[February 09, 2001 - 6:40:38 PM]
Read about the key dates in PRB’s race in the Infomag
section on the homepage.
[February 09, 2001 - 5:46:03 PM]
Thomas Coville (Sodebo) in the Canary Islands tomorrow...
This evening, it’s the Canary Islands, tomorrow Madeira, and
then on to Lisbon and the Portuguese coast, Cape Finisterre,
the Bay of Biscay and then home. Thomas Coville is pleased
for Michel Desjoyeaux who should be arriving in the harbour of
Les Sables d’Olonne tomorrow (Saturday) in the middle of the
afternoon after three months racing alone. Thomas expressed
his " admiration for Mich, his talent and for his magnificent
and perfectly legitimate victory ". He takes his hat off to the
one whom he now nicknames the " the Emperor ", as Jean Le
Cam has already been crowned King, in reference to his
prowess in the Figaro race.
" Last night I went up onto Sodebo’s foredeck. I spent almost
half an hour there. It was incredible. Each time she went
through a wave, I thought that the bow was going to tear off. "
The sea has not really calmed down since the beginning of the
week, "which is just what you might expect. The trade winds
have been here for a long time. As the wind keeps changing
direction, conditions are bound to get choppy." Although the
wind has been picking up over the last few days, it is forecast
to lighten up again in the next 24 hours : "I’ll wait for it to
veer abaft before raising the gennaker and I’ll empty her
ballasts to be lighter. "
After the unbearable lightness of the Doldrums, beating into
the wind on this homeward stretch is never the less wearing on
both body and soul. The single-handers are used to living with
their nerves on a knife-edge " stressed by the fear of the
whole lot breaking ". Yesterday to covey to we mere mortals
what this noise is actually like, Thomas described how " it gets
into your head, under your skin, ties your insides in knots. It
shakes you so hard that your ribs hurt !" Thomas compared
his situation to those back on dry land. " Try closing yourself
up in a noisy room to sleep and have someone wake you up
every quarter of an hour". Whilst he is pleased that he
changed his reefing pendants on the equator, checked over
the engine, as well as the batteries and the split pins, Thomas
is still a bit edgy as "you can feel the vibrations of the keel
which resonates. The boat suffers terribly. She has been
through a lot. It is amazing what she can put up with after
having raced 22 000 miles ". And it is not over yet. Fairly
soon, as the first over the line are drinking their victory beers,
Thomas and Dominique Wavre will be running into a rather
strong disturbed system which will force them to shorten sail
down to three reefs in the index and have just the ORC up
front. Both men will find themselves in search of the fast
westerly winds as they negotiate the unpredictable Azores
High, the last meteorological headache of this round-the-world
yacht race. These very same westerlies are currently pushing
the first boats fast towards the finishing line.
Corine Renié-Péretié
[February 09, 2001 - 4:43:17 PM]
Mike Golding is well and truly in the Doldrums for the moment.
As Michel Desjoyeaux storms towards the finish line at 17.6
knots with 62 knots of breeze Mike Golding is doing battle with the
notoriously fickle breezes in the Doldrums. At 1000 hours this morning Golding
was in the lightest airs of the entire fleet, a mere 15.66 knots and
managing only 1.6 knots. A frustrating state of affairs for any sailor but
particularly for Golding who has fought his way up through the fleet, to 8th
place, after re-starting the race 8 days 4 hours after the rest following the
loss of his mast on the first night out. A week ago it looked like
Golding could catch Catherine Chabaud in 7th place. But a major problem
with the starboard cap shroud on Sunday - when only prompt action by
Golding saved the rig - and Chabaud’s good fortune through
the Doldrums have effectively ruled out that possibility.
Golding is currently positioned quite far south in the hope that
his Doldrums passage will be as brief as possible. Only time
will tell...
Source: MPR
[February 09, 2001 - 3:44:45 PM]
PRB in the Bay of Biscay - Kingfisher suffers setback - analysis
by Philippe Jeantot
Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) appeared overjoyed on this
morning’s radio chat with the Vendée Globe Race HQ. The
favourable weather conditions indicate a rapid approach to the
finish line. Sailing ahead of a front with which he is moving at
the same pace, PRB is going to benefit from 20 – 30 knot
Southerly winds. Making a steady average speed of 17 knots,
perhaps slowing down just on the home straight, he is
expected to arrive on Saturday at around 1600hrs French
time.
