[December 12, 2000 - 5:34:37 PM]
Mike Golding (Team Group 4) - on his last real English
Breakfast.
Mike Golding has reported in to his shore team that he is still
indextaining an average of 18 knots and currently headed
straight at the mark on starboard gybe in some 20 knots of
breeze. He has one reef in the index and his staysail set. He
is closely watching the high pressure system over South Africa
and his index concern is getting trapped in it, even for a shot
period.
Golding was relishing his fried egg breakfast when the shore
team called this morning - the bad news is that it was his last egg!
Source: MPR
[December 12, 2000 - 5:28:49 PM]
The Big Blue Ice Letter - Josh Hall (EBP-Gartmore) in
communication overload.
1300UTC 48.26N 37.30E
"Well if there was the slightest doubt in my mind, this
morning’s experience expelled it - we are definitely in harm’s
way down here. We only get around 5 hours of darkness in
these latitudes and for the past week have benefitted from a
full moon during that time so a regular lookout on deck for
icebergs or squalls and running the radar with its ultra loud
alarm has been a sufficient mental comfort zone.
"I have been sleeping in 45 minute stretches mostly and am
well into the routine of napping, waking to my alarm, checking
the horizon, boat speed, course and sail trim then sacking out
for another 45 minutes.
"Just as the sun was coming up this morning I put my head
down and was woken 30 minutes later , not by my clock alarm
but by the radar alarm.......panic stations ......grabbing my
jacket ( I sleep in the trousers and my seaboots) I hustled
onto deck. The sun was low but screaming sunlight under a
heavy squall cloud up ahead, and sparkling below it was
.....well at first I thought it looked like an aircraft carrier (
quickly dismissed thought), then I thought it must be an
island, but the nearest one is some 300 miles north......it was
he absolute grandmother of all icebergs. In fact to call it an
iceberg does it no justice whatsoever. The radar had alarmed
off with it 4 miles away, and a slight change of course steered
us about a mile and a half north of it.
"As we passed I could get some sense of its size - easily a
kilometre long with a towering two peaked mountain of ice at
one end that must have been 300 metres high if not more.
Around its cliff like edges I could see the waves crashing
against it – in particular at the windward end where 20 foot
waves created an illusion that this ice island had an enormous
propellor at that end powering it along. Hundreds of arctic
seabirds surrounded it - their mobile home....they live so
naturally in this environment that we endure in our high speed
carbon shell with a myriad of technology supporting us. I was
staggered by its beauty but it also scared the hell out of me. I
could too vividly imagine piling the boat into such a monster -
we wouldn’t stand one iota of chance to survive.
"As we swept past and left it astern, I resolved to look outside
every 15 minutes for the reindexder of my time in these
latitudes- I am not sure how my next sleep will come. As if in
confirmation of the danger ( as if it needed re-inforcing!!) an
hour later I could see another huge piece of Antarctica that
had decided to holiday in the north....this one was further
south - about 4 miles away but despite that I could see that it
was easily the equal of the first one...in fact the peaks were
certainly higher. I need to get north I thought...but the wind
stubbornly stays in the southwest at the moment. I am
running as downwind as I can in the 30 knot wind and 20 foot
seas, but our best course is due east ...... at least we are not
going any further south into more trouble, but I am anxiously
awaiting the wind change to the northwest that is due soon so
I can gybe and climb north.
"Its probably not much safer 3 degrees north but it will feel it.
The sea temperature here hovers between 2 and 3 degrees C
as we trace along the antarctic covergence zone....and I feel
like we are at the end of the world. For the next 25-30 days till
we get to Cape Horn I would like to be one of these sea birds
- totally at one with this environment. They don’t care about
the weather and they actually seek out the ice as a resting
spot..but....I am me and I am here and we have to go there
to get out of here!!"
Josh
Source: Fred Lemonnier, EBP-Gartmore
[December 12, 2000 - 4:26:33 PM]
Island hopping in the South - herd mentality as fleet face
next wave of depressions: analysis by Philippe Jeantot.
Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) holds onto his fresh lead over the 20
skippers in the Vendée Globe fleet, enhancing it by just a few
miles from Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potagere) in the
last few hours. Admitting that such a lead can sometimes be
more of a burden, Desjoyeaux nevertheless describes
unusually beautiful sailing conditions. Along with his
immediate rival, he is navigating between the Crozet Islands
(the archipelago belonging to the Southern French Territories),
an experience which is both refreshing and challenging ; the
skippers are enjoying a temporary pause as they are
positioned between two low pressure systems, however, this is
equally a very tricky weather zone to negotiate.
