5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005 www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht Positionstabelle 24.12.2004 24.12.2004 Press release Friday 24th December 2004 1500 GMT 24 December 2004 1. PRB (Vincent Riou) 10 4501 miles from the finish 2. Bonduelle (Jean Le Cam) 41.5 miles from the leader. 3. Ecover (Mike Golding) 191.9 miles from the leader. A White Christmas in View for the head of the Fleet amongst the Icebergs With a further five icebergs having been reported by Jean Le Cam today, the ice field is stretching out a good 300 miles from the International Dateline today. The anguish of the situation is tangible in the voices of the leaders. Jean has stretched out his lead to 41.5 miles in the past four hours with Vincent Riou making a very puzzling average of 1.8 knots over the past 4 hours, possibly the wrong side of the depression in a wind hole. Mike Golding is under 200 miles from pole position now, confident in his performance and that of his boat; Sébastien Josse not quite so upbeat having hit a growler yesterday, nearly 100 miles behind. Between Josse’s collision and Jean’s sighting today there is a worrying 420 miles. Weatherwise, there is no great revolution forecast for the Vendée Globe over the Christmas period though the last four at the rear of the fleet, including Conrad Humphreys, are in for 45 knots on Christmas Day itself. Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) was too concerned about the situation to sleep at all. “If there wasn’t ice I’d sail faster. I saw 5 icebergs today – they were very big. I can’t say I’m comfortable. The growlers are pretty close to the big icebergs so if I can spot the big ones I avoid getting too close. Today was a good day as I didn’t see two icebergs at once, but they’re as big as houses. At least I’m on flat seas in a light breeze and I’m sure my southern course is going to pay off” he said confidently. “I see myself far ahead in the next few days with Ecover close to PRB. That’s what I hope at least.” Back to 41.5 miles of the lead at the 1500 GMT ranking, Vincent Riou (PRB) could barely string two words together today, woken from what was clearly a deep snatch of sleep. With his waking hours filled with intrepidation as he continues his course across an ice field, the mind and the body must surely crave a rest. “I don’t know if mine is a good option or not but it doesn’t look too bad. It’s not very risky but I’m waiting to see what the forecasts say, I think I’ll be tacking soon though. There’s a light breeze from the east, and we’re making good speed so it’s pleasant sailing and less stressful.” Just 150 miles behind PRB now, Mike Golding (Ecover) is positively storming along despite a certain apprehension in the icefield. “I was a little worried after Sébastien hit a growler yesterday. It’s pretty scary having ice about, especially when there’s so much of it. For now I’ve got 35 knots of wind and I was really slamming last night in big seas. Of course now, with each slam, you think you’ve hit something which isn’t very restful. I haven’t come across anything so far, either on the radar or by eye. With each report of a sighting I plot it on my chart. I feel very happy from a competitive point of view, by tomorrow I could be quite close with the leaders. For now, I’m on a tongue of pressure and it’s a really fine balance as if you’re too low you get no wind and if you’re too high you get headed. If I’m in touch at the Cape Horn though, I still have a good chance of winning. I’ve established a rhythm but it has been dictated by my position in the fleet which has a higher tempo than I would have chosen. The most important thing is not to break anything.” Allein am Weihnachtsmorgen 2005 Mike Golding zeigt seine optimale Situation So kündigt sich Sturm im Ind.Ozean an Le Cam: Bei dem Stress kommt kaum Weihnachtsfreude auf Riou ist zufrieden mit seiner Poleposition Conrad Humphrey optimistisch bei Aufholjagd D.Wavre: Wenn schon nicht vorn, dann aber Weihnachten ! Clearly this was something 4th placed Sébastien Josse would have liked too and the shock of his collision with a growler yesterday afternoon was audible in his voice today. “I was on watch all night, my radar on, and then I went from 12 knots to a total standstill. I was down below when it happened. It was a big one that broke my bow sprit, around 5-6 m high. I dropped the indexsail and tried to extract myself from it. Fortunately I’ve repaired the problem with my lose rudder and there’s no problem with the crashbox or bow. I’ve currently got 35 knots and 2 reefs in the ORC. I haven’t had any visibility and feel stressed. The outside temperature is 6-7° and the water was around 7° when I hit the growler.” Without the hint of laughter in his voice like usual he said of Jean’s course, “I can’t understand what on earth he is looking for so far south unless he wants to be the World Champion Iceberg spotter!”