For his first participation in the Vendée Globe, Desjoyeaux,
hailing from Brittany, has sailed a faultless race. Always up in
the top pack, he has controlled the fleet, calmly waiting for his
hour. After sitting in Yves Parlier’s (Aquitaine Innovations )
wake for a long time, he slipped into first place in the Indian
Ocean after negotiating a good option on the weather. He only
then lost his command for two brief instances, and by Cape
Horn he had managed to put himself ahead by what was
thought to be an irreversible 640 miles. The worse effects of
the Saint Helen high pressure phenomenon allowed his
nearest rivals to dissolve this lead, Ellen MacArthur
(Kingfisher) even taking the lead from him for a day at the
Equator. However, he succeeded in escaping the Doldrums first
and since has managed to create a sufficiently comfortable
gap for him to sail more serenely to the finish.
This morning Desjoyeaux was 499 miles from the finish, with
237 miles over Ellen in second place. Looking forward to the
victory that awaits him, Desjoyeaux commented: ""80% of the
result was done before the start. The technical choices, the
preparation of PRB, the knowledge of the boat were all
determining factors, even if I could have sailed much better.
The turning point was in the Indian Ocean . I think we’ve
smashed the record because we’ve had good conditions on
the whole of the course. We had the biggest storm the day
before yesterday.
Ellen MacArthur herself was low in moral again after suffering
yet another setback in the final run to the finish. "I don’t have
a boat which works at 100% because I’ve broken the genoa
stay. It happened two days ago: the stay broke when I was
furling in the sails to head closer to the wind. Yesterday I
sailed with one reef and the solent nearly all day, which
explains why I’ve dropped back in miles behind Michel. I
couldn’t put up full index sail, because if there had been any
further problems it could affect the stability of the mast. In
just these last three weeks I’ve hit a container, broken a
rudder, and now the stay…!"
This has of course put a small delay on her ETA in Les Sables
d’Olonne, and she is now hoping to be in late on Sunday or
even very early on Monday morning. Already waiting for her on
shore in Les Sables d’Olonne are an unprecedented number
of international media, who have descended on this French
coastal town just to witness her finish, her own story over the
last 3 months inspiring thousands worldwide.
The race is far from over for those behind. Two skippers are
still in the Pacific Ocean, rapidly approaching Cape Horn. The
majority of the fleet are scattered over the South & North
Atlantic. All the skippers have been speaking of race leader
Michel Desjoyeaux with a great deal of respect for his
performance and talent.
The Vendée Globe is, as Ellen phrased it this morning, "the
biggest, most beautiful and extraordinary thing". For all, just
crossing the finish line is a personal victory. To finish first is
heroic, but then to pulverise the existing record of 105 days
and 20 hours and under the 100 day barrier is to become a
legend.
Michel Desjoyeaux has assuredly become the first sailor in the
history of navigation to have won a solo round the world yacht
race undere 100 days. If he is to cross the line at 1600hrs
tomorrow, he will have completed his course in 92 days, 23
hours and 49 minutes.
February 09, 2001 - 12:04:19 PM]
Dominique Wavre (Union Bancaire Privée) : "I wish the
anticyclone had played the game and closed the door on the
leaders!"
"I’m averaging 11 – 12 knots, the boat is shuddering a little,
but after 3 days stuck in the Doldrums, going upwind is better!
"I think Michel won this race pretty early on, in the descent
between the Canaries and the Doldrums. He’s had all the right
cards to win this race over and above his talent. Anyway it’s
always better to make predictions like this from the shore, as
these matters don’t count for much on the water.
When I got stuck South of New Zealand with Sodebo &
Whirlpool, I said to myself that it would be difficult to come
back. Off the Brazilian coastline, the Saint Helen system
closed the way for those behind as well. Then it became nigh
on impossible - the Azores anticyclone should had played the
game and closed the door on the leaders!
With Thomas (Coville), we’re sparring partners and we call
each other for a debrief on how we’ve analysed the conditions.
Funnily enough we see the same cargo ships!"
