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5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005
www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht
Positionstabelle
11.01.2005
Press Release
Tuesday 11th January 2005
1500 GMT 11 January 2004
1. PRB (Vincent Riou) 5161.4 miles from the finish.
2. Ecover (Mike Golding) 11 miles from the leader.
3. Bonduelle (Jean Le Cam) 19.3 miles from the leader.
Mike Back into Second Already!
On this the 66th day of racing, Mike Golding (Ecover) has snatched back second position after rapid repairs to his broken indexsail halyard yesterday. The top trio are squeezed into just 19.3 miles, 900 miles from the Brazilian coast, 260 miles separating Vincent Riou (PRB) and Mike Golding in the West from Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) in the East. As the temperature rises in all senses of the term, the leaders focus on slinking through a narrow passageway between a depression to the West and a ridge of high pressure extending out from the Saint Helena High to their right. The top trio are neck and neck on this final sprint 5000 odd miles from the finish, each in a position to snatch the top spot at any time.
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Karen Leibovici vor Stewart Isl./NZ
Foto: Karen Leibovici/Benefic
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A dejected Sébastien Josse (VMI) may have a solution to his current engine failure though the time is pressing with Dominique Wavre (Temenos) back to within just 134 miles of him. Jean Pierre Dick (Virbac paprec) and Nick Moloney (Skandia) reindex in the same depression, holding onto a favourable South-Westerly wind until they reach Cape Horn, Nick possibly being caught up by another depression without very much of a transition zone. Behind them Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque ), Conrad Humphreys ( Hellomoto), Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet) and Benoît Parnaudeau (Mex havelaar Best Western) are likely to make fairly good speeds riding along unhindered eastbound in a depression. Bruce lucky enough to escape the big seas that Conrad is suffering and Joé on fire with the highest speed of the fleet (341.5 miles/24 hr). In the coming days Benoît and Anne Liardet may have to watch their backs with a phenomenon annexing Hurricane Kerry slipping down to the South-East with the possibility of a lot of wind. At the tail of the fleet conditions for Raphael Dinelli (Akena Verandas) and Karen Leibovici ( Benefic) look decidedly favourable, enabling the duo to make good averages in strong South-Westerlies on a direct course. Karen will join the rest of the fleet in the western hemisphere tomorrow.
The clear voice of Vincent Riou described conditions out on the water as very sporty today on the climb up the Atlantic along the Brazilian coast. “It’s a mighty battle and it’s not over yet. We’re still set for a good fight for the foreseeable future. It was a hard night and I am a little tired, even if my general form is good. The wind is very shifty and the weather complicated. Today we are making good progress, better than Jean anyway! (Laughs). We’re making lots of sail changes and lots of gybes. You really have to be on the ball to scrape each mile... The temperature is climbing. It is beginning to get warmer and the water is at 20 degrees. I’m beginning to lack sleep. I sleep on the basis of 2 hours per day in 10 minute chunks. We’re on the final sprint, you have to be on the attack. Mike Golding has really come back into the match. He was held up last night in contrast to Jean and I, which explains the variations in the ranking. I spend a lot of time keeping an eye on everything, especially on the wear on the rig...”
Mike Golding is indeed right back into action averaging nearly 3 knots more boat speed over the past 4 hours. “Admittedly yesterday wasn’t a good day but I’m feeling better now. In the end my repairs weren’t too damaging in terms of time. The halyard had simply had enough it wasn’t a question of chafe. It failed where it continually runs through a piece at the top of the mast. I hope it’s not a failure I’ll see again for thousands of miles. I’ve done all the work I hoped to do up the mast. I’m now on a route further West as my routing shows that there is a faster passage that side of the water. It looks like it is a faster passage but there is likely to be a see-saw motion in the speed and it’s difficult to know which course will reap the most rewards. If Jean manages to cross the system quickly he will pick up the breeze quicker but he will be upwind. I can’t do anything about it but he’s a bit too far away. We’ll have to stick to our strategies now but it was encouraging when Vincent changed course onto the same side of the course as me last night. I have been pushing myself hard with a lot of sail changing last night. I just wanted to indextain the separation and now we’ll be concentrating on picking our way through a trough. I’ve got nearly new halyards all round and if yesterday’s incident had to happen it was as good a place as any. It would have been sad if it was nearer the finish. I was disappointed yesterday as I thought I was going to take the lead but there’s clearly no time to mope now!”
Just 8.3 miles behind him, a tired Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) was hoping that his much more easterly option would reap its rewards in the long term. “Everything’s ok. We’ll see what the future holds. Everything changes everyday and there’s certainly no habits here. The race is working out pretty well. We’re used to being on deck and not sleeping much now. The motivation of being neck and neck with the leaders is a big help and it’s clear that when the pressure finally drops off, the feeling will be like nothing else. It’s a bit grey today, I wish I had some sun. The weather situation looks complicated, there’s nothing more to say. We’ve been worrying for 2 months, even 2 weeks before the start and it’s not going to stop now as we close in on the finish. These boats are amazing, they even go fast in light winds. I’ve changed sail 3/ 4 times in the past 24 hours, that’s half an hour each time, not including tidying everything away afterwards. I worked on the electrics yesterday and I’m not worried about the gear as I checked everything.”
