Vendee Globe updates

[Guest]

Here we go........... It was an interesting start with more than a quarter of the fleet being over the start line and one boat having to go back to port before the race even started and another coming back just 50nm into the race. Heres the video reply of the start

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xuzota_replay-vendee-globe-2012-2013-depart-en-direct-video_sport#from=embediframe

 

A magical start to the Vendee Globe

 

Nineteen of the 20 skippers entered for the seventh edition of the Vendée Globe solo race around the world took the start line of the 24,048 miles, three months circumnavigation race at 1302hrs local time off Les Sables d’Olonne, France today.

 

 

A small collision with his support team’s rigid inflatable boat required Bertrand de Broc to return to port even before the start to make a repair to a small puncture in the hull of his IMOCA Open 60 Votre Nom Autour du Monde avec EDM Projets.

 

Starting in 12-14kts of westerly wind under grey skies with rain threatening there was no quarter given on the start line. With the prospect of a direct, straight line 300 miles course to Finisterre and no real tactical options every early metre gained might be critical. Pushing hard to the line proved to be an expensive early mistake for five skippers who jumped the start gun and had to return and start again. Along with Poland’s Zbigniew Gutkowski on Energa were four French favourites PRB (Vincent Riou), Macif (François Gabart) Groupe Bel (Kito de Pavant) and Armel le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire), all had to turn back and recross the line, the first time that so many boats have been over the start line in a Vendée Globe start.

 

In fact it was Marc Guillemot on Safran, the peoples’ hero of the last 2008-9 race, who opened the course, forging ahead early in the close reaching conditions. Spain’s Javier ‘Bubi’ Sanso on Acciona 100% Eco Powered, and the youngest skipper in the race 27 year old Louis Burton on Bureau Vallée and Tanguy de Lamotte on Initatives Couer all had their moments of early glory, forming the vanguard of this Vendée Globe fleet as they headed out for the open ocean, progressively shaking off the huge spectator fleet of hundreds of craft of all shapes and sizes.

 

Perhaps ominously it appeared to be Cheminées Poujoulat, the very powerful new Juan Kouyoumdjian design of Bernard Stamm which steadily climbed through to the front of the fleet, up alongside Safran around one hour after the start gun. British skippers Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss and Mike Golding on Gamesa made safe, solid openings.

 

 

 

Tears in the rain

When the time comes to consider releasing the dock lines, emotions around the Port Olona pontoons are hard to suppress, even for the hardened skippers who are have been through this farewells process many times before. Leaving his four months old baby son, also named Javier, was visibly a wrench for Spanish skipper Javier ‘Bubi’ Sanso. Samantha Davies was pleased to finally find sanctuary from the intensity of the media and public interest when she skipped lightly aboard Saveol. British skipper Alex Thomson had his Hugo Boss sunglasses on throughout the dock out despite the overcast conditions, hiding his feelings for the final departure.

 

If these are the challenging personal moments made public, minutes later there is the massive euphoria of the legendary passage down the channel where hundreds of thousands line the walls to bid adieu to the skippers. Among the heartfelt messages painted on bedsheets held up by the crowd that advertise the public spirit of the Vendée Globe this time: ‘You Make Us Dream’ and ‘Whose turn this time?’

 

Compared with previous races the Vendée Globe skippers this time are looking at a relatively straightforward first 24-36 hours. A fast course to Finisterre will test reaching speed primarily, but with the prospect of some brisk downwind sailing on the Portuguese coast with many manoeuvres, quite a lot of changing sail sizes and intense trimming for speed, skippers will have to carefully manage their own sleep and energy regime as they settle into race mode. By Wednesday there is the prospect of a low pressure system bringing some upwind conditions.

 

A fast passage to the equator appears to be possible, an essential component of any challenge to break the race course record of 84 days 03 hours 09 minutes set in 2009 by Michel Desjoyeaux.

 

Quotes:

 

Bertrand de Broc, FRA, Votre Nom Autor du Monde avec EDM Projets: “ I asked a RIB to help us, so maybe it’s my fault in a way. We asked that RIB to help us turn, the bow, but it caught a wave and then bang! That was 25 minutes before the start. I think it will only take a few hours to fix and if we can, we’ll go back at sea with tonight's tide (editor’s note: 3AM) or in 24 hours. We’ll go as soon as everything has dried out. It’s not that bad, but it will cost us a day… I received a text message from Marc Guillemot, saying: ‘‘One day out of 90 is no big deal. Stay positive!”. I thought that was really nice of him.”

 

Jean-Piere Dick, FRA, Virbac-Paprec 3: “ You want to think about yourself and to protect yourself throughout the race because you really want to come back and see all these faces again. I’m going to do my best to avoid dangerous situations. But on the other hand, I’ll do my best to do really well in this race. It’s an amazing race and I’m so proud to represent my two sponsors, who are also my friends. I don’t feel pressure to reach particular goals.I’m just happy to be here today. It's all good!

