Sailing Networks News

Skirting South America

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Smooth seas, easy sailing, even some sun: skippers across the fleet were reporting a respite in conditions today, but it has to be said, not all of them sounded that happy about it…
For Michel Desjoyeaux, who joined in this morning’s radio broadcasts with a video link on board Foncia just off the coast of South America, the visibly eased conditions have brought a sudden deceleration. This afternoon Foncia, skirting close to the tip of Tierra del Fuego, has been averaging less than eight knots and her 24-hour distance has dropped below 300 miles for the first time in nearly 10 days.
The result of this is that the chasing pack has compressed once again, Roland Jourdain is now 76 miles back on Veolia Environment, from a deficit of 120 this morning. This evening third-placed Jean Le Cam is around 350 miles away from Cape Horn.
The duo of Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel Le Cléac’h have also taken around 70 miles out of Mich Desj’s lead in the past 24 hours, and are themselves separated by less than 3.5 miles after 57 days of racing! These two are still the fastest boats on the course — PRB sailing at 16 knots and BritAir clocking the highest mileage of the fleet, at 374.9 miles.
While Le Cam, Riou and Le Cléac’h are sailing in changeable 25-35 knot conditions to make good headway, further back in the fleet several boats were stuck in small high pressure zones and for many the frustration was clear to hear in this morning’s radio vacations. Whilst the skippers are universally agreed that the Pacific has been kinder to the fleet than the Indian Ocean, any windless or slow zones must surely add to the massive challenges of being 7,000, 8,000 or 10,000 miles from home, no longer racing for a trophy — or even against a near rival given the number of retirements — but only against the daily scheds and yourself.
Sam Davies on Roxy (GBR) has slowed in a light winds zone, and now has a 260-mile buffer from Marc Guillemot on Safran, who has been sailing consistently rapidly for the past day. Mixed news for both boats, as they received notification of their redress for assisting in the rescue of Yann Elies today, but Marc Guillemot also reported that a pit-stop is looking inevitable for Safran to repair the main track.
In ninth position Dee Caffari (Aviva, GBR) reported fair weather sailing conditions, but is sailing on the unfavourable gybe for her damaged mainsail, while Steve White (Toe in the Water, GBR, 11th) has been enjoying ideal conditions for the past couple of days, which have now given way to a less stable wind pattern.
The twelfth competitor, Rich Wilson (Great American III, USA) has become the latest boat to cross the international dateline.

Skippers update in English:

1st – Michel Desjoyeaux, Foncia (FRA): It’s good news because the last time was in the Atlantic I was not the first! I was far from this position, so I’ve worked hard during the past one and half months to come back into the Atlantic in this position, but my interest is not to be in this position at this moment but a few weeks later, if you see what I mean!
The wind was still quite strong yesterday when I crossed the Cape, it was 35-40 knots up to 45-48, quite lumpy, but anyway it was downwind and I had two reefs in the main and the trysail and it was okay to gybe near the Cape — I think I was less than one mile from the Cape, but it was night so I was not able to appreciate the show!
The weather is now quite smooth, small waves, less than 10 knots of soft wind from the south-west so I have a gennaker to go downwind in Le Maire Straits to go north. We don’t know exactly how we will go up to the St Helena High pressure.

6th – Sam Davies, Roxy (GBR): I’ve been finding the light winds all over the South Pacific and I’ve just found another spot, but it shouldn’t last for too long. Already the wind’s coming back but it’s quite forward of the beam which means Roxy’s not at her fastest, but that should change in the next few hours.
For me Yann’s safety was the most important and I didn’t actually know when the Jury would make the decision over the time redress, so it’s good to hear and I think they’ve been more than fair with allocated time. Although it’s impossible to tell how much you’ve actually lost because you never know what weather system you might have been able to catch up with. But I kind of hope that the result on the water will stay the real result rather than places changing because of time penalties or time redress, because that’s always a much more fun way to do it! So hopefully those hours won’t make any difference. I kind of think that Safran’s in front of me anyway, but we’ll see!

9th – Dee Caffari, Aviva (GBR): I had a glorious day, and the night was promising but then the wind dropped. But it’s really nice so I celebrated by washing my hair — that was incredible! It’s really calmed down, just the wind’s a little light and indecisive, but it’s making for a lot more gentle sailing.
It’s really nice – rather than just going from one end of an ocean to another – to have stages to pass, it just makes [the time] pass much easier, so one more gate to go and then the big hand-brake turn! To have other people around and to have stages kind of fills it up, whereas I was down here last time for three months, it felt like I was just fighting depression after depression, so it’s a very different race.

11th – Steve White, Toe in the Water (GBR): It’s been absolutely ideal, we’ve just had really stable conditions and been reaching along quite nicely without needing to do anything at all really, it’s really easy sailing and eating miles up quite fast too. At the moment the wind’s all over the shop, I’m doing a very wiggly course because it can’t quite make its mind up. But we’re heading roughly in the right direction so I’m happy enough, I’ll take it however it comes. It’s really quite nice, it makes a very pleasant change from being beaten to death with 50 knots every other day!
I can only see the top bit of the boat, but that looks okay, it’s washed fairly clean on a regular basis. Downstairs is a bit in chaos — it’s quite like a student flat at the moment, I’m trying to dry out a load of things so there’s clothing spread all over the place, bits of the gooseneck repair and I had some plumbing to do, but I’m gradually tidying up. The sails look good as new, other than the fact that some of the branding has got a bit faded, so we’re in pretty good shape really.

