January 01, 2001 - 12:31:20 PM]
Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) : "It’s good news to hear that I’m
so close to Roland."
"The wind has changed, which is good news. I’m heading East
now. The last couple of days have been upwind with 30 knots -
not very easy going. The wind right now is from the South and
South West. We’re waiting for the new depression and then
the wind will change in between. I’ve got 15 - 20 knots! I still
have 1 reef in even if it doesn’t blow any harder.
"I didn’t do anything much for New Year. I spoke to the team
and my family for about an hour but then I had to go and get
the gennaker up. I had some champagne on board but the
spirit wasn’t so willing. I am 36 miles form Roland? Excellent!
Good news! So the night went well after all. Perhaps I’ll go and
open the bottle now!
"I was quite stressed last night, it wasn’t a good 24 hours. It’s
good to know I’m so close to Roland."
[January 01, 2001 - 11:54:49 AM]
Patrice Carpentier (VM Matériaux) : "My New Year was tranquil,
this morning was the standard, calls to the family and some
close friends. We still have light winds here. I saw a lone
albatross and as soon as I found my camera to film it, it had
disappeared. The fog has come back and given varying
visibility. I had the spinnaker up and spent time helming
myself, hardly saw the day go pass. Life on VM Materiaux is
tranquil. Not much wind in the forecasts for us. Spending New
Year here has been great. I got to see Macquarie Island. You
spend a lot of time on the boat putting life into perspective,
I’ll have to come back to this spot in 2050! I got so many
wonderful email messages too. I had some of the Mumm
champagne and I found a bottle of wine. Well, the next
celebration is my birthday on the 10th January, so I still have
reserves for that occasion!"
[January 01, 2001 - 11:37:09 AM]
Bernard Gallay (Voila.fr) : "New Year was a great occasion. I’ve
no more sumptuous food on board, foie gras etc. So instead
of eating I called my family, friends, wife, mother, team…I
opened a bottle of wine and also drank some champagne.
"In terms of the conditions, it’s calmed down a lot since
yesterday. For ten days, an anticyclone is moving ahead of us
and going at the same speed. I gybed this morning and
hoisted the gennaker again. I’m making 9 – 10 knots
heading 95 degrees. Incredible conditions, we’re not getting
much luck here! I can see Mike coming up behind me and
Josh Hall on the other side of the ridge with a good SW
breeze."
[January 01, 2001 - 11:35:39 AM]
The Italian skipper Pasquale De Gregorio (WIND) wrote to his
shore team last night about his double celebration on board:
" A New Year’s eve without sleep, at the chart table studying
the arrival of a new tough, extended low-pressure that
required preparations on WIND specially for the jury left
shroud which is managing very well.
My dinner was excellent and in perfect Italian tradition
-lenticchie e cotechino with Baggiolino Chianti wine colli
fiorentini, panettone, frutta secca, my mother’s NOCINO
liqueur, toscano cigar-.
"At 18:00 UT first cheers with the Champagne offered by
Jeantot (thanks Philippe) with another cheers at 24:00 Italian
and French time to feel with all of you".
Source: Oriana Ubaldi, WIND
[January 01, 2001 - 11:11:48 AM]
Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear) : "It’s a bit bizarre out here. It
was really sunny and then all at once this front arrived with the
rain. The wind has come back from the South but I don’t have
all the data. I went off in search of a small low pressure front
and the winds rose to more than 50 knots. It was pretty strong
stuff and I was being thrown around inside the boat. I very
quickly got the index sail down to 3 reefs and set the staysail!
The sea was very rough but now it’s a little bit calmer and I
have been able to sleep and get back some equilibrium, so to
speak.
"I’d like to gain back those miles to catch up the Bretons and
the Britain! I’ve reached 28 knots on a surf with the minimum
sail area up. When the boat reached the crest of the wave and
at the moment it started to hurtle down the side, that was
awesome!
"Changing Millenium doesn’t happen often, and when you’re
at sea in the midst of nature, it’s quite a powerful moment! A
real bond with life, not in any way you could sense it if you
were on land. At forty years of age, if the rest of my life is as
rich as the first part then I’ll be happy! Four years ago I
passed the International Date Line on the 1st January so I’m
roughly in the same place."