Despite the fact that the fleet haven’t experienced really
extreme conditions yet since crossing the 40th parallel, they
all seem ecstatic to be under clear, bright skies, in a softer
wind with an insignificant swell under the hull, and surrounded
by any number of birds. A chance to dry out their sleeping
bags, boots and clothing, open the hatches up, after bearing
up with both the wet and humidity for several days – this
opportunity won’t present itself again in the near future.
However, the weather is a bit of a headache for them, as four
depressions at around 50 degrees East are blocking the route
like a line of badly behaved misfits, and several ways to get
past them are presenting themselves to the fleet. Whether to
take the direct route, with light airs, or a route around to the
North, which adds on more miles…each skipper is weighing up
the pro’s and con’s of the different possibilities.
Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations), who is still smarting from
his recent calamitous error in weather strategy, can at least
hand over the stress ball to Desjoyeaux, who confessed today
to be monitoring constantly the boats behind, notably all
sailing faster than him, and only able to control Jourdain at
the very best. One can very well ask what risks and options
are the other skippers now prepared to take to supercede the
new leader ? Interestingly, Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear)
commented that : « The thing to have done was to either go
South like Dubois or North...but everyone seems to be sticking
to the middle road. It’s a Figaro sailor’s mentality. » After
seeing Parlier’s huge loss, it seems that the fleet prefer each
other’s company more than they thought.
However, Josh Hall (EBP-Gartmore) has braved it a little
further South, and had the mixed blessing of missing 2
icebergs at 48°30 South, and yet marvelling at their
breath-taking beauty. His radar was programmed to set off an
alarm at 4 miles from any berg, and so he passed 1 mile
North of the first one, which he reckoned was 1 km long and
300 metres high. « It was just incredible to see this island of
ice, to see the waves breaking against the white cliff face. One
hour later I saw another one, the same size. The water was
2°C.»
Joé Seeten (Nord Pas de Calais-Chocolats du Monde),
yesterday underwent a kind of initiation in the Southern Ocean
when he sailed into 50 knot winds, gusting to 60, and spent
19 hours at the helm a little over-canvassed. After a few
vertical drops and three broaches, the top of his mast has
been truly baptised. « The advantage with my boat is that it is
narrow, it comes back up quickly, but it was exciting
nonetheless ! »
Raphaël Dinelli (Sogal Extenso) arrived in Cape Town this
morning. The boat is just waiting for the crane to lift it onto a
cradle and the countdown begins to get him back on the water
in a few days. He is now officially out of the official rankings
according the Vendée Globe rules.
Finally, today Russian skipper Fedor Konyoukhov celebrated
his 49th birthday at 30 degrees parallel. For an adventurer,
who spent his last two birthdays training in Alaska for a
transalaskan dog-sled trip and sailing in the Around Alone, he
admitted that: « There’s not much to celebrate for the last
week, the wind is 3-5 knots, pure from the North, the boat is
doing 3-4 knots average. High pressure caught me very firmly
and I had no chance to escape. »
[December 12, 2000 - 2:26:54 PM]
Josh Hall (EBP-Gartmore) really hates icebergs!
"I’ve never seen an iceberg so big and so high! In fact it was
an iceberg island! Incredible! So beautiful but so dangerous...
"My radar has a range of 6 miles and it picked this berg up 4
miles ahead of me, which gave me time to change my
heading.
"A new low is arriving, I’ve been watching it for 2 days. I’m
near Marion Island, and I’ll stay a little more South. The
wind’s up to 39 knots and the boat’s going along at 15 knots.
Three or four of the guys ahead are slowing up in the centre
of the depression. I think I’ve gained a lot of miles back on
my position, because I’ve made good tactical choices and
weather options. That’s what I aim to achieve, not to break
records but to take the best and options in view of the safety
of the boat.
"In fact, I got out my chart, and exactly 2 years ago, I was
ust 100 miles North of here, during the Around Alone race.
There’s a big mental difference - here it’s cold and hard when
it’s blowing 25 knots, the same conditions if you had a 35
knot wind in the Atlantic. The movement of the boat is
endless and mentally it’s hard to just imagine another 30
days until Cape Horn - it’s going to be a very long 3 weeks!