12th – Rich Wilson, Great American III (USA): We’ve had a good day today, pretty good speeds and the seas are calming down — I don’t quite know what to do with smooth seas, it’s been so long since we’ve had them it’s kind of a novelty. We’ve been across the Campbell Plateau which is a shallow area, and then into a deeper area, and now we’re up onto the Bounty Platform which is another shallow area, and can’t help but think it has something to do with Captain Blyth’s Bounty down here in the south seas so we’re looking for history wherever we can find it. I’ve just got the iPod but I know that Loick Peyron was reading plenty of books, that was pretty impressive. It would be interesting to find out what his schedule on the boat is to know how he does that.
I had a rudder kick up this morning, it was actually the windward rudder which is unusual, but I don’t think we hit anything, I think it was just got hit by a wave. But it showed that the new fuse system that we have would work and the fuse would actually break , but also gave us the chance to inspect the pad-eye that is back there for the fairlead that holds the rudder down because most of the time it’s submerged. I could see a rust spot which gave me some concern that we might have had a bad piece of metal back there, but it looks kind of sturdy.

© François Van Malleghem / DPPI / Vendée Globe

Day 57 onboard Roxy in the Vendée Globe – Sam Davies’ daily log - My incredible singing boat

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:17:00 GMT

Today is a quiet day on board Roxy as we are flirting with another ridge of high pressure that is located around the next ice gate. Our new occupation seems to be to find all the parts of the Pacific with light wind – there is another one right here!

When I say a quiet day, I do mean it. Out here we get accustomed to the noise made by an Open 60, but when I was describing it to a friend, it made me realise that it is actually quite loud – most people think it’s a bit of a din!

To give you an idea, over and above the general vibrations of water crashing around at 20 knots past a carbon hull, yesterday Roxy was making several other noises:

- The daggerboard sings in a fairly high-pitched sound, which changes pitch every time Roxy accelerates over 18 knots – it’s almost happy to announce that we’re going really fast! The bobstay (cable under the bowsprit) also vibrates with a low pitch each time Roxy stuffs her nose into the wave.
- The understays of the jockey pole have a separate tone, like strings on a guitar, as they skim through the waves. Occasionally there is a bigger disturbance if the pole itself gets dipped in!
- The propeller sometimes hits resonance too, singing from underneath the chart table.
- The keel occasionally “clacks” if Roxy jumps over a big wave, as the whole system is slightly flexible and the rams move within their bearings. If there is a big gust, I can hear the rumblings of the air bubbles in the rudders as they cavitate whilst trying to keep control.

So all of the above noises are normal and create a really special kind of, rather loud, music that I am now totally in tune with. It is this music that is almost a lullaby as it is a sign from Roxy that everything is normal and she’s happy. Maybe that is why I sleep so well when she’s going fast.

However, the important factor is to be able to pin point and single out any noise or vibration that is not normal. These include; the little ‘pop’ that signifies that I have hit something small and a rudder has popped up; the vibration associated with something being wrapped around the keel; a vibration caused by a piece of deck gear failing; or simply the change in pitch of the normal sounds signifying that Roxy is no longer at 100% and a sail needs to be re-trimmed or changed.

Quite often I will wake up for no particular reason, but know that something is not right. I am so finely tuned into the sounds my little boat makes and I can sense any change immediately. It is better than any alarm clock, as I know I will wake up if I’m needed, and if all is OK then my boat lets me sleep!

S x

At 1600 UK time, Sam Davies aboard Roxy was in 6th position, 2,084 miles from race leader Michel Desjoyeaux aboard Foncia

Grey onboard Roxy

Bad hair day1

Bad hair day2

Fregene's - Italian Pizza

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:47:00 GMT

Diving south again

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:57:00 GMT

On board the Chilean boat, Desafio Cabo de Hornos, skipper Felipe Cubillos is enjoying the hard racing. “I love the adrenaline rush of having to make decisions and take care of them,” he wrote. “That is what I find exciting about racing sailboats. This kind of intensity is hard to find in other sports. Day after day, week after week we have to make tactical choices, decide on sails and sail trim, and live with the results.”

The results for Desafio Cabo de Hornos over the last four days have been very positive. They have halved the distance between themselves and the leading boat, Beluga Racer, and continue to sail at slightly faster speeds. “At the beginning of the year the Germans were 107 miles ahead of us with 170 miles of lateral separation,” Felipe continued. “Now the distance is down to just 65 miles and we have a lateral separation of not more than 40 miles. In short we are recovering at a rate of just over one mile per hour and we hope that continuing in heavy winds we will be able to close the distance even more.”

On board Beluga Racer co-skippers Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme do not seem too concerned. As usual Boris is upbeat about things, but he also knows that the other competitors read these reports so his emails may have a bit of psychology built into them. “Things have been relatively quiet on board Beluga Racer,” he wrote. “We have even found time to watch a movie. We have enough fuel and food left for the rest of the leg so that’s not a problem and the boat is fine, no damage at all.” Both Beluga Racer and Desafio Cabo de Hornos are sailing in moderate southwesterly winds. Things will get even quieter over the next 48 hours until yet another front moves in from the west. “The weather forecast seems quite good for the next couple of day,” Boris continued. “No dramas, nothing special. In fact it’s all very quiet these days. No albatross. No sunsets. Just a bit grey. Not very cold, but not warm either. We are happy with the progress and impressed by the performance of our boat. It does all the work itself.”

