Battleship 100 Posted December 6, 2016 Author Share Posted December 6, 2016 Should be getting picked up about now. Wonder if they will try and recover the boat at some stage. http://www.sail-world.com/NZ/Vendee-Globe---Rescue-operation-underway-in-Southern-Ocean-gale/150192 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
raz88 96 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 I'm certainly finding this much more exciting to follow than the volvo has been the last few times. Coleman has made good ground back on the guys around him since his drama a couple of days ago. Very impressive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romany 158 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 AC does not hold any interest by comparison either. It seems to me that the advances in technology thru Vendee and similar ocean races are a hell of a lot more transferrable to my boat (I wish I could get it over 10 knots eh ). These sailors are all legends - even those who withdraw have 'made it' IMHO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Battleship 100 Posted December 7, 2016 Author Share Posted December 7, 2016 from Kito's facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/madeinmidivoile " give up the ship The day is dawning over here.The Commander of the marion dufresne just tell me that it was a zodiac in the water.They come pick me up in the 1/2 pm who's coming.It's time because I can't limit the rise of water inside the boat...This will be my last word from the edge...."KitoBastide Otio "Good evening, The Marion Dufresne is by my side and the crew waiting for the sunrise to put a zodiac to water and pick me up.I'm very sad, desperate and of not being able to bring this boat somewhere, the sands it would have been top but anyone or elsewhere, it would have done, but right now let him in the middle of nowhere, get in there and smoosh by the waves Me, this is unbearable.But it has to be solved. I can't move forward, not back, so I can't go nowhere with the keel which takes on anything and the risks are much too great in this ocean if inhospitable.Good luck to all the other competitors of the vendée globe, it takes a decidedly a lot...Kito de pavantBastide Otio" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ScottiE 174 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 nice work Willow - have been waiting for an update on the race site. There's also new posts on his facebook page that translate to "I give up the shipThe day rises here.The commander of the Marion Dufresne has just indicated to me that he was putting a zodiac in the water.They pick me up in the 1/2 hour that comes.It is time because I can no longer limit the rise of water inside the boat ...This will be my last word on board ...." and then an hour ago "Kito is safe on board the Marion Dufresne. The rescue took place at 2am (HF)" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romany 158 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Triumph and tragedy (for the boat I guess) in the one act... Thankfully he will tell this tale to his kids. Meanwhile .... back at the front Le Cleac'h seems to be creeping away, and what game is Josse playing? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 I still reckon it's a great piece of engineering to be able to withstand an impact capable of ripping off a keel, without catastrophic structural failure of the hulls intergrity, whilst still having a keel strong enough to withstand the huge forces on the keel - especially a canter, and being light enough for a race boat. There is no keel attachment system capable of withstanding anything that could happen. Any structure can be broken, given sufficient force. The keel box top is supposed to be above the waterline - but it's a coffer dam, right? Not a sealed bulkhead. It could go below the waterline - remember the Titanic? Impacts. I've hit 2 things ( both logs) sailing offshore. That's an average of about 1 per 20,000 nm. Both would have had dire consequences if I was doing 20+ knots. Just as well my boats not a foiler! So, is this about average? If so, most boats would hit something on a circumnavigation... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Battgirl 23 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Bugger! Sébastien Josse is now out due to foil and foil housing damage Quote Link to post Share on other sites
raz88 96 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 My tracker currently shows Coleman down to 2 knots of boatspeed, with tws of 11 on the aft quarter which should see him going a fair bit faster than 2 knots. Hopefully just a tracker issue or something minor... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MasterOfDisaster 0 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Dropping like flies! ...as always. I guess the real question is that now that it's a two-horse race, will a UFO decide the victor, or worse? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Battleship 100 Posted December 7, 2016 Author Share Posted December 7, 2016 Far from a 2 horse race, there will be more retirements, it is entirely possible all the top boats could retire. The Fat lady is still asleep at this stage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Battleship 100 Posted December 7, 2016 Author Share Posted December 7, 2016 Wow Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,566 Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Good illustration of how a bit of downwind speed can rob a wave of its power. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Battleship 100 Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 Yes also a good example how speed can be your friend running before big seas. I imagine a drouge on a slower boat would be very uncomfortable. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Latest updsate from the Crazy Kiwi: Without sounding too morbid, I feel a little like I'm sitting on death row and my fellow competitors have already been taken to have their last meal. It's emotional and shocking to hear about Kito's rescue and to think that for the third time in a row he won't make it back to Les Sables under his own steam. With such great teams as Gitana and PRB also falling to misfortune it's just the proof that the ocean does't look at your bank balance or the size of your team when dealing out the hard cards. Mich Desj, two time winner of the Vendee Globe, says that you need to be mentally prepared for one major problem per day and so far I'm keeping up with his tempo. I am still working to get the battery pack online after the fire and whenever I look around there's a new error message displayed on the instruments. It appears that I'm still losing a little oil from the hydraulic ram I repaired in the doldrums and I just got back on deck after over an hour up the mast to repair a sail. When the wind shifted this afternoon from NW to N, I changed from my bigger reaching sail to my smaller flatter sail, the Solent or J2 which means it's the second biggest jib on the boat. When I unrolled it I saw that the pocket that holds the sail onto the cable was damaged and the sail risked to unzip itself completely. As the front of the sail is only exposed when the sail is unrolled I would have to fix it when the sail was working and the boat was fully powered up because I couldn't bear away onto a run because the Ice exclusion zone isn't far to leeward. So, with the wind blowing at 20 knots and boatspeed sometimes the same, I climbed almost to the top of the mast and then hand stitched the pocket closed and then covered the repair with self adhesive sail cloth. Because I had a lot of stitching to do I did it several sections, which of course meant I had to cut new lengths of string and re-thread the needle. 22 Metres in the air, one foot hooked around the sail and the other around the mast, bracing to stay stable and then concentrating on the needle I figured the closest possible comparison would be threading a needle on the back of a galloping horse while doing the splits and situps at the same time. I guess you need to have a head for heights! By living with a tool kit and multimeter in my hands as much as the helm and the sheets I just hope that I can resolve enough of the problems fast enough to keep me in the race and avoid the fall of the executioner's axe! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MarkMT 68 Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Incredible! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philstar 61 Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Conrad is a total legend !!! I so hope he gets some serious sponsorship at the end of this race. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 All that and he writes well as well. Becoming a Kiwi sailing legend 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Battgirl 23 Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Conrad's up to his tricks again. It seems his latest exploit is sewing a sail up the mast in 20 knots. He rocks that guy! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1paulg 17 Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Thats seriously risky stuff -amazing feat! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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