Vendée Globe

November 02. 2009 at 12:31Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson sailing together on Aviva

On Sunday 8 November, British sailing duo Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson will start in the ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre onboard the Open 60 Aviva. The Transat Jacques Vabre will be the first competitive race for Dee since the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe.

Joining Caffari, Thompson and Aviva on the start line, will be 13 other Open 60s. The 4800-mile course will be the first time Caffari and Thompson have sailed two-handed together having been rivals throughout the 2008 / 09 edition of the Vendée Globe. Dee Caffari said: “I can’t wait to be back out on the water racing Aviva and the opportunity to sail with Brian as co-skipper is fabulous. We were so close to each other during the Vendée Globe it’s as if we’ve already spent a lot of time sailing together.” Brian Thompson added: "We have a quick boat and get on well together so I believe we will be competitive out there. With so many new Open 60s racing it is going to be intense, but very exciting."
 

October 08. 2009 at 18:53Vincent Riou suffers a minor injury

Vincent Riou has cracked a bone in his foot after falling from a ladder. He is being well looked after by the orthopaedist at Lorient Football Club and will be using crutches and a splint for ten days, but should be well enough to take part in the final training session alongside Arnaud Boissières on Monday 19th October. Although this accident is rather annoying at this stage, it does not throw into question his taking part in the Transat Jacques Vabre. After resting today, he will be visiting the yard tomorrow to see how work is progressing on his new monohull.

September 19. 2009 at 19:08Training off Brittany

Three IMOCA 60 monohulls carried out a joint training session this week off the southern coast of Brittany. Artemis with Sam Davies on board set sail from Port-le-Forêt alongside BT for a speed trial to Quiberon, where they met up with Marc Guillemot's Safran. The three monohulls took advantage of the strengthening north-easterly wind to sail further away from the the coast under spinnaker. With a wind reaching thirty knots, they furled the spinnaker to head up towards Ushant.
These were perfect conditions to test the various configurations and to get used to such sailing conditions. At dawn, the three boats headed back towards Penmarc'h in SW Brittany. Sam freely admits that the speed of Artemis tends to drop off when reaching and Jonny Malbon's former monohull is certainly much more demanding than her old Roxy.
 

August 29. 2009 at 15:04BT in for a minor refit in Port-la-Forêt

The shore team of the BT IMOCA 60 are working hard on the preparation of the boat for the major race of the season - the Transat Jacques Vabre starting from Le Havre on the 8th of November. Pierre Emmanuel Hérissé, boat captain of BT commented: "BT has now been in the shed in Port La Foret (in Brittany) for 10 days. We are doing a complete check, but no major changes are being made. The final preparation of the keel, hull and rudders has been done. We checked, cleaned and replaced when necessary the deck hardware. 80% of the running rigging is being changed and we are replacing all the standing rigging. BT should be back in the water on the 7th of September and we will do the 10 degree test to ensure she conforms to IMOCA rules and can obtain her 2009/10 certificate."

August 20. 2009 at 12:17Eliès and Desjoyeaux in the Top Ten

Out of the five Vendée Globe skippers taking part in the 2009 Solitaire du Figaro, only Yann Eliès, who finished in a remarkable second place and Michel Desjoyeaux, who ended up fifth, were ranked in the final top ten in this exceptional edition of the race, which was won in Dieppe by the young Breton skipper Nicolas Lunven. A little further down the rankings, we could find Jérémie Beyou, who in spite of two leg wins finished 14th, with Armel Le Cléac'h 35th and Jonny Malbon 45th.

The Top Ten in the 2009 Solitaire
1 - Nicola Lunven
2 - Yann Eliès
3 - Frédéric Duthil
4 - Thierry Chabagny
5 - Michel Desjoyeaux
6 - Nicolas Troussel
7 - Gildas Morvan
8 - Nicolas Béranger
9 - Erwann Tabarly
10- Charles Caudrelier Benac
 

July 29. 2009 at 17:55Dee and Brian against Cali and Vincent

Two of the British skippers, who tok part in the last edition of the Vendée Globe will be joining forces aboard Aviva for the Artemis Challenge next Wednesday. Dee Caffari has invited Brian Thompson on her Open 60 Aviva for this race around the Isle of Wight. In all, there will ne nine in her crew setting out from Cowes, including the main members of the Aviva team, but also the adventurer Neil Laughton, who recently carried out the voyage from London to Tombouctou aboard an innovative flying car. A BBC regional news reporter will be joining them for this race, which Aviva will sail on behalf of Sail 4 Cancer, which tries to encourage sufferers to lead an active life by sailing. For Dee, there will also be the pleasure of doing battle once again with her friend from the Vendée Globe, Arnaud Boissières. Cali will in fact be alongside Vincent Riou aboard the new Akena Vérandas.