So there you have it. I am sure that Boris knows that Felipe will read this report as will the Brits aboard Team Mowgli. He and his co-skipper Felix Oehme do make it look easy, but they are consummate seamen and know how to play the game, psychology and all.

Finally we would like to wish Michel Kleinjans a Happy 45th Birthday! In a brief email he wrote, “Apart from a cigar I kept my birthday sober. I am getting older for sure. Right now we have rather light weather, around 14 knots, but I think it will die even more. I have no wind indicator or log anymore which a bit annoying but other than that all is good on board Roaring Forty.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHEL KLEINJANS

News from the front… French skippers

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:08:00 GMT

A special radio session today, including a live video link with leader Michel Desjoyeaux on Foncia, first to round Cape Horn early this morning. Also news from the chasing bunch: Bilou, Riou and Le Cam, plus repairs looming for Safran…

2nd – Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement): I can see the Horn coming up! Now it’s grey and a squall coming. Pleased to see the Cape. Since yesterday though it has been nice seeing the albatrosses and seas have been calmer. Nice to be turning left to stop punishing the boat. Have some cracks in my hands, but always uses gloves for manoeuvres. Impatient to get outside after being confined inside for so long. But it’s not going to be easy ahead. A nice gap built up over those behind, but remains prudent. Doesn’t yet know which route he will take immediately after the Horn.

3rd – Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux): 12-35 knots of wind making it a very complicated night. Today it’s the squalls that are making it difficult. Huge squalls, which you have to keep watching — no sleep allowed but doesn’t feel as tired as 4 years ago, because he hasn’t had the stress of icebergs. The Horn is coming up, so isn’t going to start crying now! Already a feat to be in the race still. Only one day left before the Horn. Has seen the Southern Star and it really shines!

4th Vincent Riou (PRB): Rough cross-seas but above all variable conditions — 25-35 knot winds and cold wind. Roughly 48 hours behind leader at Cape Horn, but weather will decide when exactly he rounds. Different from last time, but this time was probably more like normal conditions. Has a lot of work to do just after the Horn. The South really continues until they start to leave the South Atlantic. There will be a group of three with Jean joining them for the battle in the Atlantic — hoping for a surprise…!

7th – Marc Guillemot (Safran): Was thinking of maybe stopping, but that has now become absolutely necessary. The screws keeping the mast track in place are not holding it in place. After the repair at second reef, it’s ripped off on third reef. Currently fixed at third reef. Needs to put in place bigger screws. May be doing a pit stop where Bilou stopped after the Horn, but that depends on the weather. The second possibility is the Falklands. Rounding the Horn gives you the impression that you are going home. Well done, Michel — he’s done a Desjoyeaux! Very clever choices in his strategy and great sailing since he returned to the race. Not easy to judge the Jury’s redress compensation, but he’s satisfied with their judgment and thinks they have done a good job as it’s fair.

© Benoit Stichelbaut / Veolia Environnement

Goodbye Pacific, hello Atlantic

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:50:00 GMT

Foncia is the first boat to exit the Pacific and enter the Atlantic Ocean — and begin the final climb north to the finish line.
Mich Desj passed just a couple of miles off the coast of the fearsome landmark, reporting squalls of 35-40 knots, gusting 45, at around midnight in local, Chilean time – his path flagged by the famous lighthouses on the rocks. However, on rounding the tip of South America Foncia is experiencing flatter seas. After a strong NW’ly wind this weekend, the leaders are being greeted by a 20-25 knot westerly, likely to ease further as a high pressure zone develops off the tip of Patagonia.
Desjoyeaux is now 120 miles ahead of second placed Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environment). Jourdain is currently about 80 miles away from the Cape, and expects to round the Horn around eight hours behind Foncia.
Behind these two leaders there has been little change — the closely matched pair of Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) are now just 14 miles apart on this morning’s rankings, with a 20-mile lateral separation.
Sam Davies (Roxy, GBR) continues to hold a 300-mile advantage over Marc Guillemot on Safran, although Safran has recently picked up high speeds to become the fastest boat overnight – averaging over 16 knots since last night’s position update.
This duo have also been notified of the redress they will receive for going to the aid of Yann Eliès. The International Jury has awarded 82 hours to Marc Guillemot as redress, while Sam Davies receives 32 hours. With a gap to the next boat, Brit Air, of 1,300 miles for Sam and more than 1,700 miles for Marc this is unlikely to change the hierarchy. However, if Guillemot decides to stop to make repairs to his main he will have to keep an eye on Sam, as he is currently 300 miles behind her, which represents about half of the redress time he now has in the bank.
Further back, 11th-placed Steve White (Toe in the Water, GBR) has been making good progress at around 15 knots to gain a little ground on the duo of Arnaud Boissieries (Akena Vérandas) and Dee Caffari (Aviva, GBR) in ninth and tenth.
Rich Wilson (Great American III, USA) is set to become the next boat to cross the International Date Line, and is currently around 80 miles away from the Greenwich Meridian.
Sébastien Josse on the retired BT is also making good progress to Auckland, currently around 100 miles away he is expected to arrive in New Zealand later today.

