|
|
5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005
www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht
Positionstabelle
14.01.2005
15.01.2005
VG DAY 70: HE’S DONE IT! SKANDIA AROUND CAPE HORN!
' MAN WITH A MISSION': Nick Moloney attempts to be the first to race around the globe in 3 disciplines, crewed with stops, fastest non-stop, solo non-stop
RACE POSITIONS 0930 GMT: SKANDIA 7th, to the east of Cape Horn, and 503 behind Virbac. PRB holding 137 mile lead over BONDUELLE, and 148 over ECOVER. TEMENOS just 9 miles behind 4th placed VMI, suffering from his lack of power generation, meaning its difficult for him to use his water ballast.
|
|
SKANDIA passed Cape Horn at 2300gmt, after 68 days, 10 hours and 58 minutes at sea alone since leaving Les Sables d'Olonne. His passage time across the Southern Ocean from Cape of Good Hope to Cape Horn was 39 days.
GOING IN TO 70th DAY, Nick’s relief is evident at passing Cape Horn after a tough mental time in the Southern Ocean following his capsize in the Indian Ocean 31 days ago, transcript below from a call when he was just south of the famous rock...
We’ve done it! Got 4 reefs and the staysail, about 45 knots of wind, huge swell, huge confused waves, but its quite awe inspiring, not scary. Place is a bit of a mess, pretty wild. Can’t see Cape Horn, 18 miles off, can’t see anything because its squally. [LAUGHING – its good to hear that!]. Thank god for that, I’m not totally in the clear, but I think even if the rig fell over now I’d get through without too much stress. I’m so glad. So glad. I’ve got a bit of a **** angle to get out of here, the next waypoint is the end of the peninsular, got to take a bad gybe to the north as the new breeze comes from that corner...when I get some searoom, will take a northerly gybe, then a couple of gybes to get to the end of that point. Then I’m sure I’ll be on the wind, light air, and all that stuff.
It didn’t go quickly that last 90 miles, I was just staring at the GPS. Well actually the wind just built and built and built, so had 2 hours of getting 4th reef in, then I was really fast in the wind. Breeze is dropping a bit now in the average anyway. But its supposed to build again through the night.
We’re on our way to the finish, I really feel like it. Need to sort a few things out and find our way there. I’m under Cape Horn and at the lighthouse right now. It will be the most memorable one [passage of Cape Horn, this being his 3rd] for sure. I think cos its everything that you think its going to be. The other 2 times, one was light air beating, and the other one was windy on the cat but you never got the same extreme sensation. This one has the extreme seaway, the angry sky, the strong winds. Now we’ve just got to get our way to Les Sables...
I’ve got a lot of things to keep me perked up on the way back. Got a lot of CD’s that I’ve saved for this stage of the race, going to start listening to more music, hopefully we can just keep going and it just gets better and better. Now I’m on the way out, I can be hard on myself, and enjoy it.
THEN THIS MORNING...
To listen to the full audio http://www.ocftp2.com/audio/vendee2004/nm150105a_uk_e.mp3
Bit tired...i’m trashed. I am slightly north of Cape Horn, 95 miles east, just to the east of the corner. Slightly short of the island. Wind direction of 200.
I was really anxious and really nervous on the approach, after so many miles of open ocean. Been struggling with this power issue. Very very stressful, lot of headaches onboard that were amounting to a situation that could quickly turn bad, and with Cape Horn being a lee shore, as I approached I felt very nervous. Got past it felt like the world lifted from my shoulders. Very much like you hear its going to be, and like you imagine it to be, a boiling, foaming sea, unbelievable. Incredible feeling to get past. Did a lot of thinking, really turned the page for me. Really felt completely different about the whole situation. It was a really big day for me. I wanted to get around the world 3 times.
I’ve been struggling to find many comparisons at all between the 3 round world, but this solo gig is another world, particular for me, not sure if its only for me. The stress elements is huge, desperately long in the south, just to be able to go below in to your bunk and know there is someone keeping an eye out....so unstable. Today I should get to full indexsail, and that will be the first time in 17 days. So much wind and really rough seas, its been frustrating. I can’t find any common elements between the Jules Verne and Whitbread, so damn worrying.
To be honest I haven’t been breaking it [the next 7000 miles] down, been aiming at Cape Horn for so long, now so exhausted. Next step Falklands. Now its going to be difficult with a few transition zones.
Yesterday, last night and today, is the first time that I actually started to think about the finish.
I was really drawn to the north in the Pacific, but I managed to ride a depression for a long long time, and I was very lucky to have been in the north in the end. It turned out to be the right place to be. In the other portions of the race, the doors have just been shutting on me.
I didn’t intend to see any ice, and I didn’t.
POWER PROBLEMS ONBOARD SKANDIA: As Nick gets in to some less stressful conditions, Nick and his shore team have this at the top of their list. The problem is the batteries not holding their charge – Nick has been forced to charge every hour and half...not good!
NICK’S CLOSEST COMPETITOR Ahead VIRBAC is 503 miles ahead, and has managed to bond his boom back together but was also slowed up yesterday when giant seaweed got stuck around his keel. He had to stop the boat, and dive in to the water to clear it...
PRB EXTENDING HIS LEAD AFTER GOLDING’S index HALYARD BREAKS AGAIN: Mike Golding’s luck is not going his way for now, after recovering well from his index halyard breaking the day before yesterday, once again yesterday morning the indexsail came crashing down. This time forcing him to climb the mast in pretty extreme conditions to mouse a new index halyard in (his backup already having been used up), a very tiring and dangerous climb in upwind conditions.
NICK’s OC SAILING TEAM MATE ELLEN on empty as 48 hours of tireless sail-changing leaves her totally exhausted http://www.teamellen.com
SKANDIA DATA LOG 0930 GMT: data brought to you by BT Business Broadband, transmitted via Thrane&Thrane
LAT/LONG: 55 36 S – 63 56 W
WIND: 35 knots from the south west, transition between systems....
POSITIONS 1000 GMT 15th JANUARY 2005
BOAT / LAT / LONG / distance to finish
1. PRB, 20 26.68' S / 27 54.64' W, 4337.4 distance to finish
2. BONDUELLE, 23 48.00' S / 22 56.96' W, 4474.7 distance to finish
3. ECOVER, 22 53.20' S / 28 24.12' W, 4486.1 distance to finish
7. SKANDIA, 55 36.84' S / 63 56.92' W, 6924.4 distance to finish
For full positions report go to http://www.nickmoloney.com and follow the positions link
PARTNER OF THE DAY : UKSA
The Official Watersports Training Facility for Nick and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team
http://www.nickmoloney.com/uksa
Email powered by Active 24
For more information visit http://www.nickmoloney.com or contact :
Helen King
hk@offshorechallenges.com
T : +44(0)870 063 0210
M : +44(0)7870 678360
If you would like to unsubscribe or change your frequency http://www.nickmoloney.com/updates.asp
Twenty years ago, Skandia pioneered MultiManager investment within long-term savings products - and we are now bringing the same pioneering spirit to our sponsorship of Nick Moloney.
Supporting the Skandia MultiManager campaign are three of Skandia's leading international fund management partners Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore Investment Managers and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers
* For further information contact http://www.skandiasetsail.com
|
|
|
|
|