However, I can’t see any major system on the horizon, I’m
sure we’ll get one though and the anticipation of it is
stomach-twisting.
"It’s a beautiful race, non-stop, and we’re passing 3 seasons
all in one go; autumn leaving Les Sables and in Cap
Finisterre, summer passing through the tropics, and although
it’s summer in the South, it’s definitely winter here! And in
three weeks we’ll get back to the tropics! The BOC (Around
Alone) was a great social race but frustrating to have to climb
out of the Southern Ocean into the high pressure to stop. It’s
phenomenal to think we’ll be under Australia in 9/10 days
after 6 weeks at sea! It’s a classic route and one I expect the
old Clipper ships would have loved to have done at the speed
we’re going!"
[December 12, 2000 - 12:42:39 PM]
Happy Birthday to...Fedor Konyoukhov! The Russian skipper of
Modern University for the Humanities has sent us a few words.
"Dear All,
Today is my 49 birthday. It’s happened so, that in every
sailing around the world, I met my birthday in different ocean:
Pacific, Indian, now Atlantic. I don’t remember well when, last
time I met my birthday at home, perhaps 15 years ago. In
1999, on this day, I was in Alaska going through a training
course on how to run on the dog sled. It was a preparation for
ransalaskan marathon dog sled race Iditarod. In 1998 it was
"Around Alone 1998" yacht race and so on... Today, on phone,
I gave a promise to my family that my 50-th birthday I will
spend on the land with my wife, children and friends. But there
is nothing to celebrate, for the last week, wind 3-5 knots, pure
from North, boat is doing 3-4 knots average. High pressure
caught me very firmly and I had no chance to escape. This
morning, I crossed 30 degrees South, and hope to see some
wind.
Fedor"
[December 12, 2000 - 12:39:36 PM]
Catherine Chabaud: Time To Dig those Heels In
In a fax sent yesterday morning, Catherine said : "I’m quite
happy with my entry into the South. Pleasantly surprised by
how the boat is sailing and the automatic pilot’s good work.
Last night I had winds of 30 to 35 knots wind speed. The
waves and swell tend to catch up with the transom. We are
surfing like mad, as if the boat was on rails, knows where its
going… We don’t I’ve moved weight to the back of the boat
and I’ve not yet used the rear water ballast. I have not felt
that its been necessary yet, the seas have not been too big
so far. Yesterday morning, the boat went right into a wave –
the movement spilt my coffee and even managed to burn my
toast!"
To let off some steam, the solo-skippers often take books
with them, offered by friends and family, as if to send a small
part of themselves with the adventurers. Reading allows
Catherine to escape. Its how she relaxes copes with stress. "I
only read when weather conditions allow me to, when I don’t
have to be permanently on deck."
And what has Catherine brought with her : sea bird and sea
mammal guide books, "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Le Petit Prince",
"Le Messie" by Marek Halter, "Méharées" by Théodore Monod,
one of the most respected specialists on deserts who sadly
dies last month.
Her friends have offered her : "Message des hommes vrais au
monde mutant" by Marlo Morgan, "Magellan, la terre est
ronde" by Jean-Michel Barrault (given by the author),
"Osmose" Yann Quefellec, "Narcisse et Goldmund" by
Hermann Hesse, given by former Vendée Globe skippers,
"Chroniques de San Francisco" by Armistead Maupin, (éditions
Glénat), "Le baron perché" by Italo Calvino,.
Catherine has also brought along some magazines which she
reads when she feels the need to be closer to her loved ones.
Catherine was most impressed by "L’Alchimiste" by Paulo
Coelho which she read at sea during the last Vendee Globe.
She has also discovered an incredible hero in the character of
Captain Hornblower ( de C.S.Forester)
Source: KAORI
[December 12, 2000 - 12:13:13 PM]
Raphael Dinelli (Soga Extenso) : "I arrived this morning in
Cape Town"
"I arrived this morning in Cape Town, behind the mountains it
was very windy and shifty. It wasn’t easy to tow the boat, the
cliff is huge.
We are just waiting for the crane to lift the boat on a cradle.
We are in the port and all is fine. We are not losing any time
and I am quite happy.
My shore crew has arrived on sunday, and I am going to
change the Mini M and repair my staysail. The index sail is
fine. Apart from that keel problem all is well and it is a bit
sad, we should leave as soon as possible, I hope friday. We
will see once the boat is out of the water. I would like to catch
Munduteguy, the Russian skipper and Mike Golding."
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