Foto copyright MICHEL DESJOYEAUX / FONCIA / VENDEE GLOBE
Fuente info VG
Day 48, 100 miles to the West Pacific gate
Josse’s hard choice is on hold until his weather improves, Michel Desjoyeaux is increasing his lead again
Foto copyright MICHEL DESJOYEAUX / FONCIA / VENDEE GLOBE
1500 HRS GMT. Rankings, Saturday 27th December 2008
(FRA unless stated)
Josse’s hard choice is on hold until his weather improves, Michel Desjoyeaux is increasing his lead again
Foto copyright MICHEL DESJOYEAUX / FONCIA / VENDEE GLOBE
1500 HRS GMT. Rankings, Saturday 27th December 2008
(FRA unless stated)
1. Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) at + 9899.3 miles
2. Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) at + 68.9 miles
3. Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) at + 165.7 miles
4. Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) at 338.6 miles
5. Vincent Riou (PRB) at + 375.2 miles
Selected International
2. Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) at + 68.9 miles
3. Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) at + 165.7 miles
4. Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) at 338.6 miles
5. Vincent Riou (PRB) at + 375.2 miles
Selected International
8. Sam Davies, GBR, (ROXY) at + 1433.1 miles
10. Dee Caffari, GBR, (AVIVA) at + 2055.7 miles
11. Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) at + 2065.8 miles
13. Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water) at + 2658.4 miles
14. Johnny Malbon, GBR, (Artemis) at + 3348.5 miles
15. Rich Wilson, USA, (Great American III) at + 3446 miles
16. Derek Hatfield, CAN, (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) at + 3569 miles
17. Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport.Kapsch) + 4421.5 miles
As conditions for the leaders improved only vertmarginally Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) is working hard to keep adding miles to his lead over Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement).
Seb Josse is nursing BT north closer to the high pressure area where lighter winds and flatter seas should allow him to assess what repairs he can make to his IMOCA Open 60. He has reduced the water ingress through the deck cracks, but his main concern is whether he can re-align the rudders.
Marc Guillemot (Safran) has had to stop for longer in Auckland Island after discovering that his mainsail luff track repairs are more complex.
A deep, malicious low pressure system in the south Pacific continues to send brutally testing conditions for the Vendée Globe leaders, but Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) steadily ekes out miles on second place Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement).
The depression will continue to plague the leaders for the next few days, still making make life tough.
Morale would lift today aboard Foncia and Veolia Environnement as the ‘miles to the finish’ clicked down under 10,000 for the two leaders.
Since last night Desjoyeaux has maintained a continuous speed edge of close to one knot over Jourdain, who admitted today that he had an unwelcome visitation below decks from over 300 litres of freezing South Pacific water.
After being knocked flat by a huge wave yesterday the French skipper Seb Josse has continued to coax his damaged British built and owned IMOCA Open 60 BT, northwards towards the refuge of flatter water and lighter winds to try to make repairs to his rudder and decks.
“ I can't go where I want.” Said Josse today, “ I can't exceed ten knots and the autopilot cannot cope. I've been forced to wedge the helm in place to keep going north to find some calmer waters and judge the extent of the damage. If the rudder works, I can turn right and get back in the race. If it doesn't, I'll turn left and the race is over."
Josse’s dilemma is to decide whether he can keep the boat safe, secure and competitive to continue to Cape Horn and back up the Atlantic or whether to take the gut wrenching decision to head east to New Zealand 1200 miles away.
Josse has already had to give way his fourth place, traded between Vincent Riou and Armel Le Cléac’h over the course of today. The duo, who on this 48th day of the race were only four miles apart this morning, have now diverged again and Le Cléac’h is presently the custodian of the fourth place.
At a little after 0900hrs GMT (late evening local) Marc Guillemot nosed Safran to a halt in the sheltered waters of the whimsically named Sandy Bay, to the north east of Auckland Island, a remote virtually uninhabited staging post 250 miles to the south of New Zealand’s South Island.
An initial reconnaissance up the mast revealed that the repair to the luff track for his mainsail is more complex than thought. He had programmed for it to take about two and a half hours, but in fact he needs to make repairs to both sides of the track and so he will be stuck there for a little longer.
Sam Davies has been enjoying favourable conditions for Roxy, sailing the second highest mileage over the last 24 hours, just a mile shy of Desjoyeaux’s 341 miles.