 

Zbigniew Gutkowski POL, Energia: “ I am a little stressed, but I slept all night. The weather is looking good for everyone, reaching to Cape Finisterre, for me too. For the first 24 hours I just want to be in the fleet. I am not sure if I will have the speed to do that, but I have to check everything in the first hours, just trying to not lose contact with the leaders and after that see what it is going to be like but mostly I just want to be in one piece on the finish line. I did not really have breakfast, just this can of Red Bull at the moment.”

 

Jérémie Beyou FRA, Maitre Coq: “ I am not going to cry, but it is hard when you have so many friends and family here, sponsors. It is very difficult. I guess the little front will be to the south of us then it might be a bit easier. I want to just to go fast and to make sure we get the best updated forecast for the first night.”

 

Tanguy de Lamotte, FRA, Initatives Couer: “ I am pretty emotional. It is intense. Today is a big day. I am more confident about the weather and going sailing, that is what I know how to do. But I think there are good conditions for the start, except maybe for the rain, but otherwise it is good. I hope everyone enjoys it. I never felt I would always get here one day, that was all quite quick and I have enjoyed every minute of the project so far since the beginning in January 2012. And now I do what I want to do.

 

Javier Sanso, ESP, Acciona 100% Eco Powered: “I just want to get going and to have the stress of racing, not having the stress of before the race. The weather is the same for everybody and it could be a lot worse so I am not complaining. This is a race I have wanted to do since I was a kid, so this is a dream come true.”

 

Sam Davies, GBR, Saveol: “I am looking forwards to it, to finally get going. The weather looks good and so we should get a good crossing of Biscay. It is an emotional day but I am so really proud of the whole team and just so pleased to be here.”

 

Alex Thomson, GBR, Hugo Boss: “ It is always a bit tense when you are leaving. The weather is very simple the wind might be a little left to start but I think most will go straight for the corner, I will just try and do what most other people are doing. It will be a fetch and just get broader as we go. When we get to Finisterre there is a very slim option to go west, but very slim. Then we go from a reach to a run down the coast, a gybe out across a ridge quickly getting into some southerly wind. It could be quite quick to the equator. Simple is good.

 

I think it will be really tough for us, the number of sail changes we are looking and around Finisterre we go inside the traffic separation zone then we have the ships going up and down, it will be very hard work in terms of sleep-wise for all the skippers, so managing that and no getting over-tired. I will just be trying to stay safe and do everything well. I think that in this case if you push too hard in the first day or so you are just going to go slower. So, managing sleep will be important.

I slept well last night and then you wake up this morning and there are people everywhere, it is amazing.”

 

Mike Golding, GBR, Gamesa: "It looks like pretty good conditions, a little breezy now with threatening skies, but the forecast looks fairly reasonable for the first 24 hours. There is a little depression that comes to us mid week and it looks quite fruity, which might be a bit of a sorting hat for the fleet, but otherwise we should have a good get away. There's a great atmosphere here and I'm now just focusing on the off and getting out of here.

 

It is tough, tough for the family and the whole build up is so intense. We have been here for three weeks, the visitors have been coming here in their hundreds of thousands, it's an amazing build up and it is hard not to get caught up in that. The reality is that all the teams now have to turn our attention to the race course, which happens as soon as we are out of the channel.

 

There is always a bit of nerves at the start line, we are very conscious that we are all sailing solo, in a restricted area, we don't want any catastrophes But after a couple of hours, once you are over the start line, you start settling down. You have your first drink, first food and you get your head round the mission ahead.

 

I got good sleep last night, in my mode. Waking every 20-30 minutes, walking around the room and back to bed. I had a simple breakfast - Cornflakes and fruit, that's it. Just nice light breakfast, you don't want anything too much to start the Vendée.

[Guest]

Emotional highs and lows continue through first night of Vendée Globe

 

After the high emotions of start day in Les Sables d’Olonne skippers competing in the Vendée Globe solo round the world race had an active, challenging first night at sea dealing with unstable winds, occasional squalls and regular manoeuvres. On the early morning ranking François Gabart leads the fleet which already spans 74 miles on the Bay of Biscay.

 

Marc Guillemot, who finished third in the last edition of the race, limped back into Les Sables d’Olonne at 0300hrs (local) this morning to have his IMOCA Open 60 Safran assessed after suffering unspecified damage less than five hours into the race.

 

It was confirmed this morning that Safran will not restart the race.

 

The returning Guillemot crossed courses with Bertrand de Broc who started out from Les Sables d’Olonne at 0245hrs after making a rapid repair to the hull damage he sustained 25 minutes before the start on Votre Nom Autour du Monde avec EDM Projets.

 

With some 165 miles to make to Cape Finisterre, the NW corner of Spain, François Gabart, one of the fleet’s youngest and most talented skippers, has taken charge of the fleet on Macif with a lead of some 5.2 miles early this morning ahead of 2004-5 race winner Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire).

