December 01, 2000 - 4:18:05 PM]
Dominique Wavre (Union Bancaire Privée) :"I have limited the
damages!"
The Swiss skipper recounts how he started his day: "My
gooseneck was unscrewed and the axis fall on the deck!
Hopefully I managed to catch it before it went into the water. I
had to put the index sail down to unload the boom and put it
back in place. I must have lost a few miles.".
Despite the fact he lost one place in the positions, Dominique
was happy with the way he sailed in the last 48 hours. "Two
days ago I was in sixth position, as there was a way point in
the East of the fleet’s route. In fact I was further North than
Marc, Thierry and Thomas but the fact that I was also further
East approached me from the way point. Now I am lying 7th
but further South. I have accpeted that I would lose some
miles while doing a short tack to get closer to the South."
"I started with getting the indexsail down in order to use the
halyot to go up. It wasn’t too hard. To free the spinnaker
without pulling too hard, I had eased the halyot. Once upstairs
I tidy up the mess when the spinnaker went flying again
(which was the objective!) - so here is the scene - a real
cartoon: a guy alone on his boat at the top of his mast who
can only see his spinnaker going down and risking falling
under the boat. No need to describe the boat’s movements
especially as the index sail was down. I wanted to call my
shore crew for help!!! I knew it would take some time to go
down again but not that much: 20 minutes, meter after meter.
When I landed on the deck I jumped on the halyot with an
amazing speed. then I hoisted the index sail up, and Sodebo
was able to sail again....
Source: Corine Renié - Carremer
December 01, 2000 - 3:23:01 PM]
The leading boats thought they would manage to escape
without slowing down after catching Westerly winds which would
help them reach the 40th degrees. But as far as weather
forcasting nothing is never sure. The system, a text book
case, hasn’t developed like it should have had.
Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations) who is leading the race
since the Equator, is opening the route like a boy scout and is
suffering from it : « I dove South because we’re in a complex
system and I can’t see any way out. I stayed between 1 - 4
knots in really light airs last night. I think I’ll get into the
Westerlies in 36 hours and head off with a low pressure
system towards the Southern latitudes, but there’s a tight high
pressure system sitting in the middle of all that. Right now I’m
ahead by one day in terms of a 99 day circumnavigation.»
As the leading boats are slowing down they should soon catch
each other and reform a group. Each skipper knows he must
pass the last gateway of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s time to
concentrate. The first one who will have the privilege to touch
the Westerly winds will leave the others very quickly. Yves
Parlier and Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) were confirming this to us
during the radio chat this morning. For both of them the daily
routine is busy : manœuvres, trimming and long hours above
the chart table to find the right answer. The race can be
played in the next two days. Behind, Jourdain, Chabaud,
MacArthur, Coville, Thiercelin, Wavre and Dubois have also
understood the situation and push themselves and their boats
to the edge.
The strong rhythm they have been following since the start of
the Vendée Globe worries some of the competitors. After 22
days of racing, the wind has never been violent, but the boats
have been sailed to their limits. Nobody wants to give up in
order to preserve their chances of winning.
Now just as they are arriving in the roaring forties, there are
460 miles between the leader of the fleet and the 10th boat.
This gap is already quite important but with luck (or not !) it
could decrease and redistribute the cards…
Yves Parlier has set the pace and doesn’t want to take it
easier in the Southern Ocean : « Four years ago, Christophe
Auguin was let alone after everybody else had broken. He just
had to control the race. This year we are all very close to each
other, we must fight all the time. If the others break, I will
calm the game down. Not before».
Ladies and Gentlemen, you have been warned… Yves Parlier
has spoken. The battle will be hard. The second part of the
fleet is still sailing along the high pressure. The steady breeze
offers them amzing nights under the moon and the stars. The
magic of the southern hemisphere.
[December 01, 2000 - 2:46:22 PM]
Fedor Konyoukhov (Modern University for the Humanities)
crosses the Equator - for the 7th time! In an email message
he writes:
Dear friends, I crossed the Equator - 7th time in my life. I am
pleased that all crossing I done by the sails. Now we are in
Southern hemisphere. All is different here: unusual clouds,
new stars, different season, a mystic place for me. I am
monitoring my right rudder, no water coming so far. But I will
be nervous about this until the finish. Normally, I have to take
the boat out from the water, take out the rudder, make a new
fixation and bearings. All this possible in every port, but I will
be out of the race. So, I stratified the fixation with metallic
rings, put some fibre glass and epoxy, dried it with electric
chafage and I prepared my self to pump the water during all
the race if it’s necessary.