With eighteen skippers still racing Davies is eighth with the boat which was launched in May 2000 for Desjoyeaux, meaning that three of the top eight boats are more than four years old.
Brian Thompson, 11th, and Dee Caffari, 10th, have had lighter conditions and Thompson is slowly reeling in his female compatriot, now just ten miles behind Caffari.
Rich Wilson, USA, (Great American) remains stoic after sustaining a cut to his eye when he was thrown from his bunk last night. While he has been continuously battered by depression after depression, the veteran American has been buoyed by the huge number of messages of support, reporting that schools from Poland, Australia and China have all sent him heart warming messages in recent days.
Sébastien Josse (BT): "It was all a bit surreal. In a second, you feel the boat going right over. Everything falls on top of you and you're sent flying inside. Luckily, I was sitting at the chart table. It took a couple of minutes to sort out the top from the bottom, try to find a lamp and understand what was happening... As the coach roof is cracked, water is seeping in, so you can see how serious it is. There were clothes and food everywhere. I think I'm lucky she didn't go completely upside down, as I couldn't have been far off doing that. Looking at the damage it's clear that tons of water came over the boat. The biggest problem is with the rudders. They're now facing each other. I can't go where I want, can't exceed ten knots and the autopilot cannot cope. I've been forced to wedge the helm in place to keep going north to find some calmer waters and judge the extent of the damage. If the rudder works, I can turn right and get back in the race. If it doesn't, I'll turn left and the race is over."
Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2): “It seems incredible, but I'm stuck in a high-pressure calm. I got caught in the trap the other evening. I'm waiting for some strong winds to arrive shortly: at least 30-35 knots. Meanwhile, I'm still busy with my rudder parts. After Ivory, I am trying to make a new head for the starboard side. Having to do this DIY work and race at the same time is not easy. Some good news, I made a small batten to consolidate the whole thing and everything seems to be stable on the port tack, which is promising for the future. I'm spending a lot of time doing that, but there's still a lot of work to do on the boat: the time it takes to dry and make all the parts... Even if I have dropped in the rankings, there's a long way to go and a lot can happen. It's freezing down here, even if by heading north, I have gained a few degrees. That is important, especially when you're working on stuff outside with no gloves on.”
Marc Guillemot (Safran): “I have discovered that I have a little more work to do than I thought. The top and bottom part of the mainsail track are damaged. It's really upset me, but I'm not beaten yet. Night fell about half an hour ago, and there's no moonlight. A cloudy front with drizzle has arrived, which isn't really ideal for climbing the mast. I think it's going to take me while to get the boat sorted out, but otherwise there would be no point in continuing the race. I can promise you I'm far from happy, but it's either that or set out with limited sail up and that would not be enjoyable in these wretched conditions. Sandy Bay is a magical place. The weather was great for an hour or two and apart from the temperature, it was a bit like being in the tropics.”
10. Dee Caffari, GBR, (AVIVA) at + 2055.7 miles
11. Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) at + 2065.8 miles
13. Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water) at + 2658.4 miles
14. Johnny Malbon, GBR, (Artemis) at + 3348.5 miles
15. Rich Wilson, USA, (Great American III) at + 3446 miles
16. Derek Hatfield, CAN, (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) at + 3569 miles
17. Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport.Kapsch) + 4421.5 miles
As conditions for the leaders improved only vertmarginally Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) is working hard to keep adding miles to his lead over Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement).
Seb Josse is nursing BT north closer to the high pressure area where lighter winds and flatter seas should allow him to assess what repairs he can make to his IMOCA Open 60. He has reduced the water ingress through the deck cracks, but his main concern is whether he can re-align the rudders.
Marc Guillemot (Safran) has had to stop for longer in Auckland Island after discovering that his mainsail luff track repairs are more complex.
A deep, malicious low pressure system in the south Pacific continues to send brutally testing conditions for the Vendée Globe leaders, but Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) steadily ekes out miles on second place Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement).
The depression will continue to plague the leaders for the next few days, still making make life tough.
Morale would lift today aboard Foncia and Veolia Environnement as the ‘miles to the finish’ clicked down under 10,000 for the two leaders.
Since last night Desjoyeaux has maintained a continuous speed edge of close to one knot over Jourdain, who admitted today that he had an unwelcome visitation below decks from over 300 litres of freezing South Pacific water.
After being knocked flat by a huge wave yesterday the French skipper Seb Josse has continued to coax his damaged British built and owned IMOCA Open 60 BT, northwards towards the refuge of flatter water and lighter winds to try to make repairs to his rudder and decks.