... Between icebergs, local earthquakes, and breaking seas, the future for the chasing pack looks far from rosy this Christmas Eve as they too make towards the International Date Line at 180 degrees W and 180 degrees E, with a forecast 45 knots of wind to hurry along the backrunners on Christmas Day... Quotes from the Boats: Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto): This Christmas Eve, Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) is 3492 miles from the leader in 14th place...as well as playing DJ on a radio station in his home town of Plymouth, UK..."I would be happy to have a calm exit from the Indian Ocean but tomorrow things may be different. My generator is KAPUT, thankfully I have not consumed as much fuel as I should have done by now however I'm only running the GPS, pilots and B&G instruments, the computers only switched on when I need to do weather and navigation. No heating, lighting or music, but I'll conserve power to run the radar when we enter the iceberg minefield. It's like being a mole..!" Nick Moloney (Skandia): ‘Still hoping to be south of Tasmania for Christmas Day, but not looking so good right now. Jean-Pierre is on fire, he’s really got away by being able to hang on to the cold front. He should slow down soon, but so will I...’. Anne Liardet (Roxy): “Last night I was continuing along quite merrily when all of sudden, something really silly happened: a bank of krill crossed in front of us without warning and of course we didn’t see them coming...In the considerable spray from the impact, a few tens of individuals of the species ended up on the deck and it got me to thinking...if these little beasts which resemble little tiny grey prawns (without pincers, yes, yes grey prawns have pincers) enabling the whales to get fat, they should have the same effect on me. After all, it’s fresh meat, full of protein... fried up in a little olive oil...except that I need several tonnes... In addition they’re really fragile and virtually disappear when you touch them! Perhaps I’ll open up a tin of sardines, even if it’s less romantic...” Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet): “I’ve always fantasized about being a trapeze artist in a circus. But after today’s exercises I’m definitely feeling a little too old and beat up for it. Although we worked our way north for some distance, conditions were not abating and I was getting very impatient about fixing the radar. So a few hours before dark I gybed back to starboard and rigged up my line system that I had dreamt up to get to the radar. Seas were still very large but the wind had eased a little so I decided to go for it. It is hard to explain my system, and I’m too tired to go into it much now. But I had to be airborne all the way from the mast to the tower, and pulled myself aft on lines that I rigged around the back of the tower. It was very physical and I was just BARELY able to reach the radar well enough to rig up a simple line system before becoming exhausted. Even after I got down it took a lot of messing around with a boathook and climbing partway up the tower several times to get the lines to work.” Marc Thiercelin (Pro-Form): “I’m fine. The weather’s a bit strange. I have big squalls and I had two hail storms with some really big hailstones dropping onto the back of the boat. There’s a very impressive wind from behind so I’ve been tacking as I’ve got no headsails. It’s really variable though, it goes from 12 to 32 knots. I haven’t thought about how and when to check the rigging and mast. It’s tiring sailing without a trinquette. To stop would be the end of a dream for me. I can’t catch up now and they’re starting to catch me from behind.” Source : Vendée Globe 2004 www.vendeeglobe.org Vendée Globe Press Office Tél. : +33 1 55 56 66 50 - Fax : +33 1 55 56 62 90 - @ : press@vendeeglobe.fr French Media : Caroline Concetti, Anne Millet and Soazig Guého International Media : Sabina Mollart-Rogerson, Ophélie Théron Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE