Positionstabelle
25.01.2005
25.01.2005
Press Release
25th January 2005
15h00 GMT 25th January 2005
1. PRB (Vincent Riou) 1965.7 miles from the finish.
2. Bonduelle (Jean Le Cam) 39.3 miles from the leader.
3. Ecover (Mike Golding) 92.2 miles from the leader.
The Dream is Over for Nick
Nick Moloney’s dream of completing his magical trio of round the world sailing achievements came to a sudden end today when he lost his keel on Skandia early this morning. Australian Moloney, who was lying in seventh place in the Vendee Globe, the solo non stop around the world ocean race, reported difficulties just after he had tacked Skandia to head parallel to the coast of Brazil, some 120 miles south east of Rio at around 0300hrs GMT this morning. He later confirmed that he had heard a bang, but was not too concerned at the time, but when he went on deck he realised that he was facing a serious problem. He stabilised the boat by taking down the sails and after an initial inspection confirmed that the keel was no longer in its correct position, waited until first light to make a more detailed assessment. Latest information is that conditions have moderated enough for Nick to make for Rio under Skandia’s own power.
At the front of the fleet Vincent Riou on PRB was still losing a little ground on the chasing pair – second placed Bonduelle skippered by Jean le Cam and Mike Golding on Ecover – but this is at the expense of what he believes is a better positioning for the arrival of a new weather system from the west. PRB’s lead dropped a further five miles on Bonduelle between the 10h00 GMT positions and the afternoon positions at 15h00 GMT, while Ecover had made a small loss over the same period. The closeness of what promises to be a hard fought three way tussle right to the finish at Les Sables d’Olonne is underlined by all three of the leaders making the same VMG, 15.2 knots, over the same 4 hour period.
Moloney reported one week ago that he had hit an underwater object, which had brought Skandia to a virtual standstill, but Moloney’s campaign managers Offshore Challenges believe that the keel, which was replaced in late 2002 prior to the Route du Rhum race, and the boat are designed to withstand such an impact. Offshore Challenges had deployed a rescue boat, which was due to leave Rio this afternoon, to take Skandia in tow. “I am just trying to stay upright. It is still a pretty serious situation. Thank goodness it happened where it did but it is still not good.” Said Moloney. The Australian, who was seeking to complete his triumvirate of personal goals, adding the Vendée Globe, a solo non stop round the world race, to his participation in a fully crewed monohull circumnavigation in the Whitbread Race in 1997-8 and setting a fully crewed multihull all out record for the Jules Verne Trophy aboard Orange in 2002.
Vendee Globe race skippers were unanimous in sharing Moloney’s acute disappointment.
Vincent Riou (PRB) has been sticking determinedly to his guns, hoping for long term gains, probably no more sure of his course than his pursuers in theirs. “It’s difficult to say what will happen. The anticyclone is moving East and if you miss the opening you may get slowed for a while. It’s not for me to take the risk We’ll have to wait for 36 to 48 hours to see if they were right to cut the corner. I’m working with models that aren’t very precise even if we do have the wind fields. I don’t know if Mike and Jean will gain ground but I knew they’d try something. I could have been further East but it is a risk and I would never have gone as far over as them. I’m not looking behind because it’s too frightening. I’m continuing my course even if it is difficult to lose so much ground on a direct course. My ETA for the finish is 2nd February but all that depends on the passage of the anticyclone near the UK for the finish. I’m not resting much and I don’t think there’ll be any opportunity to sleep now. It looks like upwind conditions ahead and it will be tense right up to the finish.”
Jean Le Cam on Bonduelle has closed to within 40 miles of the leader now in second, though his joke about Vincent falling into a calm at the finish are perhaps indicative of his uncertainty about the future situation on the final sprint home. “I’ve managed to close in on Vincent a little. The situation is a little delicate and I still don’t want to go through the centre of the anticyclone, even if I am on a different course than PRB. I am hoping the system will shift over a bit rather that hanging just above us but I think the way forward is to keep a median positions – trying to cut the corner and not just follow PRB. This passage just has to work. The tools I’m using for analysing the situation are Inmarsat, the barometer and the sky. You have to handle the situation as it develops. I know in my mind where I want to go and how, it’s just a case of getting to the finish. Things look like they will sort themselves out in around 36 to 48 hours time but there may well still be big seas or calms at the finish. For now I just have to find the right side of the anticyclone and hope that Vincent falls into calms! (laughs).”