 

All three, training partners from the famous Pole Finistere training group were among the five transgressors who crossed the start line prematurely on Saturday afternoon and had to immediately turn back to restart.

 

Finding the sustainable racing rhythm for a circumnavigation course which is expected to take more than 80 days has not been easy for the skippers. The NW’ly winds, though mainly steady in direction have been very changeable in strength requiring constant trimming and adjustment.

 

“It is banging a bit, it is wet, it is cold. Fortunately there are many manouevres and so that warms us a bit.” Reported Groupe Bel’s skipper Kito de Pavant early this morning.

 

The leading trio, PRB some three miles ahead of Banque Populaire, had already built a decent cushion to Bernard Stamm on Cheminée Poujoulat who was 15.6 miles behind the pacemaker this morning. Of the other non French skippers Alex Thomson was lying seventh on Hugo Boss at 17 miles behind Macif and Mike Golding on Gamesa is tenth. The course to Cape Finisterre remains a straight one and it will only be after the corner that there will be strategic choices which might open up the fleet more.

 

It was confirmed this morning that Marc Guillemot has had to retire from the race after suffering damage to the keel of Safran during the first evening of the race.

 

At 1745 hrs CET (1645 hrs GMT) on Saturday 10th November, Marc Guillemot called his shore team to inform them that he had hit something and that there had been a loud noise, after which the boat suddenly heeled over. After making the boat safe, the skipper of Safran decided to head back to Les Sables d’Olonne in order to inspect the damage.

 

Marc Guillemot arrived in the port of Les Sables this morning (Sunday) at 0300hrs local time. His shore team immediately examined the boat and saw that the keel had broken off under the waterline.

 

As they do not have a spare keel, Safran is unable to set off again in the race.

 

On Monday morning, 13th November, the monohull will be towed to La Trinité-sur-Mer, where she will be taken out of the water. Metallurgical tests will be carried out on the keel head in order to determine the causes of the damage.

 

The Safran group has been alongside Marc Guillemot for 7 years and fully supports him at this difficult time.

 

Meantime Bertrand de Broc left the Les Sables d’Olonne channel at 0245hrs this morning to start his Vendée Globe, nearly 14 hours after the fleet cleared the start line.

[Bimini Babe 0]

One down... And who said the boats were fragile?

[Guest]

One down... And who said the boats were fragile?

 

Hitting an unkown object in the water to badly damage or disloge the keel sounds pretty extreme and either the team didnt think it would happen or they didnt have the money as they dont have a replacement keel. That has to be gutting.

[Guest]

MASSIVE big Ups to whoever it was that posted that other thread about the start. Came back from din-dins right at the right time. Great coverage, brilliantly done.

 

This is gonna be a good watch. Arguable the hardest race in the world to win or for 99.99% of boaters, the hardest just to finish.

 

But bugger me. 3 months and 27,000nm of race yet 4 boats were over at the start, ya have to laugh

[markm 30]

If memory serves, Safran was the boat with the Titanium keel too

[RushMan 31]

If memory serves, Safran was the boat with the Titanium keel too

It is according to a report I read earlier today... Think I followed a FB link

[Bimini Babe 0]

I know KM! And one of the comments from a skip who was over, basically to the effect that "it's a long race, so it doesn't matter" sort of makes a mockery of the whole start sequence really. You'd think they would show a bit more professionalism with 350,000 people watching, from the shore alone!

[Farrari 4]

The tracker is showing decent gains by the leaders and it looks like they are going to get richer. Front runners are doing 17+knots while the back markers are in the mid 12's. There is still a long way to go yet but there is 160nm+ gap already in a day and a half.

 

http://tracking2012.vendeeglobe.org/en/

[Guest]

Pushing South

 

After a rapid passage across the Bay of Biscay since Saturday’s start of the Vendée Globe, the Portuguese coast is passing at good speeds for the leading group in brisk tradewinds conditions. In the busy shipping area a state of high alert has been required through the second night at sea. The leading five or six boats have made a good jump on the fleet behind them having been consistently in stronger breeze. Behind, at Cape Finisterre a high pressure ridge has already slowed the later runners.

 

Leader of the Vendée Globe since Saturday evening François Gabart on Macif has seen his lead eroded very slightly during Sunday night. He might be feeling the effect of sustaining the very high pace he set from the start line and having had slightly less wind on the track which he has taken, 30 miles further offshore from the Portuguese coast, but the young skipper’s margin has shrunk to 7.5 miles ahead of the fierce duel between Vincent Riou (PRB) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire). The top trio have more than 14 miles to fourth placed Bernard Stamm.

 

The leading pack have consistently seen three or four knots more wind than the chasing boats. As the high pressure ridge extends the gaps between the different will likely increase.

 

“The wind is dying from the north and the first will certainly escape. Thirty miles this morning will be 60 tomorrow and 100 the next day.” Cautioned Kito de Pavant, the French skipper on ninth placed Groupe Bel making 14kts this morning compared with the leaders 16-17kts.

 

And those towards the back are already struggling with less wind. Zbigniew Gutkowski, the Polish skipper in 17th place on Energa is already being forced out to the west making just 7 kts this morning.

 

 

British skipper Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss has held his sixth position overnight but gave up some miles to fifth placed Jean-Pierre Dick when he chose to reposition himself to the west. Thomson gybed offshore around midnight and was still slanting SW this morning having doubtless had a busy night crossing the main shipping lane. After being ahead of the French skipper Dick, a double round the world race winner, yesterday afternoon Thomson has lost some 20 miles against him.

 

 

Sam Davies is just one of those in the lower third of the fleet now making less than 10 kts in the lighter winds: “It is great to no longer have the menacing dark monster squall clouds that we had last night as that was pretty stressful to deal with each 35 knot squall. The sea state is calming down now too!” noted the British skipper who is the only woman in the race.

 

 

As the fleet progress south so the race course will open out more, the shipping traffic associated with one of the busiest lanes of the North Atlantic will dissipate and the race rhythm will settle. But last night will have been intense. A snapshot on AIS, the marine traffic monitoring system, showed more than a dozen cargo ships of all sizes within a 15 miles radius of one of the top 10 IMOCA Open 60’s this morning and there will be other vessels around to watch out for.

[RushMan 31]

Second withdrawal after a collision with a trawler.

[Guest]

Pain or gain?

 

François Gabart has increased his lead in the Vendée Globe solo round the world race to over 23 miles as the young French skipper continues to sail an astute descent of the Atlantic, first to pass the latitude of the Gibraltar Straits last night.

 

While Gabart on Macif has not only sailed quickly he has banked a useful gain by keeping to a more southerly course before gybing in the early hours of the morning to the SW to match the course of his pursuers, Armel Le Cléac’h on Banque Populaire in second and Bernard Stamm, the Swiss skipper in third on Cheminées Poujoulat. After his slow burning start Jean-Pierre Dick, double winner of the Barcelona World Race, is now up to fourth place on Virbac-Paprec 3.

 

It is the investment to get to the west, where a new low pressure system will bring stronger winds by Wednesday afternoon, which has meant a significant loss for the Vincent Riou. The wily PRB skipper who is the only past winner of the Vendée Globe and one of the most accomplished strategists in the race has lost 60 miles to Gabart since yesterday morning and now lies fifth. There is the best part of 150 miles of separation between Macif and PRB with Riou still sailing west. His strategy is very much a longer term one and may still lose miles against the leader.

 

Taking the more easterly route to hold the stronger NE’ly tradewinds for longer has also given a useful gain to Mike Golding. The British skipper of Gamesa has elevated himself to seventh, ready to challenge compatriot Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss for sixth. The duo were more than 70 miles apart on the water but one tenth of a mile separated them in terms to distance to finish with Golding sailing slightly quicker.

 

From Louis Burton in the NW to Gabart in the SE there is now 215 miles of lateral distance and more than 550 miles from the leader to Bertrand de Broc, the skipper of Votre Nom Autour du Monde avec EDM Projets. De Broc started late after having to repair a last minute hull damage but his spirits will be finall lifted now as he was back into double digit boat speeds this morning after struggling yesterday with very light winds on a circuitous route to the west. Getting into some breeze will allow De Broc to lengthen his stride in pursuit of Poland’s Zbigniew Gutkowski on Energa, some 130 miles ahead.

[Guest]

If there is to be a time for rest, repairs and recuperation after the first three days of racing on the Vendée Globe it has been the granted over the last few hours and into the fourth afternoon at sea. Long anticipated light winds have slowed large sections of the fleet and while these are frustrating and require equal amounts of concentration and application as when it is breezy, so too the solo skippers have been making sure that the slower times have been time to top up the energy reserves, to thoroughly check over the boat and to make good any small repairs that are required.

 

At the front of the 18 boat fleet the advance of François Gabart continued again this afternoon. The skipper of Macif, somewhat against the expectations of his rivals, has been fastest of the leading group, still eking out speeds of 10-11kts in the relatively light breezes. His position as the most southern of the top group was expected to see him slow into the unpredictable soft breezes of the high pressure ridge but so far the redoubtable, energetic Gabart seems to remain immune from the slowdown.

 

Down Speed

Otherwise the pace is right down. The middle order battlers, sixth to 13th, were suffering with boat speeds down to very low single figures. Javier Sanso, the Spanish skipper on Acciona 100% Eco Powered was crawling along at 1.2kts, Vincent Riou on PRB at 2.1kts now in 10th place, and Dominique Wavre in 12th at 3kts. Riou’s fall from the second place sees him now having lost 113 miles on the leaders, now only 66 miles from the Swiss skipper on Mirabaud.

 

Riou said this morning he was expecting to break out into the strengthening breezes of the low pressure system by this evening. Thereafter he will be into strong upwind conditions, with building seas, rain and gusts of up to 40kts of wind which will require the 2008-2009 race winner to be prudent through this transition phase before he should be first to get to the fast reaching conditions on the other side.