© JEAN MARIE LIOT / DPPI / Vendée Globe

Fits and spurts

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:42:00 GMT

Meteo France forecasts predict a northerly at Cape Horn wind set to ease and backing westerly 20-25 knots this evening, and Mich’s speed is dropping relative to Roland Jourdain’s (Veolia Environment) in this evening’s updates. It is fourth-placed Vincent Riou (PRB) who is currently showing the fastest boatspeed, closely shadowed by his partner Armel Le Cléac’h on Brit Air. A low is rapidly moving towards Cape Horn and is likely to affect these two boats on Tuesday.
After a fast and furious couple of days, Sam Davies’ pace on Roxy (GBR) seems to have moderated in sixth place, while Safran’s boatspeed has picked up again after a lull this afternoon – Marc Guillemot may possibly still be experiencing difficulties with his mainsail.
Behind these two Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar, GBR) in eighth is experiencing pleasant, moderate sailing conditions in an isolated weather system. Brian reported tonight: At present I am playing with a little low pressure system that is just in front of me, it has been forcing my route for the last couple of days and giving quite changeable conditions. It was always going to be a feature between the final two ice gates, and it is slowing me relative to Sam and Dee. Sam should have northerlies all the way to the final gate, and I will have a period of southerlies and then a long run in westerlies. Running is not this boat’s strong point and will add distance, so Sam should be well ahead at Cape Horn.”

Despite the additional mileage — some 1,500 miles — created by the ice gates in this edition of the Vendée Globe, at this stage the pattern of the race is not actually wildly different to the last one:
• On Monday 3rd January 2005, at 06h15, race leader Jean Le Cam rounded Cape Horn after 56 days, 17h and 13 minutes. 15h30 minutes later, he was followed by Vincent Riou.
• On Tuesday 4th January 2005 Mike Golding became the third competitor to pass the tip of South America.
• Wednesday 5th January 2005: Karen Leibovici enters the Pacific, an ocean behind the leaders.
• On Thursday 6th January 2005, after his amazing rudder repairs off South Africa, Conrad Humphreys continues to achieve some remarkable speeds in the Pacific, but has to climb his mast to repair a worn halyard.
• Friday 7th January 2005: The ill-fated Jean-Pierre Dick breaks his boom approaching the Horn.
• Saturday 8th January 2005 Patrice Carpentier retires from the race after stopping in New Zealand.
Michel Desjoyeaux will prefer to look back to 2001, when he was the first boat to round the third and final Cape, and the first boat home to Les Sables.

© Mark Lloyd / DPPI / Vendée Globe

Skipper abandons race with mainsail problems

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:35:00 GMT

JONNY MALBON ABANDONS VENDEE GLOBE DREAM

British skipper makes the toughest of calls on his solo circumnavigation

Jonny Malbon, racing onboard Artemis Ocean Racing II in the Vendée Globe – Single-Handed Round the World Yacht Race, today took the hard decision to retire from the event. Until only days ago the British skipper, 34, who was participating in his first Vendée Globe, had been confident of completing the gruelling 24,000 mile circumnavigation. However, Malbon today informed the race organisers that the existing and continuously worsening damage to his mainsail was too severe for him to realistically continue racing.

Artemis Ocean Racing II’s mainsail has been slowly and frustratingly delaminating and breaking down for the past three weeks, and a one metre vertical split in the sail added to the challenges in the last 24 hours. With the isolated expanse of the Pacific & Southern Oceans ahead and no land until South America and the often treacherous Cape Horn the loss of a reliable mainsail at this juncture, coupled with earlier damage to his starboard daggerboard sustained in early December, has forced Malbon to make a cold hard rational assessment of the situation and take the decision to retire, which is the sensible thing for himself as skipper, the boat and Artemis as sponsor.

Jonny Malbon commented: “I am absolutely devastated. We (AOR II and I) have been through so much since the start and survived it all – I think I always imagined that if I went out of this race it would not be something I would have to weigh up and decide, it would just be something that happened and be beyond my control. The thing with this is that I could carry on for a bit but it is only a matter of time – it is no longer if but when the mainsail will just disintegrate completely, so heading out past New Zealand back into the Southern Ocean is just not feasible. My heart is telling me to go on but my head is telling me I have to stop and in the end it is true – I have no choice. Words cannot describe my disappointment that this has come to an end.”

Malbon, who is currently around 300 miles south of New Zealand’s South Island, will now turn north to make port where he will be met by members of his shore team.

Jonny concluded: “It has been a mammoth effort for everyone involved with this team to get here. To have achieved what we have is amazing and in particular I would like to thank the whole team, from top to bottom, for the massive amount of work and commitment to get AOR II and myself to the start line and as it turns out half way around the world in a boat that has like all the other competitors taken a pounding in this event and kept me safe throughout. I am also very fortunate in having the backing of a company like Artemis. They are so much more than just a sponsor and their help, guidance and support has been unwavering throughout.”

Having spoken to Jonny directly, Artemis Investment Management CEO Mark Tyndall fully supported Jonny’s decision, “Everyone at Artemis Investment Management is incredibly disappointed for Jonny that his Vendée Globe dream is now over. However Jonny’s safety is our priority and disappointing as it may be to pull stumps at half time in the circumstances this is the right and responsible decision. The Vendée Globe is one of the toughest sporting endeavours on the planet, and although Jonny did not succeed in completing the course, along with many others who have sadly had to retire from the race this time, we have collectively gained a huge amount of valuable knowledge and experience. We look forward to welcoming Jonny and AOR II back on British shores in the near future.”

