January 29, 2001 - 9:47:55 AM]
Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) takes the lead
She said this morning to her shore team:
"Well its great to be placed out in front of course, but Mich is
to my north west and that is where the exit is. Kingfisher is
heading all over the ocean as the wind moves, but I think
she’s a good boat to be in in these conditions. I’ve been
thinking about Bilou, rather than Mich all night, he
is in a good position out to the west and unlikely to stop at
the Doldrums that far west - he could pull something off, he’s
only 200 miles to our south now. It all depends how far we
have to go to get out of this, this is the hardest sailing of the
race I think. We only made 65 miles north in the
last 24 hours, so anything could happen. I’m pretty tired, its
almost impossible to sleep due to the constant manoeuvres
and the heat".
source Kingfisher Challenges
[January 28, 2001 - 6:52:45 PM]
Please note that Sodébo (Thomas Coville) and Modern
University for the Humanities (Fedor Konuykhov) positions are
older that the others.
[January 28, 2001 - 3:34:12 PM]
Desjoyeaux and MacArthur only 26 miles apart !
By Philippe Jeantot
Surprise this morning at the Vendée Globe Paris race HQ when
the morning positions report arrived: Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB)
had virtually stopped. Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) is now only
26 miles behind the French race leader. When studying the
leader’s course, initially it looked as if there was a problem.
Before 2300hrs yesterday, PRB was doing 10 knots to the
North. Suddenly the boat headed West and the speed
dropped to three knots. This lasted all night. It looked like
the speed of a boat drifting, pushed by a South Easterly 15
knots wind (conditions indicated on the wind files).
Fortunately, the skipper himself was able to reassure us : "
Not an accident at all. There is no wind. I am in the Doldrums.
I am trying to catch any breath of wind but it’s not easy. I am
surprised at the situation. Yesterday the South Easterly trade
winds started to drop while they were turning to the East. I felt
a swell coming from the North East which announces the
Northern hemisphere trade winds and the clouds, very high up,
were arriving from the North East. " All these signs announce
the passage from one weather system to another, and
explained why Michel Desjoyeaux thought that it wouldn’t take
long to cross the Doldrums. However, it was the Doldrums
making a rare, early appearance below the Equator.
Michel Desjoyeaux managed to crossed the Equator line at
0400hrs UT and we are relieved that no major drama
happened to PRB, just a big wind hole. This situation has
made Ellen’s day, as despite being slowed down as well, she is
now back on the same level as her rival. After 21000 miles of
race, the two leaders have got a new start on the Equator line.
They are now neck and neck, Kingfisher back in the East.
The two sailors are now fighting hard, and it’s ruthless. The
unexpected behaviour of the Doldrums is surprising everybody
and it seems like the Vendée Globe 2001 is turning a page in
its history. The first to escape the zone will be the first also to
catch the North Easterly trade winds and increase the distance
which might be enough to cross the finish line in Les Sables
d’Olonne as the big winner.
In the Doldrums, it’s not a question of tactics, strategy or
match racing anymore. The only goal is to escape as Michel
Desjoyeaux was telling us : " When you go at 15 knots, you
can control a competitor and anticipate the weather. When you
are only going at 2 knots you can’t do anything and you can
only try to escape as quickly as possible. It’s a lottery. There
is no rule to apply. The satellite photos, the only ones to show
the reality, are difficult to read. There is only one sure thing
for the sailor : he has to hunt any small trace of breeze. He
must stay on the deck permanently to tweak the sails, steer
the boat, and just thinking of the miles he is winning in
latitude, going North being the only escape. When this
situation lasts for several days this can become an obsession,
the skipper is losing track and only sees the speedometer and
anemometer needles.
With the stake of the game being the finish line, only 3200
miles away, the tension onboard was evident during the radio
chat. The two skippers both had to stop the conversation to go
and trim some sails on the deck.
