The Global Challenge of Jan Luc Van den Heede 2003/2004 zur Übersicht - www.vdh.fr/gb/ 09.03.2004 ENGLISH - Jean Luc Van den Heede, sailing round the world east to west on ADRIEN 122 DAYS 14 hours 3 minutes and 49 seconds [9 /3 /2004 ] It was at 2.26 a.m. (CET) that Jean Luc Van den Heede aboard Adrien crossed the finishing line off the Island of Ushant in NW Brittany. Having setting out on the 7th November 2003 to beat the round the world against the winds and currents record held by Phillippe Monnet, who achieved it in 151 days on 9th June 2000, Jean Luc Van den Heede crossed the finishing line located off Créac’h lighthouse on the Island of Ushant in NW Brittany at 2.26 a.m. CET. after 122 days 14 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds at sea. VDH has thus reduced the reference time by 29 days, 5 hours, 50 minutes and 47 seconds according to Claude Breton, the WSSRC (World Speed Sailing Record Council) official timekeeper. As soon as he has taken on board his technical team on Ushant, VDH will head off towards his home port of Les Sables d’Olonne in Western France, that he will reach on Thursday 11th March at 5 p.m. CET. A complete bulletin will be issued later this morning (Tuesday) Contact : Riva Com – Véronique Guillou – +33 (0)6 70 10 91 25 – veronique@rivacom.fr Copyright free pictures available during the morning by e-mail Contact : vincent@rivacom.fr / 02 9843 21 50 © B. Stichelbaut / DPPI "Words cannot express what I feel" [9 /3 /2004 ] Setting out from off Brest on the 7th November last year, VDH improved on the record set by Philippe Monnet aboard Uunet (151 days and 19 hours) back in 2000 by 29 days, 5 hours, 50 minutes and 47 seconds. He will thus have covered 25,564 miles in 122 days, 14 hours, 3 minutes and 47 seconds. Jean-Luc Van Den Heede has just finished his round the world trip « backwards » from East to West in brilliant style after doing 4 round the world trips (2nd in 1986 and 3rd in 1995 in the BOC Challenge, 3rd in 1989-90 and 2nd in 1992-93 in the Vendée Globe). This was his fourth attempt against the winds and currents. In 1999, his first attempt aboard his monohull Algimouss, had to be abandoned because of a leak after he hit some flottsam . In 2001, during his first attempt aboard Adrien, his current monohull (which hadn’t yet been perfected at that moment), he was forced to abandon the attempt because of a problem with the keelboard. Finally, in January 2003, it was his mast that let him down, when it broke off Tasmania. This was extremely difficult for him to take, as half way through the challenge VDH had 18 days lead over the record set by Philippe Monnet. "I had to go on, and it was by trial and error. There were very few examples of racing boats racing around the world in that direction. The forces on the boat were not very well known. The stresses and strains sailing upwind, when the boat slams down into the waves are completely different from those experienced during the Vendée Globe. I therefore experienced a few failures. This time, when I arrived in the south, I was more confident. We had really taken care of the solidity of the boat. The only unknown element was my mast, which was brand new and lighter than the previous one. I must admit that at the start I was a little worried about the rigging. This will be the first time I have been around the world without having to climb up the mast. In the past, I had to climb up quite often… To be honest, we didn’t have much time to go out in a gale, but I soon experienced that as I came out of the Bay of Biscay. There, I was able to see how Adrien reacted and I started to feel a little more confident. When I arrived in the South, I was fairly relaxed. But I always felt the need to remain cautious during this adventure. I never left the boat with too much sail up. As soon as I felt the wind getting up, I took in the sails... " The definition Jean-Luc gives of this Global Challenge is extremely simple and clear whatever the circumstances. "In the Vendée Globe, you are pushed along by the wind. Here, you have everything head on. It’s the same difference between a cyclist going up a hill and one going down. It’s the toughest thing a yachtsman can do in a single-handed event. " As for his extraordinary lead over the previous record, VDH explained: "I thought about it in the following way: Adrien sails 10% faster than than Monnier’s yacht. I thought I would beat him by a fortnight and then taking into account the problems Philippe had, I thought I could get five days more. I thought I could get up to 20 days better. 25 just seemed out of the question,. I really treated it as a competition against a virtual enemy. Every four or five hours, I checked out where he was. I did that all the time. The advantage was I didn’t have all the constraints of a race. There wasn’t any pressure from a competitor catching me up. There were times when I slowed down, whereas if I had an opponent 10 miles behind me I wouldn’t have done that. " Philippe Monnet said he went through hell, while for VDH everything went much better: " Philippe Monnet said he had 10 days of pleasure with 140 days of struggling. Personally, I would find it difficult to find 10 days of hard slog. I really enjoyed myself throughout the trip. Especially off Cape Horn. Rounding the mythical rock in a 40-knot wind behind me in that direction, is something extremely rare and I couldn’t have dreamt of that. Incredible, while last year, I went through a really bad gale just as I passed by it. Going through the Doldrums was the most unpleasant part, 30 hours to do 30 miles, is really tough. In spite of that there was a lot of physical work to do. First of all, the boat moves around a lot. It was violent when there were sudden lurches. I went flying two or three times. But I didn’t hurt myself fortunately. I didn’t have to open the medical box once. I took two aspirins during the whole trip plus a vitamin pill everyday. That’s all." Pierre Lasnier of MétéoMer could not hide his pleasure. "Jean-Luc managed to get, some really great conditions. What really counts is avoiding tough situations and light winds. He kept an eye on things. The elements were with us, especially off Cape Horn. Sometimes, I had to really argue my case, particularly in the difficult areas. I’ll be in Les Sables d’Olonne to welcome him and congratulate him. " The appointment has been noted: On Thursday, Adrien will arrive in the harbour entrance to Les Sables d’Olonne at 5.15 p.m. CET - WWW.VDH.FR Copyright © 1996-2004 - SEGEL.DE