For more information please visithttp://www.artemisoceanracing.com

More out than in…

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:33:00 GMT

And then there were 14… The 16th skipper to retire from this Vendée Globe, Jonny Malbon (GBR) announced his abandonment following the severe delamination of his mainsail. With at least 7,000 miles still to go until Les Sables d’Olonne, the question no one dares ask is: will there be any more?

For leader Michel Desjoyeaux reining back is still not an option. At this afternoon’s rankings (16h GMT) Foncia is once again the fastest boat on the course as he powers towards Cape Horn. However, second placed Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environment) is not holding back either, putting in the greatest average speeds since the last sched to average over 15 knots since this morning’s update. Now on Foncia’s line, Jourdain can be expected to pass the Cape around six hours behind him tomorrow morning.

Behind these two there’s another sailor from the famed gang of Port la Forêt solo skippers. Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) may well be some 450 miles behind, but in terms of a distance as great as the Atlantic there is still room for things to change considerably over the coming weeks. Le Cam can expect have better weather than those ahead: while the leader and his hunter will be shaken around all the way to the coast of Chile as a front passes over, Jean Le Cam will be benefiting from a steadier 20-25 knot westerly flow to finish his Pacific crossing.

Behind several duels continue: Riou (PRB) and Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) just 24 miles apart, Dee Caffari (Aviva, GBR) and Arnaud Boissieres (Akena Vérandas) separated by some 19 miles — these two crossing the West Pacific ice gate today. However, Rich Wilson (Great American III, USA) is now missing his ‘Iridium penpal’ following Jonny Malbon’s retirement (Artemis, GBR). Malbon will now head for Auckland, the same destination as fellow retirees Sebastien Jose (BT) and Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) who are also on their way to the New Zealand port.

English skippers update:

ABD – Jonny Malbon, Artemis (GBR): Gutted is probably the correct word, absolutely gutted. I can’t really say much more than that. It’s such a terrible feeling having come so far and having to pull out now but I know it’s the grown-up decision.
I could have continued to the point when the mainsail becomes completely unusable, the only definite is that will happen, but we don’t know when. So there comes a point when you have to look at the rest of the year and try and focus on that. I’m headed north up to Auckland, where we’ll hopefully get onto a big container ship and shipped back to Europe.
I keep second-guessing myself that I’ve made the right decision and checking that the main is terminal. I just wiped my hand across the sail and the laminate skin just flies off, the whole thing is on its last legs.
It’s been a huge experience on many, many levels and I’ve really enjoyed it. That’s the gutting thing: the hard miles in my mind are behind me and the boat’s relatively unscathed apart from an issue we can’t control. I’ve learnt a lot from this race. But it’s also left me really hungry and already I see this as unfinished business.

8th – Brian Thompson, Bahrain Team Pindar (GBR): We’re past the penultimate ice gate and aiming for the final ice at 110 West, which will be great. Then it’s a big right-hand turn to get down to the Horn. It really has turned into a slalom race between all these gates, but I’m certainly very happy to have them. Even though it’s added 1500 miles to the voyage it’s made it a lot safer for the whole fleet not to be encountering ice the whole time, just a little bit in the Indian Ocean – the Pacific where most of the ice was we’ve been routed around.
In a 60ft monohull instead of a 110 cat you tend to see more weather systems because you’re going slower. In the big cats you tend to be sitting in front of the low for a long, long time doing the same speed. So it’s much more mixed weather and variety in an IMOCA 60 so you actually see much more of the flavours of the Southern Ocean. Although I’ve only seen the sun for about 5 minutes since New Zealand, just a little glimpse of it yesterday!

13th – Norbert Sedlacek, Nauticsport Kapsch (AUT): I’m feeling quite comfortable inside the boat. The only thing now is the dust and humidity is getting worse, there are a few little leaking points so all the time there is always water in the bilges. It’s not a problem for safety but everything is humid inside and I must be very careful with food and electronics, that nothing gets damaged. There are just a few containers which are really dry, but all the other compartments takes some water from the deck or hatches. The problem is that the deck is working under the pressure of the rig so even if you find a crack and you fill the crack up with epoxy the next day you have a new little hole somewhere so it’s not possible to keep the water outside.

© Mark Lloyd / DPPI / Vendée Globe

Sunday night routines - French skippers update

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:22:00 GMT

Michel Desjoyeaux is keeping the pressure on at the front of the fleet with 17-knot boatspeeds as he approaches Cape Horn, news from him and other French skippers in today’s radio broadcasts:

1st – Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia): 240 miles from the Horn in 35-knot winds. Slept well. Wind strengthened this morning. Last time he rounded the Horn was eight years ago. Strong winds, but not violent conditions forecast. His secret weapon – the Spectra staysail – put in place at St. Helena. Not worried about losing it as he always had a spare staysail anyway. This meant that he didn’t have to worry and fewer sail changes. The system worked 8 years ago and apparently works this time too. Has has a choice of bunk, pouffe and chair for sleeping, in the south the pouffe was perfect. Cape Horn signifies a return to variable winds. Weeks with winds above 20 knots get a bit tiring after a while. ETA at Cape Horn 01.30 GMT so may be starting to get dark

2nd – Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement): Close to coast of Chile, but conditions not allowing sightseeing. Staying some way off as seas very bad along coast. Not much fun for a final day in the Pacific. Seas mean he is slamming around getting stopped by waves. His poor baby is being punished! Will be pleased to reach the Horn to get away from these conditions. Boat and sailor in fine shape, so ready to continue battle. Thinks Michel has been doing well in past day – for 20 days now Mich has been inflicting this on him! Difficulty is always knowing where to place the cursor. Vincent has been more cautious and had some problems, while Roland pushed a bit harder.

