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5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005
www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht
07.12.2004
www.conradhumphreys.com
HELLOMOTO in the Vendée Globe 2004
Race Update No. 23, 071204
HELLOMOTO HOLED UP IN SIMONSTOWN, SA
Conrad perseveres with repairs but battles with temptation…
Elapsed Time: 30 days, 01 hours, 30 mins
Fleet Leader: Bonduelle (J Le Cam FRA)
HELLOMOTO: 13th out of 18, moored in Simon’s Bay, SA
• After a stressful night staying alert offshore of Cape Town close to shipping and coastline, Conrad successfully manoeuvred HELLOMOTO into Simons Bay, where he found and picked up a mooring buoy at 0800 local time in what was a nerve-wracking manoeuvre for a solo sailor & his 9 ton boat, as his bowsprit came close to spearing a Japanese fishing boat…
• Conrad spent 2 hours securing the mooring and inspecting the keel and rudder by diving under the boat, then dismantling the steering units before he now attempts to remove the rudder by smashing more of the foam away to reduce the buoyancy and push it out
• Conrad is trying not to be distracted by the temptation of white sandy beaches a tantalising 50m away, as well as a private audience of dolphins, seals and diving birds..
• By the end of today Conrad hopes to get the new rudder in place but is still uncertain as to what may happen in the process, but intends to persevere..
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Reparaturarbeiten 50m vor dem Strand
In die rettende Bucht von Simonstown
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Conrad Humphreys interview from onboard HELLOMOTO this morning courtesy of Geolink/Iridium:
“I was very relieved this morning as last night I didn’t get much rest. The wind was shifting all over the place, it was squally and rained a lot so that kept me awake waiting for daybreak. The breeze was about 20 knots at daybreak and I was nervous sailing in, not knowing what I would see, but I saw some moorings, reefed right down for max control and dropped the trinquette. I still had a fight to slow the boat down with so little steerage - these 9 ton boats have big stopping distances. I grabbed a buoy and put a line through but it took all the load to slow the boat down and it was nearly ripped out of my hands...the bowsprit came close to spearing a Japanese fishing trawler ahead. It took 2 hours to secure the boat on the mooring as I had to dive around the hull securing the mooring lines.
I also went over the side to check the rudder and keel – sure enough the damage on the keel is superficial, just some filler lost on the leading edge, but it’s fine. I then dismantled the rudder reference unit [Ed: a sensor connected to the pilot] and took off the steering quadrants [bracket that attaches to the rudder stock], tiller bars and the bottom clamp that holds the rudder stock in place. Right now I’m taking a breather and having a bite to eat as I’m starving, but I’ll get straight into it now. I’ll hop over the side again and smash the reindexing foam off the rudder as I need to reduce the buoyancy in order to push the stock out. I hope that when I do that and it clears the top set of bearings, that it will go out straight through the bottom bearings and not twist at all.
“I will keep persevering to get the rudder out and it would be good to get the new rudder in place before the end of today but it might be a tad optimistic as it may go smoothly or become a total nightmare. I’m doing this first as if I climbed the rig to check the chafe and fix the gennaker halyard I’d exhaust myself too quickly.
“It’s amazing scenery out here, there are mountains surrounding me, and white sandy beach just 50m swim from here. There are so many dolphins, birds diving around the boat, and the seals are flapping their fins as if to waving me in…it’s like having your own private wildlife show, it’s a magical feeling. Being so close to land, I almost feel sinful, thinking how I could just go and lie down on that beach and have a kip! It’s too much temptation, but if there was ever a place to be held up in, Simonstown is it!”
Notes: HELLOMOTO has two 3m long rudders that are fitted on either side of the stern under the hull through 2 sets of spherical bearings at water and deck level. There is a 350mm ‘false tip’ at the end which comes away in the event of something hitting the bottom of the rudder without damaging the rudder blade itself. The blade has a foam core with a carbon skin. It is one side of the carbon skin which has peeled off in this collision. The rudder stock is the part of the rudder which sits in the spherical bearings inside the boat. The weight of one rudder is approx. 80 kilos which is like holding two bags of cement – but Conrad has to manoeuvre this 10ft long appendage both lowering it from the deck and pushing it up through the bearings in the water.
HELLOMOTO Position & Ranking* polled at 0930 GMT
Ranking / Boat / Latitude / Longitude / heading / Speed** / DTF*** / Miles from leader
13. HELLOMOTO / 34 11.28' S 18 25.88' E / 0 / 0 / 17409.3 / 2159.6
*Rankings – A series of waypoints marking a logical route have been used to calculate the rankings. The boat is ranked according to the waypoint it is nearest to.
**Speed - this is an instantaneous reading
***DTF (Distance to finish) - This is worked out in comparison to the logical route
Full rankings – launch Race Console off the homepage and click on link to fleet positions
ENDS
Media enquiries: Mary Ambler
Communications Manager – Motorola Ocean Racing Team – Open 60 HELLOMOTO
Email: mary@o6t.com - Tel: +44 (0) 1752 600111 - Mob: +44 (0) 7887 643583
Motorola Ocean Racing Team web site
www.conradhumphreys.com – for all sports & news media enquiries & resources
Click on the homepage button for live English breaking news on the race
Vendée Globe Official Race web site
www.vendeeglobe.org/uk
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