24.12.2004
VG DAY 48: ICE TAKES A FIRST CASUALTY
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
RACE POSITIONS 0930 GMT:
SKANDIA 7th, slipping back further on VIRBAC (6th) to 696 miles, and and PROFORM as she sails up in better breeze, now just 114 behind. ARCELOR (9th) also only at 235 now, much further south. BONDUELLE leads by just 2 miles, but downwind conditions now kicking in. ECOVER at his closest yet, just 203 miles from leader.
RACE UPDATE DAY GOING IN TO 48th DAY
VMI SIGNIFICANTLY DAMAGED AFTER HITTING ‘GROWLER’:
A broken bowsprit and a damaged rudder system on VMI were the index results of a heart-stopping collision with a ‘small’ 20 to 30 ton (estimate by skipper, the boat was stopped dead whilst sailing at 12 to 13 knots) chunk of ice hovering below the surface. Overnight skipper Sebastian Josse slowed down, headed ‘out’ of the ice zone to the north west whilst he and his shore team evaluated the options for repair to the steering system, but then set off again fast to the east at about 2300gmt, with it repaired. The structural integrity of the boat was intact, including the ‘crash box’ [see JARGON BUSTER]
ICE ON THE MIND:
‘There is no way I’m going in there [the iceberg zone]...’. Nick has a pretty clear plan on approaching the ice zone south of New Zealand, one that I think we all agree on! No question - icebergs cause enormous stress for any sailor, but in particular the solo one. Radar alarms work to a point, but the growler that JoJo (Sebastian Josse, VMI) hit was submerged, and too small for radar to pick up. Even some of the larger bergs are transparent on radar. BONDUELLE has seen another iceberg this morning, that’s almost 3 days of ice stress for Jean le Cam.
VARIABLE CONDITIONS FOR NICK:
‘at one point today I dozed off with full sail up in just 15 knots of wind from 310, and woke up with the boat smoking in 33 knots of wind from 240...it doesn’t make it easy to rest! A lot of rain squalls around making life a bit difficult, but we are clearing the southern point of Tasmania ok at the moment. I’ll soon be able to gybe and make better VMG, as I’m sure it looks pretty bad on the leaderboard at the moment. I’ve not had any other lane to get south’
SEISMIC ACTION!
Race Management received notification last night of a sizeable earthquake off the Macquarie Islands, south of New Zealand. It measured 8.2 on the Richter Scale and occurred between 3000 and 4000 metres below sea level. Effectively sailing on the other side of what is essentially a massive, virtually vertical wall under the seas in this area, Dominique Wavre may still experience difficult seas as he approaches the zone. It is clear that there is considerable activity in this region with another earthquake measuring 4.5 around the South Sandwich Islands yesterday morning, and another last Friday evening in the same zone measuring 5.2...Source www.vendeeglobe.fr
PATRICE BATTLES ON:
‘I consider that the Vendée Globe is a fine and great adventure for those who love the sea and competition. As with any adventure, there are the difficult moments where you really have to dig deep into your resources. The sea is worth it though. We don’t have the choice in any case! I thank you again for all your encouragements and will speak to you on the airwaves again soon...’ For the full emotional letter from Patrice, check out VM MATÉRIAUX_PATRICE in french, and vendeeglobe.org for a translation in english...
OC SAILING TEAM UPDATE:
Nick’s team mate ELLEN lead down to just 3 hours, all eyes on Xmas Day storm http://www.teamellen.com
JARGON BUSTER: ‘Crash box’
– all the Open 60s have sacrificial bow sections so that if they hit something the first bit to break is a foam core half metre section that absorbs some of the shock. This bit can actually break off completely without damaging the structural integrity of the boat. The boats have at least 6 watertight compartments as well, so it takes a serious amount of damage to cause a major safety problem. Of course any damage is not good for performance, and a collision with an iceberg growler cannot do great things for the mental state of the skipper....
SKANDIA DATA LOG 0930 GMT: data brought to you by BT Business Broadband, transmitted via Thrane&Thrane
LAT/LONG: 45 18 S / : 140 49 E; due south of Melbourne by the end of the day
WIND: 15 to 30 knots from the west
BAROMETRIC PRESSURE: 1006Mb
POSITIONS 1000 GMT 24th DECEMBER 2004
BOAT / LAT / LONG / distance to finish
1. BONDUELLE, 55 59.96' S / 170 56.12'E, 10501.6 distance to finish
2. PRB, 53 16.44' S / 170 16.16'E, 10503.8 distance to finish
3. ECOVER, 54 34.24' S / 176 40.12'E, 10705.4 distance to finish
7. SKANDIA, 45 18.04' S / 140 49.04'E, 12398.0 distance to finish
For full positions report go to http://www.nickmoloney.com and follow the positions link
PARTNER OF THE DAY : RED FUNNEL
Official IOW travel supplier to Nick and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team
http://www.nickmoloney.com/redfunnel
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For more information visit http://www.nickmoloney.com or contact :
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