5th – Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air): All is well on Brit Air. Nice to see the way out coming up. Will be his first time rounding Cape Horn. Conditions should be reasonable. Getting some rest before reaching the Horn and the Atlantic, where there will be more work to do with tactics and manoeuvres. He will remember the power of the Southern Oceans and the way they can change very quickly. Has been down there for a month and saw a range of conditions. Didn’t see any ice, but could not have been far away. Everything always very wet and that can be a problem for the electronics and engine. You get used to the cold, but it’s always easier to carry out manoeuvres in warmer conditions. Has learnt things, which mean that he will be even better next time.

10th – Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas): Very unstable conditions, so a lot of manoeuvres as wind variable. Very dark night, so you have to be careful out on deck. Smells of diesel aboard his boat. Is happy to be sailing along nicely and doesn’t feel jealous about Mich Desj being at the Horn already. Everyone determines his own pace. Hopes to have a new generation boat next time, but wants time to get to know it, as you can see problems others have had with boats they don’t know well enough. Has a rhythm based around Sundays: washes and cleans and eats better on Sundays.

© Benoit Stichelbaut / Algimouss

Malbon’s main forces retirement

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:19:00 GMT

Artemis’s mainsail began delaminating three weeks ago, apparently due to a problem with the adhesion between the scrim and fibres. Over the past 24 hours the sail has broken down further, with a one metre-long vertical tear developing as the final taffeta layer also began to disintegrate. The damage is so severe that Malbon cannot repair it onboard, as he explained during yesterday’s radio broadcast: “It’s getting worse and worse and worse. I simply cannot repair that sort of damage, I’ve never seen anything like it before, I don’t have enough materials or glue or I haven’t got enough hands.”
Artemis has been racing in 12th place and is currently 300 miles south of New Zealand. With the isolated Pacific Ocean still ahead and no landfall until South America, Malbon and his team have assessed the situation and decided that his best option is to retire and head for the South Island of New Zealand.
Artemis is also suffering a damaged starboard rudder, following a collision with a whale several weeks ago, which — combined with his mainsail issues — would make sailing upwind near-impossible. Previous issues, such as difficulties with his watermakers and an ongoing battery charging problem, are not in themselves race-threatening, but combined with the lack of mainsail could become deeply problematic over time.
Jonny Malbon commented: “I am absolutely devastated. We (AOR II and I) have been through so much since the start and survived it all – I think I always imagined that if I went out of this race it would not be something I would have to weigh up and decide, it would just be something that happened and be beyond my control. The thing with this is that I could carry on for a bit but it is only a matter of time – it is no longer if but when the mainsail will just disintegrate completely, so heading out past New Zealand back into the Southern Ocean is just not feasible. My heart is telling me to go on but my head is telling me I have to stop and in the end it is true – I have no choice. Words cannot describe my disappointment that this has come to an end.”
Malbon, 34 from the Isle of Wight, was competing in his first Vendée Globe on the Rogers-designed Artemis II, and becomes the 16th skipper to abandon this year’s race, with over half of the 30-strong fleet now having retired.

© Mark Lloyd / DPPI / Vendée Globe

Laying demons to rest

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:10:00 GMT

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) can be expected to round the tip of South America at some point over the next day — in the lead, just as he did in 2001; for him there are just hours rather than days left in the south. Second-placed Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environment) has shed a few of the miles he gained yesterday by holding onto a more easterly course while Mich Desj has tracked south for a more direct line to the Cape, currently sailing in around 35-plus knots for a fast passage around. Bilou is currently 150 miles to the north and will have to gybe down the western coast of Chile.
These two have pulled a little further away from third-placed Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux), who has lost 50 miles to the leaders in the past 24 hours, while Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) remain locked in partnership just 20 miles apart.
As they entered the Pacific, only 450 miles separated the first six boats. Now there are only three within that distance. With around 7,000 miles let to sail, the 700 miles separating Riou and Le Cléac’h from Desjoyeaux, represent 10% of the course — is it still possible for them to catch the leader thanks to the weather, or sheer boatspeed?
Around 2,000 miles behind the leader, sixth placed Sam Davies has kept her pace up, consistently averaging 16-17 knots on Roxy (GBR). Her determination is not just fuelled by a desire to put miles between Roxy and Safran, but to pass another psychological obstacle in the Southern Oceans. Sam wrote: “Yesterday I passed a special mark in my personal voyage around the globe. Eleven years ago, Royal and SunAlliance was dismasted at 52S 129W during our Trophee Jules Verne record attempt.
“Ever since the start of this Vendée Globe, there has been just one little fear that I have not talked about to anyone because it is stupid – and that is to get beyond the longitude of our dismasting, safe and well.
“So, now it is done – Roxy has passed over 129W and I have toasted our mast, and given Neptune some chocolate. I feel like a little weight has lifted off me and I can now really aim for Cape Horn!”
Rich Wilson (Great American III, USA) has moved up into 12th place ahead of Jonny Malbon on Artemis (GBR), whose average speed over the past 24 hours has dropped to under 8 knots as Malbon battles to save his mainsail, which is delaminating severely.
Retired skipper Seb Josse is also making good progress towards New Zealand on BT and is expected to reach Auckland tomorrow night.