“ I can't go where I want.” Said Josse today, “ I can't exceed ten knots and the autopilot cannot cope. I've been forced to wedge the helm in place to keep going north to find some calmer waters and judge the extent of the damage. If the rudder works, I can turn right and get back in the race. If it doesn't, I'll turn left and the race is over."
Josse’s dilemma is to decide whether he can keep the boat safe, secure and competitive to continue to Cape Horn and back up the Atlantic or whether to take the gut wrenching decision to head east to New Zealand 1200 miles away.
Josse has already had to give way his fourth place, traded between Vincent Riou and Armel Le Cléac’h over the course of today. The duo, who on this 48th day of the race were only four miles apart this morning, have now diverged again and Le Cléac’h is presently the custodian of the fourth place.
At a little after 0900hrs GMT (late evening local) Marc Guillemot nosed Safran to a halt in the sheltered waters of the whimsically named Sandy Bay, to the north east of Auckland Island, a remote virtually uninhabited staging post 250 miles to the south of New Zealand’s South Island.
An initial reconnaissance up the mast revealed that the repair to the luff track for his mainsail is more complex than thought. He had programmed for it to take about two and a half hours, but in fact he needs to make repairs to both sides of the track and so he will be stuck there for a little longer.
Sam Davies has been enjoying favourable conditions for Roxy, sailing the second highest mileage over the last 24 hours, just a mile shy of Desjoyeaux’s 341 miles.
With eighteen skippers still racing Davies is eighth with the boat which was launched in May 2000 for Desjoyeaux, meaning that three of the top eight boats are more than four years old.
Brian Thompson, 11th, and Dee Caffari, 10th, have had lighter conditions and Thompson is slowly reeling in his female compatriot, now just ten miles behind Caffari.
Rich Wilson, USA, (Great American) remains stoic after sustaining a cut to his eye when he was thrown from his bunk last night. While he has been continuously battered by depression after depression, the veteran American has been buoyed by the huge number of messages of support, reporting that schools from Poland, Australia and China have all sent him heart warming messages in recent days.
Sébastien Josse (BT): "It was all a bit surreal. In a second, you feel the boat going right over. Everything falls on top of you and you're sent flying inside. Luckily, I was sitting at the chart table. It took a couple of minutes to sort out the top from the bottom, try to find a lamp and understand what was happening... As the coach roof is cracked, water is seeping in, so you can see how serious it is. There were clothes and food everywhere. I think I'm lucky she didn't go completely upside down, as I couldn't have been far off doing that. Looking at the damage it's clear that tons of water came over the boat. The biggest problem is with the rudders. They're now facing each other. I can't go where I want, can't exceed ten knots and the autopilot cannot cope. I've been forced to wedge the helm in place to keep going north to find some calmer waters and judge the extent of the damage. If the rudder works, I can turn right and get back in the race. If it doesn't, I'll turn left and the race is over."
Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2): “It seems incredible, but I'm stuck in a high-pressure calm. I got caught in the trap the other evening. I'm waiting for some strong winds to arrive shortly: at least 30-35 knots. Meanwhile, I'm still busy with my rudder parts. After Ivory, I am trying to make a new head for the starboard side. Having to do this DIY work and race at the same time is not easy. Some good news, I made a small batten to consolidate the whole thing and everything seems to be stable on the port tack, which is promising for the future. I'm spending a lot of time doing that, but there's still a lot of work to do on the boat: the time it takes to dry and make all the parts... Even if I have dropped in the rankings, there's a long way to go and a lot can happen. It's freezing down here, even if by heading north, I have gained a few degrees. That is important, especially when you're working on stuff outside with no gloves on.”
Marc Guillemot (Safran): “I have discovered that I have a little more work to do than I thought. The top and bottom part of the mainsail track are damaged. It's really upset me, but I'm not beaten yet. Night fell about half an hour ago, and there's no moonlight. A cloudy front with drizzle has arrived, which isn't really ideal for climbing the mast. I think it's going to take me while to get the boat sorted out, but otherwise there would be no point in continuing the race. I can promise you I'm far from happy, but it's either that or set out with limited sail up and that would not be enjoyable in these wretched conditions. Sandy Bay is a magical place. The weather was great for an hour or two and apart from the temperature, it was a bit like being in the tropics.”