July 28. 2009 at 16:06Derek Hatfield hands over his Spirit of Canada

The Canadian sailor, Derek Hatfield has just been looking back at the past few months since he was forced to retire from the Vendée Globe. After carrying out repairs in Tasmania, he was unable to find the budget required to have his Spirit of Canada delivered back to Canada and was forced to leave his boat in Auckland. He then found the financial problems were such that he needed to hand his boat over to the lender. Derek takes up the story: "Since June, another Canadian has become the owner of the boat. I am not certain at this time what the plans are for the Open 60 or if I will be involved with it but I am very proud that the boat will continue to be of Canadian registry. At this point, I am in the Maritimes with the family and starting to think about future sailing projects. I have started to write a book about the past two round the world races (the Around Alone 2002 and the Vendee Globe 2008). The team and I are committed to continue with Spirit of Canada. We are beginning to work towards an exciting new campaign and I will be announcing the details of the next Spirit of Canada project in the next few months."

July 28. 2009 at 16:04Alex Thomson to take part in the Fastnet Race

The Rolex Fastnet Race will be Alex Thomson's first major race aboard Hugo Boss since the Vendée Globe. The black monohull has undergone a long refit in Gosport and will be setting out in the Fastnet Race from Cowes on 9th August with a number of prestigious guests aboard, including the director and founder of Team Origin, Sir Keith Mills, as well as several experienced sailors, such as Rob Greenhalgh and the navigator Andrew Cape. Both recently gained a lot of experience on board Puma in the Volvo Ocean Race. The British champion skier, Graham Bell, known for his Olympic campaign and more recently as a competitor in the triathlon, as well as for his work as a TV sports presenter, will also be going aboard for this legendary race, which he believes is "one of the most adventurous things I've ever done."

July 24. 2009 at 11:44Team Pindar up for sale

The Team Pindar monohull, which completed the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe in fifth place with Brian Thompson as her skipper will be sailing one final race - the Artemis Challenge – before being put up for sale. Last year the British Open 60 won this race around the Isle of Wight revealing her full potential before the Vendée Globe. This year, it will be Mike Sanderson, who was involved in the design of the boat, who will be at the helm on 5th August to defend Pindar's title, while attempting to beat the race record set by Brain Thompson (4 hours and 14 minutes). Brian confirms that Pindar is a boat that should have a bright future ahead of her: "She's a magnificent boat, which should achieve some more great victories in the future. The Vendée was one of the highlights of my life and in spite of the tough race conditions, she proved herself to be fast and safe!"

July 20. 2009 at 17:25Vendée Globe skippers taking part in the Transat Jacques Vabre

For the moment, between 12 and 14 of the skippers, who took part in the last Vendée Globe are expected to line up at the start of the 2009 Transat Jacques Vabre in Le Havre on 8th November to set sail for Puerto Limon (Costa Rica). Among them, the two-time winner of the Vendée Globe, Michel Desjoyeaux, who will be taking Jérémie Beyou aboard his Foncia, as well as Marc Guillemot (Safran) with Charles Caudrelier, Samantha Davies (Artemis) alongside the French sailor Sidney Gavignet, Roland Jourdain (Véolia Environnement) with Jean-Luc Nélias, Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) with Vincent Riou, Marc Thiercelin (DCNS) with Christopher Pratt, Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air), Sébastien Josse (BT) with Jean François Cuzon, and finally Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel), who has chosen to join up with the young Figaro racer François Gabart. At the moment three British competitors, Dee Caffari, Mike Golding and Alex Thomson, are also on the provisional entry list.