|
|
5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005
www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht
Positionstabelle 06.01.2005
Press Release Thursday 6 January 2005
1500 GMT rankings
1. Bonduelle (Jean Le Cam) 6356.8 miles from the finish
2. PRB (Vincent Riou) 40.8 nautical miles from the leader
3. Ecover (Mike Golding) 85.2 nautical miles behind
Conrad Humphreys performs Harrowing Acrobatics 80 ft Aloft.
The top trio have left the Falklands in their wake and are making good averages reaching through the grey in 25/35 knots of West North Westerly winds. Le Cam/Riou/Golding have slowed slightly this afternoon as the wind backs but later tonight and tomorrow morning the wind will pick up again to 30/40 knots. With this in view it looks like Vincent Riou may be the best placed, Jean Le Cam further east as he had no other option yesterday when he was trying to track down wind.
|
D.Wavre vor neuem Sturmtief
|
The experience of Mike against the determination and skill of Vincent, and the weather prowess of Jean are all considerable forces to be reckoned with. Sébastien Josse will be the first of the chasing pack to join the trio in the Atlantic tonight and he looks set to have a fairly calm passage of Cape Horn. A very different scenario for Conrad Humphreys, flicked around his cap shroud 20 times, 80 foot up, the boat heeled right over...
Third placed Mike Golding (Ecover) is currently 44.4 miles behind Vincent Riou and 85.2 miles from the leader Jean Le Cam. “It doesn’t make me more excited. It gets me closer,” said Mike somewhat irritably of his nonetheless encouraging progress overnight. This is highly understandable, just 85 miles between the top trio the pressure is probably greater than it has ever been. “I don’t think it makes you feel any different [being closer to the opposition]. I’m tired, I’ve done a lot of sail changes, I haven’t had any sleep for 24 hours, and it’s as enjoyable as it can be… given those circumstances. I’ve just been finding it rather defeating. Every time I’ve made a change it’s gone the other way. If I see a gain on this sked, they’ve had a much worse night than me, which I somewhat doubt.”
Judging from the contact we’ve had with Jean and Vincent today, it seems that Mike is far from alone in his frustration. Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) spoke of a vortex (mini tornado) inside the depression last night, doubtless making the winds particularly shifty and sea conditions very difficult. “I fell into a wind hole last night, tacking in a very light North-Easterly wind in impossible seas. Today it is much better, the skies are still grey but the conditions are pretty pleasant with more organised seas, free of last night’s currents and fog. At around 0100 / 0200 GMT this morning a South-Westerly airflow kicked in and I’ve been reaching since then, which has given me the chance to study the weather a bit closer. The focus at the moment is trying not to fall into a windless zone. I couldn’t care less about how long it takes to get to the finish, I just want to be first” he said determinedly, surprisingly on form today cracking jokes.
In contrast Vincent Riou (PRB) found the night ok but is having more difficulty now. “Reaching is tough for me. I lack potential on this point of sail. Last night though, I was the first to leave the front with its shifty winds and squalls. I had to make a number of sail changes. I had 20 knots last night and now I’ve got 17. I don’t think it’ll do me any good being West of Jean. My boat’s slower so I really have to focus on shifting the movable ballast whenever I change tack. I’m trying to get the boat moving forward but it’s not really working and the other two are going faster. Taking any options right now is not really a possibility – it’s too high risk.”
Tactics up front are clearly very tight just now as the leaders head north with the wind forward of the beam. Sleep is going to be paramount for reindexing on the ball, but with such intensity in the battle towards the equator, the timing of this particular luxury is far from easy.
heading the chasing pack, Sébastien Josse on VMI is hoping to round Cape Horn tonight, Dominique Wavre, around 350 miles behind him, absolutely buzzing with energy as he powers through the squalls, and swell, playing around with his ballast, a couple of days from the Horn. “I’ve enjoyed the Southern Ocean and am already forgetting the stress of it.”
This is far from true aboard Skandia and Hellomoto. Australian skipper Nick Moloney summed up the situation for both of them earlier. “I’ve had more than enough of this place, I do just want to get out of here and start heading up the Atlantic. It wears you out. Days like yesterday are long and tiring, I’m just worn out. I’ll be happy chap when we are in tropics.” Unfortunately it’s not over yet either, big, big winds forecast from lunch time tomorrow for Nick and Joé Seeten.
Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) has really been put to the test today too. “Trying to describe the ordeal I went through, 80 feet up the rig of Hellomoto this morning, will hopefully go some way to relieving the pain and frustration I’m still suffering”, wrote Conrad earlier. “If fear is supposed to help focus the mind, then at 0600 local time my situation suddenly became critically clear. I was pretty damn stuck and I needed a clear head to work out exactly what I had to do to get down safely onto the deck.” (See journal below).
American sailor Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet) admitted that he’s been being very careful, afraid of just such an eventuality. “Everything is ok right now, the definition of ok being ‘holding’! I keep a rigorous check on everything. It’s hard to avoid thinking about the Horn. It’s down to the roll of a dice as to whether there will be a storm there or not. It’s like running across the freeway (motorway Eng.) just hoping you won’t get hit by a truck !”
heading the tail of the fleet Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar/Best Western) reckons he’s clear of the high risk ice zone now but is still very south. The visibility is good and even though the radar is still on, he was counting on offering himself the luxury of 50 minutes of pure uninterrupted sleep (enough to complete his personal sleep cycle).
Anne Liardet on Roxy is unfortunately in little wind upwind, Raphael Dinelli (Akena Verandas) and Karen Leibovici (Benefic) also blocked in the same conditions east of Tasmania.
Quotes from the Boats:
Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet):
“I’m ok. I’ve just made a sail change. The wind has gone up from the South/ South West on the back of the low. It’s pretty fast so I’ve just gone from my yankee jib to my working jib and I’ve gone from 1 to 2 reefs. I feel a little under-powered but when the squalls hit there is a lot of wind in them in the middle of this front. In 24 hours’ time I hope to be the Western side of the front where I think it’ll be ok as all the wind will come from one direction and there won’t be any cross seas. Poor Nick (Moloney) looks like he’s set for yet another storm on the other side – he is really having some bad luck. My chocolate supplies are running dangerously low so now that I am on a promise of chocolate cake at the finish I think I’ll be able to overtake Jean (laughs)! My attitude is always linked to the boat so when that is in good shape I’m alright too. The rudder boot isn’t leaking at the moment, I have no rig problems and the radar is ok. I’ve been lucky but some of that has to do with where you’re placing yourself too.”
Nick Moloney (Skandia):
"I’ve had 18 to 22 knots with wind direction from 300, and now its 315 to 325...sky is perfectly clear, and the moon is just rising...seastate moderate, and has become more uniform, quite a nice sight. It has been cold, last night was freezing and tonight just before the sun went down I had about a 45 minute nap just inside the companionway on the bean bag with the sunshine on my head, it was quite warm (obviously with 4 layers of Musto kit on!). Full thermals, mid-layer the whole lot...when you are not shivering here it is a real treat. And when you are wet here you freeze. At the moment I’m expecting breeze to increase in the evening to 30 knots, and eventually go a bit further north and increase further. New model shows high pressure in the north is pushing south, showing not much wind to the north of me and restricts the flow of the NW breeze around the top of the depression, which it shows further north but not as aggressive as it looked yesterday. Right now I’m managing due to sail due east which I’m happy about.
Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar/Best Western):
“Things are going well, I think I’ve crossed the minefield! Frankly, I don’t believe there are any more icebergs! I think this corresponds fairly well with what they had up front. I haven’t seen any for 12 hours! In fact I’ve been following the shortest route between the Macquarie Islands and the first Pacific gateway. It will clearly reindex a very important time for me all that. The stress really comes prior to entering into the ice zone though and you don’t know if you should go there or not… you have to fight against your fears. I’m still having trouble sleeping. I flipped out a number of times. I realised though that when there are a lot of birds, there were a lot of icebergs. There was even one time when it really smelt of bird droppings! I’m off again now. I’ve really been battling for the past five days. »
Source: Vendée Globe 2005
www.vendeeglobe.org
Vendée Globe Press Office Tel: +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
Get the latest position reports through SMS messages by registering online
|
|
|
|
|