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5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005
www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht
Positionstabelle
08.02.2005
Press Release
Tuesday, February 8
1500 GMT 8 February 2005
6. Jean Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec) 1263.8 miles from the finish
7. Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) 873.1 miles behind sixth.
8. Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque) 877.5 miles behind sixth.
9. Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet) 1 503.3 miles behind sixth.
Wavre and Josse take Fourth and Fifth
Today saw the arrival of a further two competitors in this Vendée Globe. Swiss skipper Dominique Wavre was the first to arrive in the chilly early hours of this morning on Temenos to take a deserved fourth. He was followed around six hours later by the youngest skipper of the fleet, Sébastien Josse. It was at 0515 GMT this Tuesday 8th February 2005 that the 60 foot monohull Temenos skippered by Dominique Wavre crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe 2004, a single-handed race, without stopovers and without assistance departing and finishing in Les Sables d’Olonne (France).
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Fotos: B.Stichelbaut
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The race time to make the 23,680 miles is 92 days 17 hours and 13 minutes and 20 seconds at an average theoretical speed across the course of 10.64 knots. At lunch time it was the turn of Sébastien Josse who made the finish at 1204 GMT under clear blue skies, and a temptingly warm sun. VMI’s race time is 93 days 00 hours and 02 minutes and 10 seconds at an average theoretical speed across the course of 10.61 knots. There are now eight competitors still out racing. British skipper Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) is 2136.9 miles from the finish averaging 12.7 knots at 1500 GMT and American skipper Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet) is 630 miles behind him averaging 8.9 knots.
“I have no idea whether I’ll do the Vendée Globe in four years time or not”, said the wise Swiss skipper Dominique Wavre on his arrival early this morning. “Who knows what they are going to do in 4 years time? These projects really depend on your financers. For this Vendée Globe my goal was to fight it out in the leading pack so I was really disappointed with my sailing the first week. I had problems with my foresails off Madeira during the first week. After that I lost a fair number of miles on the leaders in the Doldrums and then again in the Saint Helena High. Later on I managed to make up some ground and there were 5 or 6 of us grouped together in the Indian Ocean. It really felt good and together with the rough weather it really was a total pleasure to be on the water. In the 40’s and 50’s I loved the waves and the boat was absolutely magnificent. Four years ago we didn’t have any real storms but this time around there were three occasions when you could honestly say that the sea conditions were dangerous. Anything could have gone wrong and we were really on a knife edge. Making high speed in very rough weather – Temenos was just fantastic. I was a bit stressed but it calmed me down to see how well the boat was handling it. She’s a great boat.”
About six hours later the youngest skipper of the fleet passed the finish line under a glorious sun and clear blue skies with barely a whisper of wind. It was an emotional Sébastien Josse (VMI) that addressed a large mass of local supporters, friends and family, minutes after stepping onto dry land for the first time in three months. “The memory I’ll hold onto about this race is that I’m happy to have done it. Unless you’ve done this race you can’t imagine what it’s like. I feel very emotional. It’s difficult to explain. Lots of things go through your head. It’s a pleasure and a joy to finish. It doesn’t bother me at all to have been on my own for three months – in fact I could go off again tomorrow and I certainly hope to be able to do the Vendée Globe 2008. Before hitting the growler my motivation was the competition, afterwards I had to change my objectives and just wanted to finish. I know I could have kept up the rhythm of pure regatta racing. My entry into the Indian was pretty difficult as it felt much quicker than on other boats, it was like being on an optimist (small kids sailing boat). You quickly have to adapt to that. After the growler I felt stressed all the way to Cape Horn with my damaged rudder but I think I handled the situation well. It was also difficult to have to lose Bilou (Roland Jourdain – retired for keel problems). It was the loss of both a friend and a reference. The positive thing about my race is to be here in Les Sables d’Olonne today! We knew from the start that given the conditions, it wasn’t the time for going slow.
Some would say it was the youngsters like Alex (Thomson) and I that were going to go off like that but it was the ‘old hands’ that set the pace and we simply followed. You knew if you broached that you’d gone too far that’s all.”