[January 01, 2001 - 10:08:33 AM]
All the team of the Vendée Globe wish you a Happy and
Prosperous New Year for 2001 and an excellent 3rd Millenium!
We hope to see many of you in Les Sables d’Olonne for the
arrival of each skipper.
The Vendée Globe Race HQ, Communications & Internet
Editorial Team:
Philippe Jeantot, Annabelle, Aurélia, Muriel, Magali, Mary,
Marine et Christophe
[December 31, 2000 - 3:42:46 PM]
Celebrating the new Millenium - twice! Analysis by Philippe
Jeantot.
Three competitors in the Vendée Globe 2000, of them
Thomas Coville (Sodebo) the first, will have the unique
privilege of not only celebrating the New Year twice, but of
actually being the first people in the world, perhaps, to see
the sunrise of the next millenium. Coville was struck by the
thought this morning: "It’s something else other than sport or
worrying about rankings, and for that it’s a privilege to do the
Vendée Globe. Perhaps I’ll be the first man on this planet to
see the new sunrise." On the other hand, Coville also stated
that he couldn’t have been more unlucky in this race so far, as
he has lost 600 miles on his rivals in the last six days after
his succession of disasters.
Next will be Dominique Wavre (Union Bancaire Privée) and 9
hours later Catherine Chabaud (Whirlpool), who will live
through this historical change in time twice in the same life.
Chabaud was amused: "We’ll be the first and the last to
celebrate it actually, as we’ll go back to the 31st again!"
Far from occupying their lives with this monumental occasion,
the fleet has been concentrating rather on navigating in a very
complex weather system, which has dealt them a tricky, softer
breeze. None of the competitors can head directly east on the
optimum route. So the following options have been unfolding
on the water: Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) in the centre, ahead,
and further behind, Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear) in the North.
The latter is reaching the best average boat speed, 14.8
knots, and as he predicted yesterday, is counting on this
depression for his jackpot to come back into the top three
rankings.
Further South, Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines – La Potagère)
has not succeeded in closing the gap on Michel Desjoyeaux.
Third place Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher), is gradually biting off
the miles between her and these two ahead and yet is having
to sail at an uncomfortable 90 degrees from the route, much
further South, thanks to the wind turning earlier than hoped.
The leader himself admitted: "I wouldn’t want to be in my
friends’ places! Sill & Kingfisher are pretty low! I’m going to
gain more where I am – fantastic!" We shall soon see whether
Ellen’s brave tactical decision is going to win or lose in this
case.
Whereas Catherine noted that she has strangely never had
more than 45 knots of wind, Josh Hall (EBP-Gartmore) has
had quite the opposite, or really more normal, Southern
Ocean experience: never less than 35 knots and up to 50 at
times. Unable to shoot directly east in the SSW flux, he has
ended up quite far North, just 140 miles off the coast of New
Zealand. Despite an earlier anxiety, he is certain that this was
a smart move in the end in view of the weather to come: "The
wind will turn to the South West and West. I should find a
good, comfortable wind angle to get South East." He may not
be dreaming of winning the race anymore, but he has caught
up considerably on the pack ahead and is intent on getting
into the top six.
Mike Golding (Team Group 4) continues to keep on the pace,
but has suffered too much gear failure for his liking. Not only
does the ongoing problem with his water-maker often leave
him quite dehydrated, despite a rain water catch of 50 litres
yesterday, but now his battery is not giving enough voltage.
So he needs to run the generator when using the systems on
board – ie: most of the time. Thus his fuel consumption is the
next issue. "It’s clear that my chances of a record are very
small and what with these technical problems I’ll be content to
finish. It’s a shame, but it was always difficult coming from
behind, as you had no gauge on how hard to push and so I’ve
pushed hard and that leads to gear failure."
Thierry Dubois (Solidaires) arrived in Bluff at 1600hrs local
time (0300 UT), where the electrician was already waiting,
tools in hand. Now officially racing outside the rules, Dubois is
still confident that he made the right decision : "I was
probably near to total breakdown and I couldn’t have
envisaged myself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in that
state."
Along with the skippers, the Vendée Globe Race HQ wish you
all a Happy New Year – until the next Millenium!
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