[February 09, 2001 - 11:56:46 AM]
* Ellen devastated, as KINGFISHER narrowly escapes disaster
as Genoa Forestay (index piece of rigging holding mast forward) fails at
top of mast -
but the mast holds, for now at least. This happened suddenly
after she had just finished using the Genoa and had furled it
away, at just before 1730 GMT Wednesday. The lashings that
hold the genoa itself on to the mast have held the rod and
sail in place, but clearly not being able to support any load.
Distraught and exhausted, Ellen continued to sail for the past
36 hours with a massively reduced sailplan - which serves as a
complete explanation as to why the miles have been
increasing between PRB and KINGFISHER.
* To suffer this in the very final stages is a cruel test to the
young skipper that has had her fair share of bad luck in the past
couple of weeks. Sailing the boat slowly, well below its
potential, in order to preserve the mast and her chances of
completing the Vendee Globe has become a tough mental
challenge for Ellen - never content if the boat is not happy and
fast... She is restricted to 2 reefs and Solent, and the
gennaker only if conditions are very stable (one wipeout with
the gennaker could risk further damage to the mast). Ellen is
hoping for increased winds that will mean her ’safe’ reduced
sail configuration (2 reefs and Solent jib) will send her off
down the waves with sufficient power that she won’t miss the
rest of the sail area. Unfortunately yesterday, the wind gods
didn’t play, and she was often making as little as 6 knots
towards Les Sables - a depressing ETA calculation.
* Tactically, Ellen had no wish to share this bad news for the
past 36 hours - "I didn’t want to give Mich a reason to ease
off, he could equally suffer gear failure if he pushes...and I
didn’t want to give Bilou a reason to
attack harder than he would normally at this late stage in the
race. However, as one can see my heading and speed have
dropped away compared with Mich, I decided it was time to
share this bad news. I now have to just focus on finishing in
the top 3, its a long hard way to the finish still, and its been a
difficult 10 days. I’m ready to finish"
* If Ellen does complete the course in the next few days, she
will be the youngest ever competitor to finish, and the fastest
woman around the planet - and only the second solo sailor to
get around the globe in less than 100 days...but we’ll wait for
that finishing line before getting too excited...
* ETA : Depending on whether the wind fills in or not with the
depression right behind Ellen, and that the mast retains its form, she
could still be in late on Sunday or early Monday - but of course, anything
could happen - that we have learnt.
* SILL (700 behind KINGFISHER) and ACTIVEWEAR will fight it
out, with ACTIVEWEAR 600 miles to the west and possibly to pick up
first the same depression that is about to touch Ellen. SODEBO and UBP are
just 4 miles apart, a further 500 miles back.
Here is the interview with Richard Simmonds last night, 24
hours after the rigging failure.
ELLEN describes more drama onboard KINGFISHER, that
happened on Wednesday evening around 1730 GMT. One of
the forestays, there are two [one for big genoa, the other for
smaller Solent jib], that hold the mast up and go from the
mast to the front of the boat, snapped.....Ellen cannot now
sail at full power....for MacArthur the plan is now simple, she
has to sail half power to the finish line...her game plan...just
reach Les Sables d’Olonne...
RS : Can you tell us about the last 24 hours?
EM : Things were a little bit tough when we came out of the
back of the
depression that was ahead of us. We’d had very strong winds,
and we’d been making very good progress, and although the
weather was very rough it was good to be heading on the
direct route to Les Sables d’Olonne. Unfortunately yesterday
afternoon when the wind died I decided it was time to pull out
the genoa [large foresail], and I bore away as I always do and
unfurled the sail, sheeted in, and luffed up with the pilot, and
just as the boat was luffing up there was a horrendous bang -
I realised what had happened straight away, I bore away, and
there was one very sloppy forestay. I managed to furl the sail,
and we had a conference call with the Designers and we talked
to [Southern Spars in New Zealand] the guy who designed the
rig [ie mast]...[about the problem, what sail I could safely
have up, what the risks of the mast breaking were]. So now
we’re limping along....
RS : Could you just describe what the forestay is, and without
it how that
effects you?
EM : The Forestay is one of the wires [metal rod] that runs
from the mast
down to the front of the boat, and basically holds the mast
up....basically it means I can never hoist the indexsail to the
top and I can’t fly the spinnaker or obviously the genoa...so
I’m pretty limited in sail inventory.
It looks like its going to be a tough ride to the finish.