 

A S’ly routing has continued to pay for the British skipper Mike Golding on Gamesa who has spent most of the day up in fourth position. Golding’s maxim has been to make hay while he could, carefully working down the best lane of breeze that he could find. He was locked in battle this afternoon with longtime rival Jean Le Cam on SynerCiel tussling over fourth and fifth. Their route back to the west is looking more time consuming with lighter and more variable winds, but the consensus among the skippers who have aired their views is that there will be little real change in the order after this stage – northwest v southeast – plays out.

 

Briton Alex Thomson, suffering slightly from a throat virus which prevailed around the race village pre-start, remarked on today’s radio vacation that he is content with his race so far, proving his credentials once again between fourth and eighth in the rankings, but he echoed compatriot Golding’s sentiments of just how much the first 24 hours of the Vendée Globe are a big physical and mental shock. But most of all Thomson had been shocked to watch fellow competitor Marc Guillemot lose his keel on Saturday afternoon.

 

“ Actually I was alongside Safran and looking directly at the boat when the keel fell off. And I have to say for Marco if he had not have eased the sheets so quickly the boat would have gone over.

I was only about half a mile away. And I was looking directly when I saw the boat heel violently and thought there was a big gust coming. And when it stayed over I thought oh sh*t maybe his keel hydraulics have gone, you don’t really think of the possibility of the keel falling off.”

 

“ It is always a shock to go from Les Sables d’Olonne right into the Vendée Globe the first 24 hours are very hard, pretty stressful and you don’t get much sleep. But I feel like I am now in good shape” Thomson confirmed.

 

Speaking with his team Golding said this morning:

“ You are nervous anyway until you settle into the race. I have been aching as if I had been in car accident and that is not about winching or the physical activity, but just the adrenalin which is there through the first days. But now I have caught up on my rest last night and feeling better all the time. But when you see such good, very experienced sailors go out you can suddenly have times when you do feel exposed out here.”

 

Thomson has been busy repairing a blown ballast tank hatch, Sam Davies has been in full Mrs MacGuyver mode, with a main halyard jammer problem on her list of require repairs, whilst Golding has some small gremlins to iron out. With strong winds and fast conditions ahead, making sure the boat and skipper are back to 100% is vital.

[Guest]

The rollercoaster ride south is on for the Vendée Globe leaders, as on the heels of strong breezes from the north, speeds for the pacemakers surged this afternoon, finally freeing them from the shackles of the high pressure ridge and a frontal passage, which combined to form the biggest strategic challenge of the solo non stop round the world race so far.

 

Speeds for the hugely impressive long time leader François Gabart have hit 20kts this afternoon as he consolidated his margin at 52.5 miles, regaining 12 miles lost this morning against his key adversary Armel Le Cléac’h. He has been just a ‘click’ slower on Banque Populaire over the middle of the afternoon than his younger rival.

 

And the threat to Le Cléac’h’s second place from hard driving Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm on the powerful Cheminées Poujoulat – five miles behind - is very real.

 

Gabart’s strategy so far has shown a maturity almost beyond his tender years. Not only did his choice to stay south allow him to keep making miles down the race course while his rivals were slanted west to line up through light winds, a high pressure ridge and the depression, but the resulting angles he has sailed over the course of today and his greater distance from the low pressure centre appear to have blessed him with a less chaotic sea state which has simply allowed him to drive harder and faster.

 

In contrast, certainly through the early part of today, rival skippers were talking of big, unruly confused seas precipitated by the changing wind directions.

 

The comeback of the day though is that of Vincent Riou. The 2004-5 Vendée Globe winner has risen back through the rankings from ninth this morning to fourth this afternoon as his more extreme, early move to the west has paid a dividend. But though he has gained places, his ascent of the fleet has in no way dented his deficit to the leader. In fact, he has lost a further 20 miles.

 

The fast downwind conditions, another drag race with not immediate tactical choices, are set to last another 24 hours at least. But with the seas lining up in a more orderly fashion as they proceed south, the tempo will be high but much more acceptable than today’s succession of changes which have left many skippers wearied.

 

Burton will return to Les Sables d’Olonne

Meantime the race’s ‘benjamin’ the youngest soloist, 27 year old Louis Burton, confirmed this afternoon that he will try and sail the 700 miles back to Les Sables d’Olonne with a badly damaged port shroud. The Bureau Vallée skipper struck a glancing blow off a fishing boat in the dark, early this morning in bad weather.

 

The skipper of Bureau Vallée believes his ascent back across the Bay of Biscay will take him around four days. The race rules prescribe that the start line closes at 1302hrs on the Tuesday 20th of November. According to Burton his biggest hurdle is having to replace the custom shroud itself, the manufacture of which would normally take three weeks.

