|
|
5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005
www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht
Positionstabelle
30.01.2005
Press Release
30th January 2005
15h00 GMT 30th January 2005
1. PRB (Vincent Riou) 745.9 miles from the finish.
2. Bonduelle (Jean Le Cam) 26.8 miles from the leader.
3. Ecover (Mike Golding) 94.5 miles from the leader.
The Final Act
Little by little the final act of this Vendee Globe plays out.
For those watching the weather files and the rankings, the armchair sailors at home making their own predictions, the end can’t come quick enough.
For the three skippers, PRB’s Vincent Riou, Bonduelle’s Jean le Cam, and Ecover’s Mike Golding, all are now less than 800 miles from the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne and have less than 100 miles between them. After 84 days of racing each would probably stay at sea just as long as it takes to win solo ocean racing’s most coveted prize.
|
Gegenan zum Ziel
|
They are faced with a weather situation riddled with small questions which together hold the key to their final destiny, and sea and wind conditions which continue to confound even these most experienced and hardened skippers.
All three of the leaders were back in character today. Riou, now with only 26.8 miles on hand and 745 miles to sail, calmed to a monotone under pressure; excitable stream of consciousness Le Cam, second with littering his thoughts with colourful curses but again giving nothing away, and Golding back to his professional battle tempered exterior, confessing that he had ‘lost it’ momentarily.
Golding has at least a scent of second place, improved on a three days ago and is still making good speed and heading on the finish, closing one mile on Bonduelle over the last four hours, and two miles on leader PRB.
“The one thing is that yacht racing is never really predictable. Let’s just talk about the two competitors in front of me. I was racing against PRB in last year’s Defi (transatlantic) and the lead changed in the last 48 hours, and then Jean le Cam, and I was racing against him in the Jaques Vabre a few years ago, and the lead changed in the last one hour of the race. Right now it is possible for the lead to change and I’ve never given up on a race ‘til, well, ‘til the ‘fat lady sings.’”
After sounding tired and frustrated yesterday it is a much more resolute Mike Golding on Ecover who reported in today from third place, acknowledging that things are very definitely getting better in terms of the ultimate goal. It is the unsettled sea and weather conditions which are frustrating Golding most.
Win or lose, he is well used to tense, nervous finishes even if the stakes are higher than before, but today his stress is not because there is all to play for and so little between the trio, but because the breeze and the seas are changing all the time and there is so few opportunities to sustain a rhythm, to get Ecover into a groove and simply drive for speed, or to get the time to settle and really analyse the options.
His rivals on PRB and Bonduelle have had much the same conditions, le Cam today describing it laughingly as a ‘purée de merde.’
Of the continued gains he said: “I think it is an interesting development, it’s encouraging and we are making pretty good progress to the mark at the moment. It almost makes Bonduelle more difficult from here than PRB.”
“It is still very, very difficult. Very variable: a shifty breeze, variable in strength and very hard to find a nice balance and it has not been the most enjoyable sailing of the race, that’s for sure.”
“ I have lost my cool a couple of times, which I have to say I really don’t think it’s the thing to do. That has more to do with the current conditions than the proximity of the end of the race. I’ve lost my cool a couple of times and a few things have gone flying across the cabin, including the iridium handset I have to say.”
“There are no options for PRB now. The game is played. She is very left and we are very right. There is nothing more to be done. Bonduelle is more of a difficult problem because she is directly between myself and the finish, that is a much more difficult sort of a problem, I have no leverage at all on Bonduelle and that is a difficult situation because she is pretty quick upwind, so I haven’t worked that one out yet. One thing is for sure and that is that the head of this race is not panning out quite like we or anyone else expected...the most frustrating element is the variability of the conditions. Without question it is really stalling the possibility of sailing the boat at near 100%. It is a compromise and that is bad when you are really wanting to give your all at the end of a race, the last thing you want to see is a compromised set of performance figures and that is what is driving me up the wall right now, but right now we are trying to do the best that we can.”
But things are definitely looking brighter? “ Yes for sure, but that has been the story of my race. It’s just difficult to know what is going to break now. This scenario is probably some catastrophic failure, but hey, OK, there is a good possibility for me to move a finish, to scrap maybe past PRB but just miss Bonduelle.”
Astern all is still not well with Britain’s Conrad Humphreys on Hellomoto in eighth place. He has made a good advance on Joé Seeten on Arcelor Dunkerque but has spent a traumatic last 48 hours at least trying to find a solution to his problems with his keel canting system.
Vincent Riou (PRB) sounded as chilled as always, 745.9 miles from the finish with a lead of 26.8 miles. “Logically it looks like things are favourable for me. If I tack at the right time, I’ll get wind first and then leave them behind me.”
Virtually every sentence in the interview withJan Le Cam (Bonduelle) today was laced with swear words, the conditions particularly testing overnight. “It’s been a hellish night and my friend ‘Goldinger’ will tell you the same thing. I’ve had everything from 6 to 26 knots of wind – when you’ve got lots of sail up conditions are very strange with the squalls. Conditions are apocalyptic. Mr ‘Goldinger’ must have witnessed worse.”
All the 13 strong Vendée Globe fleet are now in the Atlantic Ocean, Karen Leibovici (Benefic) has experienced an emotional first rounding of Cape Horn this morning.
Quotes from the Boats:
Karen Leibovici (Benefic):
“I have passed Cape Horn! I feel very happy and very emotional. I can’t put my thoughts into words. I slowed down a lot overnight so I could see it in daylight conditions. It was absolutely fantastic. I was very close to it and there was no mist or fog. It’s a dream come true. I’m still in shock. I passed the cape a couple of hours ago, (around 0830 GMT) and got my first glimpse of it before that. I cut my hair and threw it into the wind and then I cracked open a bottle of drink. It’s a big, big rock, very high with a bit of green on it. I saw the snow capped mountains around it lit up by the sun. The water was a dark grey, to black, with a white foam around the rock. The seas were very built-up. I now have a Westerly wind of 10/35 knots, with snow squalls since yesterday. My rounding of the cape cancels out all the worries I’ve had throughout this race. It’s something I’ve dreamt of for years. My father had all the books by all the great sailors and I read them as a child. The seas are difficult but there are few who get the opportunity to sail in this neck of the woods. I am here thanks to the help of a huge amount of people (voice breaks). Thanks very much to them all...”
Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque):
“It’s a real pleasure. I’ve had a few letters from people I know there which has been nice. I’m quite far offshore though. I’m listening to some music, hoping to make it home to Dunkirk before the carnival. I had a flying aboard and would’ve cooked him up had there been two of them. I sent my congratulations to Karen. It’s great what she’s done on my old boat. That’s the sixth time the boat has been round the Horn, five times in the right direction and once against the wind and currents. It’s a bit choppy, and rocky right now. The water is 25°, the air temperature 31°. PRB looks too far North, I hope he can do it! Conrad always gets closer each time I get a tricky bit in a transition. Maybe I should stop and let him catch up so we can have a real race.”
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
Esplanade du Vendée Globe, Port Olona, Les Sables d’Olonne, 85100 FRANCE
|
|
|
|
|