Fedor
Source: Oscar Konyoukhov, Modern University for the
Humanities
[December 01, 2000 - 1:50:33 PM]
Josh Hall (EBP - Gartmore) : "The wind has been veering NNW
/ NNE and changes every 40 minutes by 30 - 40 degrees. I’ve
had the spinnaker up, then the gennaker, the boats going
okay, 12 knots, and I’m up with the index fleet still. The high
pressure system is next to us and the wind should be to the
NE at the weekend. The pressure is okay, the wind should stay
like this for another 2 days. And after that the Southern
Ocean!
"I’m working on the boat every day but getting ready in my
mind too. I have a target to arrive at Cape Horn on the first or
second of January and I’m making it so far! It’s hard to gain
miles in this close group as we are all going at the same
speed but I’m confident that I’ll gain some miles and places
in a few days."
Mike Golding (Team Group 4) : "Things are going very well
now. I’m heading due South at 10 knots. Some cloud around
but the wind’s more solid, so I’ve got 1 reef in. It’s a good
sign that I’m clear of the Doldrums. I’m looking forward to
better conditions ahead. The last 4/5 days were tough, not
very rewarding as I’ve been buried in fixing problems that
have cropped up, the biggest of which was my water-maker.
I’ve traced the problem with my autopilot to the batteries,
which I’m fixing now. These outstanding problems would never
seem so big when you’re racing in a fleet, but on my own they
seem to be larger.
"It’s very difficult to be motivated in the same way you would
be in the fleet. The enormous amount of work put in to the
project personally, by the team and the sponsor is motivating
in itself. It’s important to recover what we can, I have a very
competitive boat, yes I miss not being up in the fleet but hey,
I’d rather be sailing through the Tropics than stuck in rainy
England!"c
[December 01, 2000 - 12:31:15 PM]
Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations) : "I dove South because
we’re in a complex system and I can’t see any way out. I fell
into the most serious light weather last night and stayed
between 1 - 4 knots in really light airs. This is typical of the
South, along with a huge swell, and petrel birds flying over the
boat.
"Not the best winds I know as I can’t get a good rhythm and
the others who have reindexed with the Northerly flux have
been able to retain a good boat speed.
Here, I’ve got 15 knots but I can’t say where from as it might
help my rivals, but its good so far. I think I’ll get into the
Westerlies in 36 hours and head off with a low pressure
system towards the Southern latitudes. Not as easy as it
sounds, there’s a tight high pressure system sitting in the
middle of all that. There’s a front with a trough and two air
masses facing each other! It will all end when I hit the
Westerlies.
Right now, the group is tightning up again. But when I get the
Westerlies I’ll start stretching out my lead again. I’m not in
the same weather system as the others, so if my lead has
diminished I’m not too worried. With the speed of these boats
one can go at just 15 knots and push out a lead of 100 miles!
"I’m working on the sail changes and keeping them in good
shape. No need to do anything as Aquitaine Innovations is
going well. Between the two regroupings we’ve been making
incredible progress. Right now I’m ahead of my own record,
one and a half days in fact over the record four years ago,
and one day ahead in terms of a 99 day circumnavigation. I
intended to cross the 30’s today and I did it yesterday.
"But off Brazil on the way back we’ll get becalmed, and
passing the Doldrums yet again, but the pace this year in the
Vendée Globe fleet is unparalleled. Four years ago, Isabelle
(Autissier) and I were greyhound racing and she ended up
breaking a rudder, me some battens and then a rudder as
well. Christophe (Auguin) could take it a bit easier then. Now,
we’re going to push until something breaks. There’ll be some
rocket fire down South!"
[December 01, 2000 - 12:27:56 PM]
Bernard Gallay (Voila.fr) : "It’s getting better"
"The wind has returned, last night was calm and the
manoeuvres on deck were okay. At around 0530hrs this
morning, the wind stabilised and I could stay on my desired
heading. The boat is advancing at 12 - 16 knots now. This
should help me get back some miles on the others.
"Yesterday the sunset was magnificent! Today the sun is
hidden by clouds and rain. I am comfortable with this tack as I
am going along between 90 and 110 degrees of apparent
wind. It’s getting better
"Yesterday I got through a lot of jobs. I climbed to the top of
the mast to install an independent halyard from the other two
in case the others break. I am waiting for a check list from my
shore team and have given myself one or two other things to
do as well."