 

The weather is due to ease for his passage back to Les Sables d’Olonne but his immediate problem is that he cannot tack on to port and needs to stay mainly on starboard.

 

Burton said:

“ My main emotion is just shock and I am pretty depressed that I have to get back to Les Sables d’Olonne”

“In fact I was going through the front and had a couple of hours to go and had 30-35kts of wind. There was very poor visibility, rough seas and I had the radar and the AIS on. I was under the canopy to nap a bit and was making about 20kts. I turned my head and saw a medium sized trawler slide along the hull. I grabbed a light to inspect the hull in a panic to see if it was OK. I was relieved but then saw the damage to the shroud. I tacked on to starboard immediately and focused first on Lisbon looking to get to land as quickly as possible,” reported Burton this afternoon.

 

His challenge is arguably greater than that of Briton Mike Golding who lost his mast eight hours into the 2000-2001 race. He returned to the start port and stepped a replacement to restart seven days after the fleet.

[Guest]

Anxiety and the Canaries

 

Winter sun seekers often head to the Canaries looking to leave their stresses behind, but there will be no relaxing for the Vendée Globe skippers as the leaders race south past the holiday islands today.

 

Already three of the twenty have fallen and the fleet still have shipping and fishing boats to contend with. Louis Burton’s race-within-a-race to get back to Les Sables d’Olonne in time to repair his boat and restart by 1302hrs on November 20 – the ten days skippers are allowed before the start line closes – will be a constant reminder for the rest of what a collision can do to your dreams.

 

Francois ‘Goldenboy’ Gabart continued his unrelenting pace at the front of the fleet, night reaching in the north westerly wind and this morning will pass the Canary Islands 200 miles east, but even he must feel the anxiety that pulses through the skippers every time one of their colleagues suffers a blow.

 

That anxiety is not obvious from Gabart’s message overnight. « Macif heading south, » he said. « Unfortunately the wind has eased so it is not at the same pace as yesterday. Shame...It was really nice. » But Gabard is a disciple of his mentor Michel Desjoyeaux, one of the best poker playing sailors in the world.

 

Compression at the front

 

Still 50 miles behind Gabart and slightly to the west, Armel Cléac’h and Bernard Stamm continue to fight it out for second.

 

Vincent Riou, the 2004 winner, kept pace as the most westerly boat in the fleet. Inside him Alex Thomson had the best night, going past Jérémie Beyou and fellow Briton, Mike Golding. Thomson was just five miles behind fifth-placed Jean-Pierre Dick, this morning and they make gains on those ahead today as they have 20 knots breezes, and Cléac’h has a small high pressure ridge ahead of him.

 

Golding and Jean Le Cam, the most easterly of the leading group, look set for an interesting tussle of the next couple of days as they judge when to head west.

 

Sansó heads to Madeira

 

Behind them, Arnaud Boissiéres might be able to see Madeira, just 15 miles to his east. Javier Sansó will having an even closer look as he heads there for some shelter while he goes up his mast to assess a small problem.

 

Electrical problems for Gutkowski

 

At the back of the fleet, Zbigniew Gutkowski explained his early course west by the fact that he has been having multiple electrical problems and his alarms were not working. It is hard enough to sleep at the best of time in a shipping lane, but without alarms the anxiety is too great.

[Guest]

Javier Sanso heads for sheltered waters

 

JAVIER SANSÓ SEEKS SHELTER ALONG THE COAST

 

 

 

The ACCIONA Sailing Team has been informed by its skipper Javier "Bubi" Sansó that the boat ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered has had to modify its sailing route having suffered a little damage to the track of the main sail halyard whilst sailing in very harsh sea and wind conditions.

 

At around 18.00 on Wednesday 14th November the skipper from Mallorca saw his main sail come down after a piece of the mainsail halyard track system failed (the line used to raise and lower sails.)

 

 

Faced with the sudden dropping of the mainsail in winds of 30 knots and a rough sea with waves of up to four metres, Sansó was forced to modify his route from 213º to 147º and find a downwind position that would enable him to make a first assessment of the situation.

 

With a damaged part and the halyard at the top of the mast, Sansó will look for calmer sea conditions that allow him to go up to the top of the mast and recover the part and the halyard and be able to continue sailing under full sail.

 

 

The damage is not serious as Javier Sansó was keen to reassure his shore team and the situation is being monitored:

"This afternoon whilst I was sailing without any problem the part that attaches the main sail into the halyard track broke. I can't do anything until the weather improves and í can go up the mast to get the part and the main sail halyard back. Once I am back down it will just take me a few hours until I am back sailing again. The worst thing will be the 48 hours that I am going to lose. But this is a tough and long race and there is still a lot to be done".

We will keep you updated on the situation.

[Guest]

Saveol has dismasted

At 1945hrs (French time), on Thursday, November 15th, Samantha Davies contacted the race office of the Vendée Globe to report that her boat had dismasted. Davies is not injured. She is safe inside the boat with all the watertight doors closed. She is monitoring the situation and does not require assistance. She is wearing her survival suit and has safety equipment at hand.

