|
|
5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005
www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht
Positionstabelle 04.01.2005
Press release Tuesday 4th January 2005
1500 GMT 4th january 2005
1. Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) 6806.5 miles from the finish
2. Vincent Riou (PRB) 55.4 miles from the leader
3. Mike Golding (Ecover) 109.8 miles from the leader
A ‘Fantastic’ Rounding of Cape Horn for Golding.
“It’s nice to have the cape behind me” said an exuberant Mike Golding (Ecover) today, just over 100 miles from the top spot, right up with the leading duo tacking their way up the South American coast. In the early hours of this morning, Mike became the first Anglo-Saxon to round the cape, making the fastest Southern Ocean passage in the Vendée Globe between Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn of 31 days 9 hours.
|
C.Humphrey sichtet Eisberge
|
“It’s taking a while to get free of the area though in these messy winds. The situation ahead looks very tricky. I’m hoping for reaching conditions further up the track, though there will be some light winds that will be impossible to escape. Obviously I’d prefer to be first but I’m happy with my position. It’s been a great recovery for me. The cape was fantastic. It was a beautiful clear day with a sea breeze from the east. At around 60 miles from land I could clearly see the mountains. I don’t know if that was because of a refraction of the light. I really enjoyed the late evening at the Cape. I was about 3 miles off at around midnight GMT. I opened a rather large bottle of champagne and had a little drop or two! I haven’t kept a count on how many times I’ve passed the cape but I think it must be 7 or 8 times. I remember that each time I’ve been surprised by the weather. I only have one recollection of a time when we had really strong winds. I was racing crewed and we had 55 to 60 knots of easterly, which is very different from this time around. It’s generally been quite kind. It is clearly a big relief to have left the Southern Ocean. The icebergs put a different perspective on things. Any three of us (Golding/Le Cam/ Riou) stand a chance of winning now. Any of us can pull away little by little. I firmly believe that anything is possible...”
“Things are going well” chorused a pleasantly chirpy Jean Le Cam today. “The Atlantic is impeccable. I saw a beautiful sunset last night, highlighted by a sighting of dolphins. I didn’t think they existed any more! There are light winds but I’m sleeping better now that we’re upwind. I’ve been able to cut the radar and it’s another atmosphere altogether. It’s complicated. There’s a whole mish-mash of weather systems ahead of us and we’re midway between a depression and an anticyclone at the moment.” Asked whether the escape from the cloud cover Southern Ocean meant the re-entry into a good light Jean retorted “It’s the return to the light full stop! The temperature is rising gently and it’s luxurious not to be passing continually from one depression to another. It meant wearing working myself and the boat at 90%. The boat is just as happy as I am to be free of that!”
Second placed Vincent Riou (PRB) was too tired to express his enthusiasm of escaping the South but his words said it all. “The Indian is a rotten part of the world, but that’s never been a secret. The Pacific in comparison was relatively calm with some beating at the start and then some downwind. The passage of the Horn was pretty sporty, contrary to the pictures. It was a difficult night with winds going from 0 to 35 knots all night in every direction. We’re upwind now on a very easterly course, due to go onto a more direct course in a few hours’ time. We’re really up and racing again now with some suspense in line for this final month...”
While the leaders slow up as they tack up the eastern coast of South America, some of those behind will have a chance to make up a bit of ground, Jean Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec) set to make particularly good speed with a favourable north north-westerly wind on the beam.
Just over 900 miles behind the latter, Australian Nick Moloney (Skandia) was feeling understandably low today, still picking his way through the Pacific as the leaders round the celebrated Cape. “It’s obviously frustrating to see the leaders already passing Cape Horn. The boat is in good shape though and I’m looking forward to getting out of the Southern Ocean. I’m continually thinking of the Cape but it’s difficult to focus on it until the weather situation becomes more accurate on the rounding the nearer we get. At least I’ve sorted out the various problems with the mast wand but I do have a frustrating leak in the solent boot which means that every time the waves surge over the bow, quite a lot of water comes into the boat. The breeze is moderating now. I’ve got very, very clear skies and lots of stars, which is nice. The wind did go up to 28 knots last night but it’s down to 18 knots now. It was quite squally yesterday. I’m happy to be going to the South/East now. My biggest headache of late has been the joining of two low pressure systems that blocked my path yesterday. Today I’m riding along in an extension of a system spinning from the north-west. It’s very frustrating and creating havoc. I’m on a heading of 125 degrees right now not wanting to go much further south. I was intending to go further south before but there was absolutely no wind. After things have settled down a bit tomorrow things should be better.”
With every mile he covers raising money for the worthy charity ‘sailforcancer’ Nick will doubtless take courage from that fact and thanks to his very northerly position, the Australian skipper will avoid a gale warning at 960 mb and deepening for his closest pursuers in under 72 hours’ time. Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet) and Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque) are likely to be the worst affected as a nearby cold front becomes active on Thursday evening.
In a fierce duel with Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) for the past few days, Bruce Schwab’s (Ocean Planet) position isn’t looking too hot, while Conrad’s is decidedly cool, having spotted further icebergs to the east of Campbell Island, one the size of ‘Wembley Stadium’. The former is forecast to have 20 knots of westerly and 35 knots of south-westerly with a new low pressure system kicking in.
Towards the tail end of the fleet the situation looks rather complicated with a mixture of headwinds and high pressure, added to which is the stress of the upcoming risk of icebergs... Backrunner Karen Leibovici (Benefic) is currently a whole Pacific Ocean behind (5449.1 miles).
Quotes from the Boats:
Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western):
“I can’t calm myself down. I’m stressed. I’m relatively south closing in on a zone where everyone has seen ice. Only Jean was further south than me here. I had no choice other than to come down south and was quite happy to have avoided the calms. The radar is on. I haven’t slept much and fortunately the visibility is good and there is barely a night. I’ve got 25 knots of wind, under 2 reefed index and solent making 11/12 knots. It’s 10 degrees outside so it isn’t very cold. You just have to be careful.
Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto):
“I’m just setting my sights now on rounding Cape Horn, and hope to overtake Ocean Planet as until now I’ve had to sail more miles on the track than Bruce and he’s had a faster wind angle than me as I’ve been forced to head NE to avoid ice, but we’ve pretty much converged and so I’ll pull out the miles on him now. It’s a brilliant day out here, warmer now with the sea temperature up to 10 degrees and 15 knots of breeze. I feel very privileged to be sailing here, and the weather is looking good for the next few days with a solid 20 knots from the West. I’ll be heading south more with the next low pressure system arriving, and soon there’ll be 35 – 40 knots from the SW when the low rolls underneath us. I try to keep within a corridor between 51 and 53 degrees South as the low pressure systems seem to form higher up as well. Am I glad, though, that I’ve passed the International Dateline – we’re back in the Western Hemisphere and every mile does seem like a mile in the right direction now…”
Source: Vendée Globe 2004
www.vendeeglobe.org
Vendée Globe Press Office Tél. : +33 1 55 56 66 50 - @ : press@vendeeglobe.fr
French Media : Caroline Concetti, Anne Millet and Soazig Guého
International Media : Sabina Mollart-Rogerson, Ophélie Théron
|
|
|
|
|