© Jean-Marie Liot / DPPI / Vendée Globe

Fast sailing in the Southern Ocean

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 09:04:00 GMT

Aboard Desafio Cabo de Hornos, co-skippers Felipe Cubillos and José Muñoz are enjoying the fast and furious sailing. “It has been blowing hard all night and the waves are the size of a 20-story building,” Felipe wrote in his daily blog. “Our beloved boat is more of a submarine than a yacht as we surf down these huge waves and crash into the ones ahead. So as not to give our competition any unnecessary information I will not tell what sails we have up, but the boat is sailing fast and we have managed to close the gap on the German boat by 20 miles.”

Desafio Cabo de Hornos is sailing to the north of Beluga Racer and it looks as if Boris Herrmann and Felix Oehme on board the German yacht can feel the pressure of the Chilean boat steaming up behind them. They have adjusted their course a little to place themselves between the Chileans and the next waypoint, an old around-the-buoys tactic that ensures that your competition can sail up to you, but not past you, theoretically.”

The entire fleet is riding the northern edge of a sizable low pressure system that is passing to the south of them. The result is that they are getting steady westerly winds, perfect conditions for these boats as they eat up the miles to Wellington. It’s very typical Southern Ocean weather as described by Jeremy Salvesen aboard Team Mowgli. “We’ve had a pretty grey couple of days down here with heavy cloud and quite a lot of rain,” he wrote. “The wind is pretty steady at around 25-30 knots. There was a forecast of snow for yesterday but thankfully it didn’t materialise for us at least. Nothing worse than sailing in the snow!! The winds have finally come around a bit further to the north meaning we are able to head further south once more whilst still, hopefully, being able to keep well north of the line between the two Ice Gates without having to gybe back and forth too much.”

At the back of the pack, but by no means out of the race, the leading, and only remaining solo sailor, Michel Kleinjans, on board Roaring Forty is trying to make up miles lost when he turned back to rescue Nico Budel. He reported that after resuming course he did a thorough check of his own keel using a waterproof video camera mounted on the end of a carbon batten. All the boats are carrying the same camera and they are very useful for this very reason. With the camera turned on and plunged under the boat, you can get a very good look at life under your floating home. “My keel looked good,” Michel reported. “Well as good as you can see though the small camera but at least I can see that there are no cracks to worry about.”

The wind will continue to howl for another 36 hours at least before a respite from a ridge of High pressure that will build in behind them. At least two more weeks remain before the verdant hills of New Zealand hit the radar screen.

Southern Ocean wave

She’s not singing yet…

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 10:05:00 GMT

Memories can be short in yacht racing — recall how dominant Loick Peyron seemed on Gitana Eighty just a few weeks ago, how determined Mike Golding (Ecover) and Seb Josse (BT) appeared? When it comes to the Vendée Globe it really isn’t over until the fat lady sings — or until the first boat negotiates not just Cape Horn, but the Atlantic, the Doldrums, the Bay of Biscay, and is safely tied up alongside the winners’ flags in Les Sables.
Whilst the northerly climb back up the Atlantic is rarely as evocative as the journey around the Southern Oceans, it can be equally punishing for both men and boats. Many have seen their dreams of victory fade away between the Horn and the Vendée coast. In 2004, it was here that Mike Golding, who had grabbed the lead in the race, was forced to relinquish it after his mainsail halyard broke twice. What’s more, it was just 50 miles from Les Sables d’Olonne that Ecover lost its keel after surviving the tortures of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
It was off the coast of Brazil that Australian skipper Nick Moloney was also forced to retire after losing his keel. Others suffered minor damage – problems with Sébastien Josse’s engine, Dominique Wavre’s runners, Conrad Humphreys’ keel ram… Only the two frontrunners made it through unscathed. In previous editions, Philippe Poupon’s boat then in second place was dismasted in the Atlantic in 1993 and Bertrand de Broc lost his keel there in 1997 less than 500 miles from the finish…
This time around, if all goes well, Michel Desjoyeaux looks set to be the first to round Cape Horn – probably at around midnight on Sunday, between two and four hours ahead of Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement), who is currently 63.3 miles behind. The wind should be relatively kind as this duo passes the tip of South America, with a forecast of a 20-knot westerly and clear skies. But when air masses meet the sea, combined with the influence of the Andes and the proximity of the Antarctic (the Drake Passage is barely 500 miles wide) it can create some unpredictable weather patterns. Indeed, conditions seem much less clear after Sunday, as the wind is set to ease off in the Pacific after this huge low-pressure area, only to strengthen again mid-week.
In fourth and fifth, Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) – still separated by just 23.5 miles – currently find themselves on the edge of a low-pressure area, which stretches right down to Antarctica’s Bellingshausen Sea, which is being strengthened by a second low rolling around the first, bringing north-westerly winds in excess of 40 knots for the frontrunners. The wind is due to ease off and back westerly, so Foncia has chosen to head south, anticipating this shift to get out of the storm, while the two chasing after him have opted for a route closer to the South American continent.

