After 61 days of racing, the leading trio (Le Cam/Riou/Golding) have just a quarter of this Vendée Globe to go. Sébastien Josse was the fourth skipper to round Cape Horn and enter the Atlantic at 2330 GMT last night and there are just three competitors left to cross over into the Western hemisphere (excluding Patrice Carpentier). The most significant development today is that Jean Pierre Dick (Virbac - Paprec) has broken his boom, 1200 miles from Cape Horn. The skipper contacted his shore crew at 2330 GMT to inform them of the serious damage (one metre from the rear of the boom) following an anticipated gybe to follow a wind shift under 3 reefs. The incident occurred while the Farr design was in 35 knots of south-westerly wind in big seas. Virbac-Paprec is currently making for Cape Horn 1000 miles away at an average of 9 knots under 4 reefs and trinquette. Still as determined as ever, JP hopes to make repairs before the Horn and believes he has the necessary material aboard.
"The wind came back in yesterday from the south-west so I decided to gybe as planned” explained Jean Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec) earlier, not a trace of disappointment in his voice, his mind already into the repairs. “Given the weakness of my gooseneck (already replaced twice) I wanted to keep any risks involved in such a move to a minimum. As a result I was under 3 reefed index at the time, trying to protect my battens too. I think maybe my boom had already become a little fragile after my earlier gooseneck problems because I really couldn’t have been more careful. The apparent wind was just too strong obviously (see photo on site) and the boom suddenly just folded in two. I removed the indexsail last night and am currently analysing the situation with my shore crew. Fortunately we had planned just such an eventuality and I have got the materials I need aboard. I have a sleeve but there is quite a bit of work to do on that before I can get it to fit properly. I still have a little bit of my stock of resin left which works with water and I have enough carbon. Of course it’s a sad, crushing blow to have suffered this but a repair, though tricky, is totally feasible. I’m tired so I’ll try to sleep before I continue working on the repairs on deck again. My aim is clearly to make definitive repairs as I did with the rudder. I have some wind right now, 35 knots, but it will quieten down. I’m currently under 4th reef and small jib. I will try to make repairs before Cape Horn (he is currently around 1200 miles away) and believe it will take 2 or 3 days."
Part of the top trio at the front of the fleet, a very jovial third placed Mike Golding (Ecover) was in much better form earlier, admitting that he was very, very tired yesterday after a gruelling passage of the Falklands. “Yesterday evening I suffered a failure on my mast attachment but I was only able to make a temporary solution. I must go up the mast at some stage and run a new halyard for the staysail. I’ll probably spend a bit of time up there as I’ve got a couple of other little things to sort out. All my mast problems occurred when I was looking for an opportunity to sleep. Fortunately I found a second wind without the sleep. I feel I am as ready as I can be for the light winds ahead. I’ve still got all my sails intact at least. It’s going to be tricky as all the weather models show a different solution, but I think we’ll have upwind around the pressure. I think Bonduelle and maybe PRB are looking for a downwind pass, going down its east side which on some of the models has been achievable, but most of the runs I have seen they have been bisecting the high, going through between two cells of high pressure. Then the occasional model has shown the cell moving east and thereby making the more conventional upwind passage the favoured.”
The front of the fleet are currently rounding a tricky zone, which is doubtless particularly laborious for the top three who are being forced to hunt down more wind in the west. In time they will find themselves sailing upwind in North-Westerlies trying to get as high as possible with the original system. On Saturday and the bulk of Sunday they will have a very poor VMG, 40 /50 degrees from the route, waiting for more favourable northerlies. The biggest difficulty in the coming days will be trying to keep in the wind whilst avoiding the anticyclone at the end of that path by snaking along the north-western edge of the system. Now that Sébastien Josse has joined the trio in the Atlantic, he is set to make good ground on the head of the fleet in the coming days on a much better wind angle. The slight comeback is not going to be immediate but for now he is reaching in around 25 knots of wind. Further back poor Nick Moloney is likely to be right in the teeth of the forecast storm while a more upbeat Conrad Humphreys and Bruce Schwab are still duelling, Conrad now 9.4 miles ahead of the American.
Second Placed Vincent Riou had a very different evening, with more than his fair share of excitement. “I didn’t have a bad night but yesterday evening wasn’t good. I made the finest pirouette of my whole career which wasn’t very funny. There was a violent line of squalls throughout the day and each time one came along I stopped the boat and reduced my sail area. There was at least 50 knots of air in each squall with rain but no lightening. At the end of the day the wind came back in and that’s when I suddenly had 75 knots of wind right behind me. Suddenly the boat was lifted up and its nose buried right in up to the mast, its bottom 10m in the air. I was clinging to the coffee grinder and managed to loosen the indexsail halyard. I have never heard a winch whine like that but the only damage was one broken batten. Fortunately the boat fell back the right way up and broached right over on its side before it gradually righted again. I think I need my crystal ball to tell the future but it looks like there will be light, tricky winds to the left and right which will create a bit of suspense. We’re so close to the high pressure zone that we can’t imagine getting round it. I’ve got 8 sails aboard: my indexsail, solent, a trinquette on a furler, a jib, a code zero, a gennaker and 3 spinnakers...I haven’t roasted any of those.”
Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) had less of a fright in the same squalls but he was forced to turn off the computer and any electronic gear last night with a fine electrical storm under the same line of squalls. “There was a fair bit of wind in the system and the indexsail was being buffeted all over the place. What’s ahead is anyone’s guess but the secret is not to plan your route too intensely as you have to adapt to the conditions you have. I don’t think Mike’s course will put him at an advantage though. The air temperature is 20 degrees and the water 12, so we’re beginning to remove our layers now. It’ll be a cap and sunglasses soon. The transition in one week is phenomenal; either the earth is too small or we are too quick...and we’re not too quick! said the French skipper philosophically.
Now accompanying the top trio in the Atlantic Ocean, a tired Sébastien Josse was nonetheless revelling at his long awaited passage of Cape Horn. “It’s a deliverance from a game of Russian Roulette – never knowing what was going to hit you next. I saw the rock this time around, with glaciers and squalls. Passing right through the islands I could see snow on the mountain tops. It was incredibly beautiful. Every ¾ hour the wind would shift wildly with winds from 15 to 45 knots. Looking forward now I will try to repair the bow sprit as soon as the bow dries off. I’m going to have to cut up my bunk to do it though...”
Quotes from the Boats:
Nick Moloney (Skandia):
“Spent a fair bit of time on deck, been from Solent [mid-size headsail] and 1 reef [in the indexsail], Solent and 2 reefs, Staysail and 2 reefs, Staysail and 3 reefs, Staysail and 2 reefs during that period the sky has been completely clear and full of stars and then over a short period of one sail change completely covered in clouds. Very fast cloud action”.
Patrice Carpentier (VM Matériaux):
“The wind finally kicked in 2 hours ago. It’s really a bit of a shambles. I’m about 20 miles from the headland you have to round to get to Christchurch. There are storms and lightening in the air with a warm air heading my way. I’ve been taking care of my boom and will head back out again once my boat is in good shape again. I was furious earlier on as it’s taken me 3 days to get where I am. I’ve got some detailed charts so I know South Island (New Zealand) like the back of my hand now. I’m looking forward to fresh vegetables and I badly need a wash. My hands are really swollen too. I could do with giving the boat a good clean. It’s still cold at the moment despite it being summer here in New Zealand and I’m continuing to see albatrosses.”
Mike Golding (Ecover): “I didn’t have a storm last night, though I was under 2 reefs and staysail in strong winds. The reality is quite different from the charts. The winds are shifty and there are squalls coming out of clear sky which is very odd. I don’t think the fact that I have been here before is an advantage I have over Jean and Vincent. Geographically I’ve spent so little time here that any advantage cancels itself out. I’ve got 13 sails, 3 spinnakers, 2 reaching gennakers, 1 upwind gennaker, storm sails, and my Eco sail or upwind genoa, which I haven’t used yet. It’s a real shame what’s happened to Jean Pierre Dick (broken boom). I’ve been very lucky on Ecover. I’ve got a great boat, great sails (French North Sails) and my performance is a credit to my shore crew. After over 60 days at sea I spoke to my salopettes yesterday! They each seem to have their own characteristic smells now...”
Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto):
“I’m feeling pretty good, pretty happy. It’s very squally with very erratic winds. There have been 50 degree wind shifts with variations between 15/30 knots. Other than that it’s ok. I just hit a squall. The rig is still not solved. I can’t go up the rig just yet though as the seas are very difficult. I was unlucky with the wind picking up when it yesterday as it had been calm for the whole day. It was all pretty scary and at the moment I can’t shake out the first reef. It feels ok to have passed Bruce. He’s still a bit further east and he’s sailing much deeper south than I can sail. The next storm should give us some north and then north easterly wind. He’s done well getting northing. I think we’ll probably to be together for a while yet. I’ve still got 10000 miles of sailing to go, which is 40 odd days on the water. Cape Horn is really still too far away. Conditions don’t look very stable for the second half of the Pacific and we’ve got quite a lot of ice still around, even higher up.”
Source: Vendée Globe 2005
www.vendeeglobe.org
Vendée Globe Press Office Tel: +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
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