Quotes from the Boats:
Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec):
“I passed quite close to the island of Flores (Azores). It was night time so I didn’t see much of the coast. I was just able to see the lighthouse and a few fishermen and smell the odours of land. It was really nice. Today conditions range between the anticyclonic ones of yesterday, and the SW’ly wind which is set to kick in this afternoon. I have 10 knots of headwinds. I will tack during the day. Things seem to be developing favourably. The wind conforms with that which I expected. I wasn’t becalmed. My option is good. It has taken me off course quite a lot, but if I have this gust of wind from the West, things should go well. Today, the weather is very fine. I think I’ll manage to recharge my batteries correctly. In the depression, my energy problem may prove tricky.
With regards the water, I found a small 5 litre jerry-can which gave me a nice surprise.
I admit that I miss the moments of relaxation a little. I have a small mp3 player, but it’s always the same records! It’s certainly nicer with a little music on during the day.
Other than that, I picked up some squid in the rudder. The problem is that I don’t have a pan...I still hope to arrive on Sunday, or Monday at the latest.”
Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar-Best Western):
“I thought I was out of the light patch yesterday morning when the SE’ly wind kicked in, but I was had ! After the squalls, I had 2 knots of wind throughout the day. In the night, the wind kicked back in again, and now I have 8 knots of NE’ly wind. I am upwind in 6-7 knots. It’s quite amazing, there’s always something happening from daybreak till 9 in the morning, and then there’s nothing...According to my weather charts, I should stay in this fairly light E’ly wind. It’s hard on the nerves when the wind drops back again. I took out a book, I sat and had a think and I washed myself off with a bucket of water to pass the time. You can’t do much when there’s only 2 knots of wind.
I have just passed Salvador. I made this same course a year ago. I hope the worst is behind me now. This whole climb back up the Atlantic is incredible. From the Falklands up to 18° South was very hard: calm, storms, 40 knots of upwind with difficult seas…
Apart from that, I have just spent 20 minutes on the phone with Anne (Liardet). It was really nice. I’m not too worried about her coming back on me but we’ll see. There’s 500 miles between us. Logically I should take off again while she stalls. It doesn’t bother me too much all that.”
Anne Liardet (Roxy) :
“I am still in my wind corridor. I must avoid hanging a right at all costs, otherwise I’ll be becalmed. I’m dropping right down, wind three quarters aft, 150° from the wind. The wind is shifty, from 135° to 160° and 16 to 22 knots in strength. You have to keep an eye on it. Sometimes I head off on a wave at 15 knots. I’m watching the passage from Brazil as the air looks fairly messy. The trade winds don’t look very strong. I’m going to hit a light patch in two days time, and then we’ll see what happens. It’s not going to be fast. On deck it is rather hot and the sun is really burning. I don’t spend too much time on deck, except for manœuvres or to pick up flying fish. I picked up one this morning which I’ll cook up at lunch time! I’ve still got some yoghurts left, and as I’ve still got lots of milk, I’ve made myself some more yoghurts. Other than that, I have a big problem with rust on the aft guardrails. There are lots of traces of rust on the deck and it’s amazing how much seaweed there is on deck.”
Dominique Wavre (Temenos):
“In contrast to what I said before the start I think the waypoints were good for keeping us away from the majority of the icebergs but when you’ve got bad weather you’ve got bad weather in the south. I saw an enormous iceberg and it scared me to see that I was level with it before I even realised it was there. It made me catch my breath. I realise now that my radar didn’t work. Icebergs are not a risk which should form part of the game, part of the life of a regatta sailor. It’s a risk. My sixth Horn was even more fantastic than any of my previous roundings. There was a fearsome wind at the point that I passed the rock. We had 67 knots of wind and it was absolutely fabulous. I wasn’t surprised by the high speed starts – that’s what races are like now in 60 foot races. I regret not having used or tested my breeze sails enough beforehand and also that I wasn’t experienced enough with my furling system and suffered some problems with it. Our job is to make our boats move forward. Later in the race I really felt in harmony with the boat. When you can go through some really rough weather you realise that you don’t risk much more and you feel better and better. The winning combination is the symbiosis between the boat, the preparation and the skipper.
Source: Vendée Globe
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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