RS : How does that effect your strategy between now and the
finish?
EM : My strategy between now and the finish is just to get
there.
TECHNICAL EXPLANATIONS :
WHAT BROKE AND WHAT IS IT FOR?
The carbon fibre hi-tech mast designed and constructed by
Southern Spars, in conjunction with the Kingfisher Design
Team, is a complex 3D structure that has to withstand
incredible loads in many directions, yet be as light as
possible. It is supported at the sides by ’shrouds’ that pass
through ’spreaders’, the black ’arms’ you can see in a photo
of Kingfisher. It is supported behind by PBO (a low stretch
fibre) ’running backstays’, that are tensioned by winch
depending on which side the wind is coming from. It is
supported at the front by two FORESTAYS - metal rods that are
fixed on the deck and at two different positions high up the
mast - the basically stop the mast falling backwards. On a
solo boat like KINGFISHER, both of these FORESTAYS also
have FURLING headSAILS on. That is to say on each of the
FORESTAYS there is also a carbon fibre foil and furler, on to
which is fixed permanently a sail - the GENOA sail on the
furthest forward and the SOLENT JIB on the inside one. All the
stays supporting the boat at the side and front are made from
high tensile stainless rod, with very high breaking strengths
and very low stretch. After a gruelling race such as the 23,000
miles of the Vendee Globe, particularly after sailing downwind
through the Southern Ocean, the rod can possibly fatigue. In
particular, the GENOA FORESTAY has a tendency to be looser,
creating some movement, and possible fatigue action at the
ends. This is because when you sail downwind (wind behind)
the mast move forward slightly at the top, so the GENOA
FORESTAY becomes slacker. There is a limit to what can be
done. Whilst we will not know yet what the failure was due to,
fatigue of the rod is of course the most likely suspect.
WHEN IT BROKE, WHAT HAPPENED?
Well as Ellen said, a horrible bang, and immediately the
GENOA LUFF /FORESTAY went very slack. In fact because the Genoa is
permanently fixed on its furler on this metal rod, and the
safety strops at the top of the mast hold the sail to the top of
the mast, it is has stayed up there so far, even though the
rod inside appears to have failed/broken.
AND WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT MEAN FOR ELLEN?
Firstly of course, she was lucky to have the mast intact. The
fact that she was sailing downwind saved her in that respect. As long as the
loads are
pushing the mast forward, then the GENOA FORESTAY is not
doing too much anyway. However, if the wind came forward,
Ellen would have to sail with a very small amount of sail, and
more critically in no circumstances can she now hoist full
indexsail, or use the genoa - and there are risks associated
with flying her gennaker (masthead reaching sail, very
powerful sail for downwind sailing like now). It means in basic
terms she is sailing the boat to the finish at maybe 50 to 60%
of its potential at most. It means its very frustrating for
someone who raced so hard around the world and then has to
nurse her boat to the final finish line...
Source: Kingfisher Challenges
[February 09, 2001 - 11:44:44 AM]
Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher): "I don’t have a boat which works
at 100% because I’ve broken the genoa stay"
"I had such a tough night because the wind really picked up –
I had 30 knots but now it’s eased off a little. I’m sailing with
my gennaker, one reef in the index sail. I don’t have a boat
which works at 100% because I’ve broken the genoa stay. It
happened two days ago: the stay broke when I was furling in
the sails to head closer to the wind. Yesterday I sailed with
one reef and the solent nearly all day, which explains why I’ve
dropped back in miles behind Michel. I couldn’t put up full
index sail, because if there had been any further problems it
could affect the stability of the mast.
"The problem happened before yesterday evening, but I
didn’t want to talk about it until I had fully assessed and
understood the situation. The ETA for Sunday afternoon may
need to be revised, the wind is also weakening. It will more
likely be early on Monday morning now.
"I’m really happy to be heree though. It’s such a shame to
incur boat damage at this stage just before the finish, it’s not
great for my moral. In just these last three weeks I’ve hit a
container, broken a rudder, and now the stay…! Michel has
sailed faultlessly in terms of his weather analysis. I can’t
comment any further, the race isn’t over yet. The Vendée
Globe is the biggest, most beautiful and extraordinary thing
I’ve experienced in my life, the adventure hasn’t finished yet,
and there are still quite a few miles to go.
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