Gear failure is sadly still very much of an issue for Sébastien Josse who was understandably dejected today, luck really not seeming to be on his side since hitting a growler in the Pacific. “I haven’t managed to repair my engine. The spring is broken and I don’t have another one. For now I’m making do with a wind generator and some solar panels so I am dependant on the sun. Similarly the way the boat lists and the position of the sails have an influence. It’s barely an emergency solution. My shore crew believe that they may have found a way of making the engine work with 2 of the 3 cylinders though so we’ll see what that does.” Josse is currrently averaging over 11 knots and managing to stave off his pursuers.
The Anglo-Saxons mid fleet look to be in fairly favourable condition making good speeds, Nick Moloney and Conrad Humphreys racking up over 300 knot averages. American Bruce Schwab is purposefully opting for the safest but longest route up north to try to avoid both the icebergs and the big seas, Benoît Parnaudeau closing in on him just over 200 miles behind...
Quotes from the Boats:
Nick Moloney (Skandia) :
“870 miles to go the Cape Horn, under a 1000, still moving quite well towards it. Looking at the weather, it looks quite breezy for my arrival on the 14th or 15th. It looks like progress is going to be ok until then. We should get some westerly wind which will let me get south. Right now there’s nothing too extreme, 30 knots or so. In the Southern Ocean the wind presses your oilskins against your body, its so heavy. I might have to go in a hurry here, got big squalls. Clouds are big and black and the wind is at 40 knots. It’s freezing cold and it’s a very solid wind, two reefs in the index and staysail, tad overpowered at times making good progress and hanging onto it [the winds from the depression ahead]. Not 100% sure why ... The air is so cold and so dense that it is strong and powerful, the gusts hit you like someone pushing you when you are out on deck.”
Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet):
“We’re doing ok. We’re having fun. The speed is ok but not super fast. I’m making 12/15 knots and making over 13 knot averages in 24/28 knots of wind. I’m under double reefed index and working jib. The pace is good but I’m not overly powered. The seas are much better so I’m not getting shaken up as much. The storm last night was very difficult, like driving along a rough road. Benoît (Parnaudeau) is making very fast progress in good wind on a better VMG. He likes the south more. I think I should be ok but he may gain a bit more as I’ll have to sail further. I just want to minimise the time that I’m in the icebergs. When it’s rough the keel really creaks and groans. I’m a real perfectionist and though the sound from the keel may not be a problem I don’t want to push it really hard and find that there is something wrong. The noise is quite something and I hope that it doesn’t mean that I’ll have to play the electric guitar when I get back! I’m pretty happy with my performance, all the more so as 2 months before the race I wasn’t sure I’d make the start. For the next month I’m going to go carefully and it will be a great feeling when I get round the Horn. The race itself is just part of a very long, long journey in doing the Vendée Globe.”
Norbert Sedlacek (Brother)
was present at today’s radio session in Paris: “My boat is still in Cape Town. We’re working on finding a way of repairing the keel but unfortunately we won’t be able to haul the boat out at the Yacht Club where it is. I’d like to leave as quickly as I can so as to deliver the boat up to Les Sables, either crewed or solo depending on my physical shape after the repairs.”
Raphaël Dinelli (Akena Verandas):
“There is a powerful wind, 45 knots with gust of 48. I am making 18 knots on the GPS but the seas are very big. They are very built up with breaking waves and even under 3 reefs and staysail I broached twice as a result of some big troughs in the waves. Apart from that, we’re making good progress. The boat is behaving really well and I’m reindex prudent. The Pacific is proving very harsh for the moment. At the this pace I could reach the Horn in 12 to 13 days’ time. I hope there’ll be a little break in this infernal rhythm though and it is impossible to sleep.”
Karen Leibovici (Benefic):
“The 10 knots South-Westerly wind is stable but it should veer round to the west between now and this evening and then North-West tomorrow. The weather is grey but it’s not raining at the moment. I had a surprise last night when I went up on deck and discovered that I was encircled by 6 other boats. I think it was fishermen as I was still on the southern bank of New Zealand where it shallows but their lights were really strange. I’ve just scooped out some water from up front, it’s a real swimming pool. I don’t even want to think about the crash box. That said it empties itself under the chart table whenever I’m on the other tack which stops it from getting too full. I’m the only boat still in the East now and I can no longer see anyone on my computer screen. The others have hit wind and are hooling along at over 12 knots and my heart sinks when I think of the gap that is opening up day after day.”
Source: Vendée Globe 2004
www.vendeeglobe.org
Vendée Globe Press Office Tel: +33 1 55 56 62 95 - 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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