[December 01, 2000 - 12:22:38 PM]
Simone Bianchetti (Aquarelle.com) : "This boat is french and
I’m Italian!"
"All is well, the wind is more stable, my descent has been
good and I’ve managed to get a little East. How’s Paris?
Everyone okay? The boat is great, and I have started to
prepare for the South and made personal improvements on
the deck. Not a great deal of time to do this but now I have to
indextain a good course and safely. My boat & I are in perfect
harmony - she’s french and I’m Italian but we understand
each other now!"
December 01, 2000 - 11:29:20 AM]
Joé Seeten (Nord Pas de Calais - Chocolats du monde)
:"Thinking of Paris"
"It all feels great, the boat is on a beam reach in an
exceptional sea. I am passing in the middle of two cloud
masses, on the left is the Saint Helen anticyclone, on the right
is a small low pressure system. I have a thought for Paris, as
for the last 15 years I have made the journey up to the Boat
Show. I called my team to wish them all the best for today at
the show. It’s become an institution because the interest there
is in the mass gathering of people and the evenings are fun
and interesting. But I don’t regret my situation here as it’s
also fantastic.
"Since the Bay of Biscay, I have been on Port tack, only
gybing once in the Doldrums but that was only for 15 miles.
My only regret is that I haven’t seen more marine animals.
Last night I had the alarm clock on every 20 minutes so that I
wouldn’t get stuck in the calms. I have stepped on the gas
and it’s paying off!"
1
Aquitaine Innovations (Parlier)
On Dec, 01 at 11:00 UT
-34.18
18.12
18613
163
10.3
2D-3D
2
PRB (Desjoyeaux)
On Dec, 01 at 14:00 UT
-33.11
17.54
55
164
12.3
2D-3D
3
SILL Matines La Potagère (Jourdain)
On Dec, 01 at 14:02 UT
-32.38
20.19
172
115
13.7
2D-3D
4
Whirlpool (Chabaud)
On Dec, 01 at 12:01 UT
-30.07
19.27
211
125
11.4
2D-3D
5
Kingfisher (MacArthur)
On Dec, 01 at 14:00 UT
-30.3
19.27
219
107
11.8
2D-3D
6
Sodebo (Coville)
On Dec, 01 at 12:00 UT
-29.24
21.06
304
129
11.1
2D-3D
7
Union Bancaire Privée (Wavre)
On Dec, 01 at 14:02 UT
-29.51
21.06
310
124
11
8
Active Wear (Thiercelin)
On Dec, 01 at 11:01 UT
-29.32
23.07
369
125
10.6
2D-3D
9
Solidaires (Dubois)
On Dec, 01 at 14:00 UT
-29.23
22.13
372
118
11.1
2D-3D
10
EBP EspritPME Gartmore (Hall)
On Dec, 01 at 14:00 UT
-28.27
22.43
428
127
10.2
2D-3D
11
Voila.fr (Gallay)
On Dec, 01 at 11:00 UT
-26.25
25.08
570
144
12.1
2D-3D
12
Nord Pas de Calais - Chocolats du
Monde (Seeten)
On Dec, 01 at 14:01 UT
-25.56
25.14
629
145
10.2
2D-3D
13
VM Matériaux (Carpentier)
On Dec, 01 at 14:25 UT
-25.57
26.16
674
146
10.1
2D-3D
14
Sogal Extenso (Dinelli)
On Dec, 01 at 14:03 UT
-24.23
26.05
726
142
11.1
2D-3D
15
Aquarelle.com (Bianchetti)
On Dec, 01 at 12:00 UT
-21.38
27.06
862
169
11
2D-3D
16
Old Spice (Sanso)
On Dec, 01 at 14:00 UT
-20.19
27.34
960
172
9.87
2D-3D
17
Wind Telecommunicazioni (de Gregorio)
On Dec, 01 at 11:00 UT
-17.52
31.53
1198
156
11.4
2D-3D
18
DDP - 60ieme Sud (Munduteguy)
On Dec, 01 at 14:00 UT
-14.49
26.39
1257
152
8.43
2D-3D
19
Modern University For The Humanities
(Konyukhov)
On Dec, 01 at 11:00 UT
-2.2
29.22
1998
191
8.44
2D-3D
20
Team Group 4 (Golding)
On Dec, 01 at 11:00 UT
2.25
25.07
2258
192
9.86
2D-3D
|