The second pair, Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear) and Roland
Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potagère) are, as far as they are
concerned, happy with their own weather conditions , in the
South Easterly trade winds. They are making good progress to
the North at nearly 13 knots. Will the leaders stay long
enough in the Doldrums to let them come back in the game
for the first place ?
Everything is possible at 13 knots of average speed. Five
hundreds miles have been covered in 36 hours. As they are
more in the West, where theoretically, the Doldrums area is
less active, they benefit from the weather information given by
the leaders. This second pair could spring a surprise still.
And the third pair, Dominique Wavre (Union Bancaire Privée)
and Thomas Coville (Sodebo), are very unlucky with the
weather. Thomas Coville this morning didn’t try to hide the
fact that he was feeling tired and fed up with the situation.
Pushing hard since the start, Thomas the racer, is frustrated
not to be in the leading trio : " I’ve been fighting for three
days to escape from this small low pressure. I haven’t slept. I
am knackered. It’s depressing. Well, I hope it’s going to
change… "
Mike Golding (Team Group 4) has moved up into the eigth
place, in front of Josh Hall (EBP Gartmore), being further in
the East, he is closer to the finish line.
The weather conditions in the Southern Atlantic haven’t been
easy and simple for anyone in the race and once again all the
predictions are unfounded . Hopefully the weather study is not
an exact science….sailing would lose a lot of his interest.
January 28, 2001 - 2:04:19 PM]
TEAM GROUP 4 UP TO 8TH POSITION
Team Group 4 is up to 8th position in the Vendee Globe
singlehanded round
the world race - a position which could only be imagined last
November when Team Group 4 was dismasted on the first night of the
race and
restarted 8 days and 4 hours later with a replacement mast.
Team Group 4’s Skipper, Mike Golding, was thrilled to discover
that he had
already overtaken Josh Hall and is now 35 miles ahead of his
fellow
countryman, despite starting more than 8 days behind him.
When told of the
situation by his shore team this morning, Golding said: "I’m
surprised it
happened that quickly - we’re quite far apart east/west. The
next 24 hours is crucial.".
Source: MPR
[January 28, 2001 - 12:10:01 PM]
Joé Seeten (Nord Pas de Calais - Chocolats du monde): "It’s
a good week end!"
Despite the difficult situation, we spoke to a happy skipper
this morning:
"It’s really ’shity’ right now. The sea is difficult, chopped, the
boat is slamming all the time. I still haven’t found the right
solution, but apart from that all is well. I could go faster but I
don’t want the boat to delaminate, I don’t want to lose my
mast, I prefer to be sensible and wait for better conditions.
I’ve had a 20/25 degrees rotation, it’s enough to create a
confused sea. It should get better during the day."
"I am not that far from the doldrums. Depending on the
weather I should be over there in 15 days."
Joé asks for news of the others skippers in the fleet, we
inform him that the gap between Michel Desjoyeaux and Ellen
MacArthur is reducing: "It must not be easy for Mich, when you
are leading, you must keep your position. Ellen has nothing to
lose. I am surprised of the pace she is creating in the race.
There is a lot of suspense" and Joe to conclude "It’s a good
week end!"
[January 28, 2001 - 12:01:22 PM]
Patrice Carpentier (VM Matériaux): "I’d rather be here than
upwind by 60° South, it’s warmer!"
"I am waiting for the wind to turn then lift.... We should have
quite a strong South Westerly...good.
Yesterday I saw that I had broken one of my wind generator
pale, I can’t use it anymore. I have 140 litres of fuel
left(thanks God I took more than I needed!), I will see if it
can work out. I have started to spend more time on the helm.
Some of the others are in a worse situation than me, I am not
stressed at the moment, it’s just annoying, not a handicap.
The boat adapts to most conditions very well, but is not really
good in light airs. My genoa doesn’t go up the mast, but
above 6 or 7 knots of wind, sailing upwind it’s ok. I know I can
do an average 9 knots close to the wind.
What a fantastic suspense in this race! There are winds
coming from everywhere, but I’d rather be here than upwind
by 60° South, it’s warmer!"
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