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5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005
www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht
VG DAY 36: ARCELOR’S 2ND RUDDER BREAKS, SKANDIA HOLDS 8TH
Twenty years ago, Skandia pioneered MultiManager investment within long-term savings products - and we are now bringing the same pioneering spirit to our sponsorship of Nick Moloney.
Supporting the Skandia MultiManager campaign are three of Skandia's leading international fund management partners Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore Investment Managers and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.
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RACE POSITIONS 0930 GMT: SKANDIA holds 8th, now just 300 miles behind 7th placed VIRBAC who appears to have a problem, heading north east slowly.....PRB still leading the race by now just 40 miles, SILL now just 240 behind 2nd placed BONDUELLE.
SKANDIA DATA LOG 0930 GMT
LAT/LONG: 46 16 S / : 64 49 E; 200 miles west of the Kerguelen Islands
WIND: 25 to 40 knots average from the north west
QUOTE OF THE DAY FROM NICK:
“I’ll be happy to put this island behind me as the next one is Australia...I’m not coming back to this bit of the ocean without a navigator or weather router!“
RACE UPDATE DAY GOING IN TO 36th DAY
VIRBAC AND TEMENOS PAST KERGUELEN, SKANDIA NEXT: Nick is 150 miles from these remote inhabited French islands (a handful of French scientists), and due to the wind moderating slightly and shifting to the west, he is expecting to pass a bit closer than he planned. The Kerguelen plateau can be a very rough place, with the water depth going from 2km to 200metres – and some ‘interesting’ effects on the water surface as a result.
ITS ALMOST BECOME ‘NORMAL’ but the conditions Nick is sailing in would be considered pretty wild for the average sailor – 25 to 32 knots hard and fast downwind sailing, freezing temperatures, and then sudden increases to gale force 40 knot winds with the regular rain squalls that have been sweeping past SKANDIA all night.
WHAT’S NEXT ON THE MENU? Slightly moderating winds for next 24 hours followed by a real kicking for the next 3 days !
SOME POWER PROBLEMS ONBOARD SKANDIA: Nick’s shore team are working on some solutions to an ongoing worsening power issue onboard SKANDIA that currently means Nick is charging more often than he should have to. Not an immediate problem, but something that must be resolved in the long term. A suspect battery is possibly the cause, of which Nick has spares in the way the system was designed. More news tomorrow...
ARCELOR NOW AT ANCHOR, ISLE OF PIGS: Joe Seeten, only a few days ago replaced a damaged rudder with his spare, has suffered a second broken rudder blade after a collision with an unknown object yesterday. He has made his way to a sheltered anchorage on the Iles de Cochons, and is currently assessing the damage and attempting to repair the critical part of the boat [see Jargon Buster]. 9th place ARCELOR was SKANDIA’s nearest competitor at the time of the accident.
OC SAILING TEAM UPDATE:
ELLEN upwind in ‘horrible conditions’ and battling to keep boat systems going http://www.teamellen.com
EXTRACTS OF AUDIO CONFERENCE WITH NICK THIS MORNING
To listen to full audio : http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/vendee2004/nm121204a_uk_e.mp3
“A good night, fast pace. Wind dropped this morning so got the blast reacher down below, and drying, so I can repair it – not a major repair for a gifted sailmaker like myself!! [ah, early morning humour, great!]
We’re just 150 miles from Kerguelen, going closer than I want to, probably going to be made worse by the wind shifting to the west at the moment. Then we are expecting stronger winds for the next few days.
I’ll be happy to put this island behind me as the next one is Australia.
Had up to 40 knots overnight, really solid rain and very squally, quite organised and quite settled, 25 to 32 knots in between and 36 to 40 knots in the squalls.”
JARGON BUSTER: ‘RUDDER’
Obviously the bit that steers the boat, Open 60s have two of them – unusually for sailboats that normally have one. The reason is principally due to the very wide shape of these boats, when they are heeling, if there was only one central rudder it would come out of the water a considerable distance and so control would be lost. Secondly to help the autopilots, two rudders are used one on each side of the stern. When the boat is heeling the leeward rudder is completely in the water, and the windward rudder usually completely out – and reverses when you are the other tack. Therefore breaking one of these does not mean you have a second spare one, as you need both...some boats have kick up rudders which flip up under big loads, ie when they hit something, others have replacement rudders (usually only one due to the weight) on the boat – this is the case of Joe Seeten, but unfortunately he has already used his spare...fixing it is a complicated job, usually done in a composite workshop with time and materials on hand.
POSITIONS 1000 GMT 12th DECEMBER 2004
BOAT / LAT / LONG / distance to finish
1. PRB, 48 13.88' S / 99 01.04' E, 13848.9 distance to finish
2. BONDUELLE, 48 03.12' S / 97 58.68' E, 13889.0 distance to finish
3. SILL, 47 46.04' S / 91 59.48' E, 14129.2 distance to finish
8. SKANDIA, 46 16.44' S / 64 49.44' E, 15234.8 distance to finish
For full positions report go to http://www.nickmoloney.com and follow the positions link
PARTNER OF THE DAY : RBS
Official Business Partner to Nick the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team
http://www.nickmoloney.com/rbs
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For more information visit http://www.nickmoloney.com or contact :
Helen King
hk@offshorechallenges.com
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MAN WITH A MISSION: Nick Moloney attempts to be the first to race around the globe in 3 disciplines, crewed with stops, fastest non-stop, solo non-stop
* Nick Moloney is one of an impressive group of Skandia Set Sail athletes.
* Skandia Set Sail is a global sponsorship programme that aims to offer people more opportunities to participate in the sport on a broader level. The objectives of the Skandia Set Sail Campaign are to make sailing more accessible, grow the sport's reach and enrich peoples' lives through the sport. The Skandia Set Sail portfolio is divided into three groups; events, teams and athletes.
* The portfolio includes the title sponsorships of Skandia Cowes Week, the world's oldest and largest regatta on the Isle of Wight, UK (title sponsors for 10 years in 2004) and Skandia Geelong Week in Victoria, Australia - now twinned with Skandia Cowes Week; UK sailors Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell in their Athens Star campaign; Sam Davies, the up and coming single-handed yachtswoman and her Figaro campaign; Austrian 470 sailors, Sylvia Vogl and Carolina Flatscher; the Skandia Brown Cup, the Scottish Schools Sailing Championship; Skandia Cowes Youth Week, a leading international match racing championship, the Skandia Yachting Academy (in association with Kit Hobday's Bear of Britain) and the Skandia Maxi, Australia's biggest ocean racing yacht and line-honours winner of the 2003 Sydney-Hobart Race, and the British Paralympic Association Sailing team.
* Sail 4 Cancer is the official charity of the Skandia Set Sail programme. Through Nick’s own personal challenge on the Vendée Globe, he is hoping to raise through your efforts £1 for every 1km sailed – 42,000 in total! If you would like to help visit http://www.nickmoloney.com/sail4cancer
* For further information contact http://www.skandiasetsail.com
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