 

When the incident occurred, she was about 130 nautical miles northwest of Madeira (position 34 ° 20'N 19 ° 01'W). The conditions at the time of dismasting were: wind 260 °, 40 knots, swell northwest, 3 to 4 metres. But the situation will gradually improve, with winds decreasing to 15 knots in the second half of the night.

 

After speaking to Davies, the race office contacted the Cross Griz Nez (France's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) to release an urgent Notice to Mariners (AVURNAV). All vessels navigating in a 200 nautical mile radius around Savéol were informed of the incident and the position of the boat.

 

 

 

Media briefing at 9.30 am (French Time) at the race headquarters - Paris-Montparnasse.

[Adrianp 119]

Saveol has dismasted

 

Bugger! I was enjoying her updates.

 

Fleets getting smaller by the day!

[Guest]

16 REMAIN

 

Javier Sansó reports that he has been sailing for 32 hours without his mainsail. He was approaching the Canary Islands yesterday afternoon, where he will shelter in calmer conditions while he climbs up his 100ft mast to recover the main halyard. It is a hazardous operation even with a crew and even in calmer waters - imagine climbing a hundred foot ladder balanced on a rocking horse (don’t try this at home).

 

“Today has been pretty entertaining preparing all the material to go up the mast tomorrow in the shelter of the Canary Islands,” Sansó, the only Spaniard in the race, said. “I just need some sheltered water without waves for a few hours and I think I'll be back again 100%. I've been able to sleep a full 2 hours - a real luxury!“

 

 

Sam Davies is safe but out of the race after dismasting on Thursday night. She has switched on her engine and is heading to Madeira, 100 miles away, at about five knots. The weather is being kinder her and she was expected arrive on Saturday morning. She will be met there by Romain Attanasio, her partner and Erwan Lemeilleur, Savéol’s boat captain, who are arriving on Friday night. Davies will soon be back with her 13-month-old son, Ruben, but must have wished it would be under different circumstances and at least 74 days later.

 

She was near the centre of a depression with a 35 knots of wind and treacherous cross seas and was preparing to put a third reef in the mainsail, when she heard and felt the mast go.

 

"It was quite difficult conditions because I had just gone through the cold front and I had a really cross sea,” Davies said. “I was getting ready to my foul weather gear on and that’s when the squall was just finishing and the wind was dropping and the boat jumped off the top of the top of a wave and that’s when I had the impact.

 

"I could hear the mast rubbing against the hull and down the whole side of the hull and under the boat, so I knew that it could damage the hull if I was unlucky, so the main thing was to close all the watertight bulkheads in case it did get pierced.”

 

Davies, who finished fourth in the last Vendée Globe, waited until the wind had eased before cutting away the mast and rigging and with them any chance of finishing her second Vendée Globe.

 

There were words of support for her throughout the fleet including her two fellow Britons. "I feel so sorry for Sam,” Mike Golding (Gamesa) said. “Is she ok? She was right in the worst of it at the wrong time. A great shame for her and the race."

“Really sad news regarding Sam’s dismasting last night,” Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) said. “I’m glad that she’s safe and well, but it’s a sobering reminder of how vigilant I have to be.”

 

Soon after Davies abandoned, Louis Burton, the 27-year-old Parisian, announced that he had abandoned and headed to La Coruña. He was limping back to Les Sables d’Olonne stuck on a starboard tack after colliding with a fishing boat on Wednesday at 0300hrs (French time). But the damage to the port shroud of his boat, Bureau Vallée, and consequent instability of his mast, meant that his passage through the Bay of Biscay with the current conditions would have been nearly impossible – especially with the deadline of needing to re-start the race by Tuesday November 20.

 

Fleet News:

 

Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) aka The Jackal, took the lead from the Francois ‘the Golden Boy’ Gabard (Macif) at 2300hrs (French time) on Thursday. The lead boat are heading due south and are 400 miles away from Cape Verde. By the 1600hrs ranking, Le Cléac’h the favourite, had stretched his lead to 20 miles over Gabard and the whole lead group. Gabard, who had led since the night of the start on Saturday, successfully re-positioned west and held off Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), who was a further four miles behind.

 

Earlier England had scored two small victories, with Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) first shaking off Jérémie Beyou (Maître CoQ) and then passing Vincent Riou (Riou) and Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) to move into fourth and close on the top three.

 

Further east, Mike Golding (Gamesa) gave Jean Le Cam (SynerCiel) a small haircut in their continuing match and led him by 12 miles. England 2 - 0 France.

 

But not for long. As the 10-12 knot winds veered from North to North-east, Dick and Riou struck back and passed Thomson.

 

Riou, gybing east but still the furthest west, at last found more wind than the others and had the best speed of 13.8 knots amongst the lead boats. The eleven skippers at the front of the front of the fleet have been enjoying much less aggressive conditions than cross seas and squalls that battered Davies out of the race.

