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Vendee Globe 2016


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The Vendee globe run a daily show that can be good  http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/web-tv

 

Apparently Beyou broke the headboard on his mainsail.

 

http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/

 

"At 1900 UTC yesterday evening, Jérémie Beyou alerted everyone that there had been damage on Maître CoQ. While sailing in thirty knots of wind, the mainsail suddenly came down. Jérémie decided to head further north to get away from the low-pressure system and analyse the situation."

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The latest edition of seahorse has a great story of an earlier race (2000/2001) where Yves Parlier breaks his mast into 3 pieces, builds a jury rig, sails to Stewart Island, glues it back together (a bit shorter) re steps, carries on to finish the race only 33 days behind the leader. Just incredible. He was short of food, and had to catch fish and eat seaweed etc.  Some of these guys in this race and past races are bloody legends.

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I remember that happening too Clipper - I think they did a TV programme on it. As I recall he made a raft out of empty jerry cans so he could go

ashore (cant recall why he needed to but anyway) , had to work out a way of producing enough heat to keep the resin on the go - I seem to recall light bulbs were the solution, it was pretty amazing. Better than reality TV by a long shot. Mind you so is sleeping.

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Holy cow! http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/16841/fire-aboard-conrad-colman-s-boat

 

I went outside to take a reef and when I came back inside I saw black smoke and yellow flames leaping from behind the chart table. One of the solar charge controllers was burning and was in the process of taking down the entire electrical system as several important cables pass close by. I took the fire blanket and smothered the flames, ignoring electrical shocks and the burning heat in my desperation to save my boat. When the flames were gone I heard one beep from the autopilot and my world turned upside down.

 

The burnt cables next to the charge controller had short circuited the auto pilot and the boat bore away from the wind and did a crash gybe with me still inside, hands full of molten plastic.

 

More in the linked article. Be sure to check out the video! Not sure if I can embed it here.

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He is some kid.. Get it sorted, back into it, and do a video along the way. Unreal..

 

Gotta give him credit too for his writing. Maybe he has some editorial help, but he sure seems to know how to paint a picture.

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Geez interesting hearing Alex Thompson talking about the distance covered compared to previous races these boats are just so much faster than previous generations.  Been one of the more interesting versions of the Vende so far and still most of the Southern Ocean to go....

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Yes Scottie, of course.

However, the Keel box, as can be seen in the video, is open to the main cabin space when the inspection port is open. The keel is actually still there, although how/why its attached is obviously not fully understood, and the Keel box itself is damaged, but has done a remarkable job of containing the damage. I would not count on this vessel surviving the long passage to a port from there. If the Keel comes off, or the damage works aft of the Keel box and opens the living space to the water, the boat won't be inhabitable, even if it is afloat. I can't see a way of improving the situation in a seaway... :-(

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I know getting upset never helps, but these guys are amazing. "That's going to be complicated' he says when talking about abandoning ship at

44S..

 

I'd be feeling pretty sick about things I think.

 

Good luck and hopefully there may still be a French frigate not too far away.

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The top of the keel box inspection port is always well above the water line, so you can oopen the hatch at any time. We used to rinse the dishes in the keel box on many other canters I have sailed on. At pace you have some nice jets of water to do the washing.

Sounds like the keel pins have snapped but the ram is still attached so its just hanging from the ram. We had a similar think on V5 in the round north island race and had to take the boat over the hokianga bar for shelter.

Usually the bulkheads either side of the keel box are very strong so hopfully the ram just snaps and sends the keel to the bottom then the boat will be fully recoverable. They are very stable without the keel especially with the balast tanks full although the motion at sea on a yacht without the keel or rig is very uncomfortable. I was stuck on the open 60 Hugo boss in the southern ocean for 2 weeks with no rig, not much fun but we made it around cape horn under jury rig ok.

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still not gonna sink the boat!  As I write he's probably already off the boat us the research ship has already been on station for a few hours.  I think its no coincidence that the race is being timed for when there are a number of French vessels "in the area".  Even if this wasn't the case the next sailor is only two days back.

You underestimate the design thoughts that go into these things if you think that the hull is not strong enough to deal with a dangly keel at minimal boat speed even in a massive seaway.  If she capsizes it will be inhospitable "below" yes, but not uninhabitable - just ask Tony Bullimore about that based on his exploits in 1997.  While you're at it, also have a chat to Mike Golding about finishing a Vendee without a keel!  From a safety perspective the design of these vessels now have a hell of a lot experience to draw from.  Whenever possible they will get themselves to the nearest port, when not possible, enough of the boat will hold together long enough to keep them afloat for resucue.

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