© MICHEL DESJOYEAUX / FONCIA / Vendée Globe

The main problem

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:52:00 GMT

The front duo are looking to reach Cape Horn, the last great ‘gateway’ of the course, in the next day or so. Meanwhile those at the rear of the pack have yet to make their way across the Pacific Ocean, which has wreaked as much havoc as the Indian and Atlantic Oceans before it.
At the front, Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environment) has had a strong day, climbing back 20 miles on Mich Desj (Foncia) from his overnight lead. Behind them Vincent Riou (PRB) has also held steady in fourth place, having overtaken Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) last evening.
Sam Davies (Roxy, GBR) reported that she made a promise to her friend Sebastien Josse when BT retired, that she would not go for boatspeeds over 17 knots! Sam, in sixth place, seems to be in danger of breaking that promise, holding averages of 16.5 knots over the past 24 hours to score the highest mileage of the fleet.
For some, nearly two months at sea is starting to show – both in the skippers and in the boats. In this morning’s radio sessions Jean Le Cam’s voice on VM Matériaux couldn’t hide his tiredness, or his eagerness to finish with the Southern Oceans and get around the Horn to head for home.
Others are made despondent by recurrent or worsening problems: Jonny Malbon (Artemis) is facing a serious delamination to his mainsail, as the Kevlar fibres, taffeta and Mylar film separate, leaving the Artemis team pondering their options with more than 12,000 miles to go. Dee Caffari (Aviva, GBR) is facing a similar problem, watching her sail disintegrate despite attempts to fix it with any tools she has to hand.
News from those whose race has already ended: Derek Hatfield (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) has made landfall in Hobart, and Unai Basurko (ESP) has safely arrived in Cascais, Portugal.

English skippers update:

9th – Dee Caffari (Aviva, GBR): I’ve had a bit of a blustery 24 hours. I found myself 47 knots and in the lulls 25 knots. It’s been quite hard to get the sail plan right, and huge waves, so a little unsettled. I’m down to three reefs and a staysail at the moment. The wind’s probably averaging 35 knots, but the lulls are making me feel pretty underpowered.
I’m probably on the worst gybe [for the mainsail] at the moment, because the whole damaged area is pushing into the lazy jacks. It’s falling apart but I think that it’s something that every few days I’m going to have to repair. I’m getting through my sail repair kit quite quickly It’s quite frustrating because it’s the only thing that’s wrong, and I’m quite anxious about it, especially if there’s any breeze.

12th – Jonny Malbon (Artemis, GBR): We’re in the process of trying to work out what our options are. It’s pretty badly delaminated, the scrim on the port side seems to have indiscriminately fallen off the sail so there’s obviously been an adhesion problem. We’ve been relying on the taffeta on the starboard side to retain the structure and strength of the sail, and unfortunately now the taffeta seems to be detaching itself from the fibres. So now it’s turning into a string vest, and unfortunately once those fibres start coming off the situation becomes critical.
It’s getting worse and worse and worse. I simply cannot repair that sort of damage, I’ve never seen anything like it before, I don’t have enough materials or glue or I haven’t got enough hands. So the situation’s becoming a bit depressing and I’ve worked so hard to be in this race and be in 12th position and we’re not looking good.
We’re expecting a front to come through, looking at 30-35 in the gusts, so I’m just going to be sailing as safely as possible during that period, and whilst that’s going on I’m in touch with the shore team and the sponsors and we’re looking at all possible options. We’ve got to work out what’s safe, what’s feasible and actually how we’re going to continue.
It’s not nice to hear anyone else having the same problems, and it makes me quite angry that something that’s so completely out of our control is going to have some bearing — not just on my race, but on other skippers’ races.
We’ve got a slight charging issue, I don’t think the batteries are holding their charge. That in itself isn’t an issue, but that becomes an issue of my mainsail disintegrates completely and I have to try and finish the race under jib. If I’m adding two weeks onto the race then my fuel calculations are way out, and the knock-on effects are serious. My starboard board will be a problem – if I haven’t got a daggerboard and no mainsail it’s going to be pretty difficult to go upwind.
The other issues are completely manageable, but throw into the mix that the mainsail is on its last legs and it changes the complexion of quite a few things.
I’d be concerned if I run out tea bags, but I grossly over-ordered! But there’s nothing else that’s an issue on a supplies perspective.

13th – Rich Wilson (Great American III, USA): We gybed last night after another 44-knot squall and then a hailstorm, just to get out of the deeper south and head towards the New Zealand ice gate. Just about 2 hours ago we sighted land, Adams, the first I’ve seen since the Canary Islands, so kind of a nice moment. I’ve been trying to sail very low – I did not want to go north of these islands because if the front came through a little sooner then we would have a lee shore.
It’s certainly been interesting to see land, I think the last was 9,000-10,000 miles ago. Just before it got dark I could see the profile of the islands, and you can see the albatross symbols on the chart so maybe there’s a rookery. It also turns out there’s a bay named Coleridge Bay, which brings up the question of whether Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner down here, so that’s one to think about.

© Mark Lloyd / DPPI / Vendée Globe