make a pit stop in New Zealand

Determined to sail his monohull back to port alone, Derek Hatfield set out from Hobart aboard Algimouss-Spirit of Canada 6 days ago. He has been suffering upwind conditions with a lot of slamming, but it is a problem with the autopilots that is his major concern today. "The first night proved challenging when the autopilots would not drive the boat under true wind setting so it was difficult to get any rest or to work on the other systems on the boat. The autopilots have still not been resolved after 6 days at sea and we are now without wind instruments so the decision has been made to make a stop, this time in New Zealand to try once and for all to sort the electronics out before setting off again. Alone in the southern ocean is not a place to be when the boat is not completely sorted, the conditions here are unforgiving and these boats are so finely tuned that if you leave yourself exposed for any length of time something will break."

March 04. 2009 at 18:52PRB in her home port

As planned, Vincent Riou's PRB returned to her home port earlier this week. The boat was unloaded from the cargo vessel on Saturday evening and thanks to the help of the crew the operation went smoothly. At 21h30, PRB was lowered into the water in the commercial harbour in Lorient, then taken to the submarine base, where she spent the night. The following morning the team delivered PRB to Port La Forêt. The keel of the boat, which was also transported by the Russian cargo ship, was due to arrive in Port la Forêt later.