[Guest]

Javier Sansó (Acciona 100% EcoPowered) revealed that he went up his 100ft mast and successfully retrieved the main halyard on Friday evening, but so sheltered was the spot he found on the northeast coast of Tenerife that he was becalmed until 0400hrs (French time) on Saturday.

 

“At 2000hrs the boat was tip-top to get back into the race again 100%,” he said. “The problem was that my sheltered spot in Tenerife had me trapped until 0400hrs in the morning when I was finally able to move out towards the south and then gybe west.”

 

“I had to go to find some sheltered water in Tenerife to be able to go up the mast without too many waves. The problem was that once situated behind Tenerife there was absolutely no wind at all and a real swell. So after two frustrating hours waiting and trying to get closer in to land, I made an attempt to go up the mast with quite a large swell, the boat almost drifting and without any kind of steering.”

 

“Each time I went up a metre I was like a sack of potatoes swaying from one side to the other. When I got to the top, 30 metres above the boat, I have to admit that there was a really beautiful view and I found a way of not being shoved all over the place; a good thing since I was really at a limit with the strength I had left. I managed to fix the line to the track that was there happily waiting for me at the top of the mast.”

“It really was a shame because I hadn’t been forcing the boat and had been up with the second group of boats, really well placed after three pretty intensive days. But hey, now it’s time to make up for the time lost. This is a very long race.”

 

Sansó, in 13th place, 559.2 miles behind, needed to go up the mast in order to retrieve his main halyard and fix the damage from when his mainsail came down suddenly three days ago.

What Zbigniew 'Gutek' Gutkowski (ENERGA), 500 miles west of Tenerife, would do for some of that Tenerife calm as he faces a trip to the top his mast to release the huge gennaker wrapped around his forestay. Gutek, who has been suffering a software failure in the two autopilots he has taken with him from the start of the race, described the accident.

 

“It’s a consequence of the autopilot malfunction,” he said. “Yesterday afternoon I hoisted a bigger sail, because there was a light winds zone approaching and I wanted to avoid it. So I took the risk to not lose more miles to the boys at the front of the fleet. Unfortunately the autopilot couldn’t manage steering with the big sail up, so I was steering by hand. After quite a long time, at around 0200hrs I decided to put the sail down and switched the autopilot on for a moment to prepare everything. But unfortunately after couple of seconds the boat made a Chinese gybe [where the boat is at the wrong angle to the wind and the sail twists in opposite directions top and bottom and causes a wipe out], and the consequences I have on the mast now.”

 

“The only option is to climb up the mast and cut everything off. But it is also risky. Every free piece of rigging flying round can cause the mast damage.”

“But, you know, when I was steering by hand, it was really great. ENERGA was going so fast, so easy, ticking 17, 20, 22 knots, it was wonderful, the boat is fast and beautiful and I love it.”

 

Gutek hopes the forecast for the wind to drop to about four knots after and the waves will flatten Saturday at midnight will give him a chance.

 

Meanwhile, Sam Davies reached Funchal Marina in Madeira on Saturday morning with Savéol looking naked with her rigging cut away and no sails after dismasting on Thursday night. “This Vendee Globe has been too short,” Davies wrote in her last night message. After the shock and then the survival mode, the grief of four years planning ending in five days has begun to sink in.

 



”I have been dreaming of sailing fast in the Southern Ocean for too long,” she said. “I didn't even see a flying fish, nor the Southern Cross star, nor the Albatrosses. But a strong memory that will be hard to erase is that moment when I cut the last forestay lashing and freed my injured mast into the ocean. It is hard to describe the emotions that go through your head at this moment - almost wishing to be able to bring it all back but knowing that it is impossible, like the dream of finishing this race. I let it go and, lit by my head torch, saw it float gently to rest in the ocean.”

 

“However, this is not all failure and I am OK. Given the conditions at the time of the dismasting, all of this is to be thankful for.
WE WILL BE BACK!
Good winds to the 16 skippers that are out there racing around the globe. When you have a bad day think of me because I would give anything to be out there in your place, even on a bad day!!
Sam.”

 

Fleet news:

 

At the 1600hrs ranking Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) consolidated the lead he took on Friday night and is well-placed to hold it at the boats pass the Cape Verde islands. Things are really hotting up in their little carbon boxes, with the temperatures rising to 23 degrees already and far hotter at the navigation station.

 

After seven out of a likely 80 days at sea, Le Cléac’h, second in the last Vendée Globe and the favourite for this one, leads Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) by 38.6 miles, with the rest of the chasing pack all converging on the same course south behind him.

 

Sometimes, it can be all downhill from Cape Verde to the Doldrums, less than a thousand miles away, but the forecast is for squalls along the way. The fleet will start to head east soon and the weather routing suggests there’s a clear corridor - 26-28 west longitude - in the light wind zone just in front of them. This will favour the faster boats, who already make up the first five in the fleet. The Doldrums are not likely to be so simple.