Third placed Mike Golding reindexs pleased with his gains on Ecover but stoically objective about what lies ahead. Ecover and Bonduelle have been trying to ‘cut the corner’ as they edge out of the anticyclone into better breeze. He believes their gains may only be short term and PRB’s positioning will produce a long term advantage. “It’s very good, but I don’t know if I am the happiest man in the world. It is pretty difficult as regards this high pressure.” He reported. Ecover has been enjoying periods of less stressful trade winds sailing giving the skipper a chance to recharge his batteries emotionally and physically whilst still trying to keep optimum course and direction.
“There have been periods of light winds and periods of squalls, and it has been quite shifty at times; morning and evening squalls have been a bit frenetic with sail changes and changing course, but it is cooling now. I have had a good bit of rest, a fairly good night’s sleep and try to get my head down during the heat of the day, trying to get round and do the jobs I need to do but really have no problems on board. There is a week left to do and we are anticipating some quite tough upwind conditions. I don’t exactly relish the upwind work but it is what we are good at, but I don’t see a lot of opportunities. PRB is in a powerful position. We have to traverse west of this high pressure and as we come out PRB will be more lifted and we are dangerously close to the high. Once we have traversed this anticyclone there will be a causeway with not much margin for error one way or another. At the moment PRB has the edge in terms of position and has traded some northing to get it.”
Quotes from the Boats:
Sébastien Josse (VMI):
“It’s a relief to be out of the Doldrums. It didn’t stop raining yesterday and there was a big swell. I had to wait till it passed. I was getting very tired trying to keep up with all the sail changes and not making much progress. Fortunately the wind has been well established since yesterday. It’s difficult to say what will happen in the future as I didn’t have any electricity yesterday to get the weather. I looks like it will stay like this for at least the 48 hours. For now I’m on a North North-West heading on a starboard tack as far as the Azores. I haven’t looked at where Dominique is but I’m where I want to be. It’s more a question of speed rather than position now. In the Trade Winds you have to make North while you can.”
Karen Leibovici (Benefic):
“There’s no more wind in the Southern Ocean. In fact there’s been no wind for 3 days. It’s annoying. I’ve got just 5 knots and making between 5 and 7 knots of boat speed at the very maximum. There’s a ridge of high pressure just above me. According to the charts from this area (Chile etc) there is not likely to be any wind for about 4 days. Only the French charts show wind. Changing sails doesn’t make any difference really. The seas are getting heavier as we approach Cape Horn. The sails deflate, then the boat rolls and then things go even slower. I had 2 hours of sun yesterday but other than that there’s been thick fog for the past week. I can’t see the front of the boat sometimes. I feel a bit like time is standing still while the others are taking off. I’m 1402 miles from Cape Horn –just 3 to 4 days away. I’d really like 50 knots of wind. I’ve got all the sails up pretty much, including the spinnaker, on a port tack.”
Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto):
“Things are OK at the moment. I am in the transition and in a few hours wind will start to clock round to the more favourable south-west. I am beating at the moment with a lot of rain squalls around but I feel like I am making pretty good progress on Joe (Arcelor Dunkerque). On his state of motivation and the need to keep pushing: “I am pretty happy just now, there is always something to do putting in the reefs and shaking them out and there is a quite a difficult swell. I only heard the news of Skandia five minutes ago and it is just incredible, I am very sad for him,” he said, sounding shaky, “It is good that Nick is OK. For me I just need to hang in there and wait for the shift, to position myself best for the low pressure, so that I can tuck into the strong south westerly. Tactically it is pretty challenging, but I think I can close on Joe.”
Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet):
“The boat jibed and was pinned on its side in about five seconds flat, and I ran out in just a fleece and socks for a good soaking. I got her back on course but when furling the reacher, the furling line got stuck in the drum with the sail half rolled up. It looked like I might have to lower the sail that way, which is nearly impossible in any kind of wind, but fortunately I was able to slide the furler drum aft on the bowsprit to the bow where I could reach it. It took a few hours to get everything completely sorted out, including rinsing out the soaked clothes and a fair bit of stitching on the furling line in an effort to keep the line cover from sliding. This line takes a real beating in the drum when I furl the jib with a winch. The wind quit after the squall (of course), so all this was done while slatting violently going nowhere. The morning sked showed that we averaged two knots for the period. Ouch!!
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