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5. Vendee Globe 2004/2005
www.vendeeglobe.org - zur Übersicht
Positionstabelle
13.02.2005
Press release
Sunday 13 February 2005
SPECIAL NEWSFLASH FOR THE FINISH OF THE VENDEE GLOBE 2004
JEAN PIERRE DICK ON VIRBAC-PAPREC,
SIXTH IN THE VENDEE GLOBE 2004-2005
It was at 15 hours 51 minutes and 38 seconds GMT this Sunday 13th February 2005 that the 60 foot monohull Virbac-Paprec skippered by Jean Pierre Dick 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).
The race time to make the 23 680 miles is 98 days 03 hours and 49 minutes and 38 seconds at an average theoretical speed across the course of 10.05 knots.
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Foto: J.Vapillon/DPPI
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References (GMT) :
Start and finish : Les Sables d’Olonne (France)
Number of miles to cover: 23 680 miles
Start date: Sunday 7 November 2004 at 1202 GMT
Date of first arrival: Vincent Riou (PRB) on Wednesday 2 February 2005 at 22hr 49mn 55sec.
Date of second arrival: Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) on Thursday 3 February 2005 at 05hr 22mn 08sec.
Date of third arrival: Mike Golding on Friday 4 February 2005 at 03 hr 17 minutes 13 sec.
Date of fourth arrival: Dominique Wavre on Tuesday 8 February at 05 hr 15 minutes 20 sec.
Date of fifth arrival: Sébastien Josse on Tuesday 8 February at 12 hr 04 minutes 10 sec.
Dick’s Race time: 98 days 03 hours 49 minutes 38 seconds.
Delay behind winner: 10 days 17 hours and 01 minutes.
Jean Pierre Dick’s Race (Virbac Paprec) :
Passage of the equator (outward trip): 19 November 2004 at 0200 GMT 11 days 13 hours and 58 minutes
Passage of the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa): 5 December 2004 at 1200 GMT after 27 days 23 hours and 58 minutes
Passage of Cape Leeuwin (Australia): 19 December 2004 at 1510 GMT after 42 days 3 hours and 08 minutes
Passage of Cape Horn (Chile): on 12 January 2005 at 0930 GMT after 65 days 21 hours and 28 minutes
Passage of the equator (return): on 30 January 2005 at 1145 GMT after 83 days 23 hours and 43 minutes
Press Release
Sunday 13 February 2005
1500 GMT 13 February 2005
6. Jean Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec) 10.3 miles to the finish.
7. Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) 1146.7 miles from 6th.
8. Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque) 1152.5 miles from 6th.
9. Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet) 1835.0 miles from 6th.
Jean Pierre Dick 10.3 miles from the Finish.
At around 1600 GMT this evening, Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec) is set to complete his first Vendée Globe after just over 98 days on the water. He will take sixth place, just over ten days after this year’s winner, Vincent Riou. A little over 1000 miles behind, the battle is intensifying between ‘Birthday Boy’ Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) and Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque). At the 1500 GMT ranking the duo was separated by just 5.8 miles. As forecast yesterday, Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western) crossed the equator last night at 1905 GMT, Anne Liardet around 32 hours from her passage into the Northern hemisphere. Meantime Karen Leibovici (Benefic) is suffering physically and mentally as she struggles up the Brazilian coast at the tail of the fleet, caught up in big seas a nasty line of squalls with violent winds of over 50 knots for the past 48 hours.
“I feel a bit confused in my head. Despite the fatigue and a very difficult night, I had real trouble sleeping”. Jean-Pierre Dick freely admitted that the pressure of the finish is rising in all senses of the term. He is sailing under reduced sail in order to tackle the 30 to 40 knots NW’ly wind. The tide is also an issue as he hopes to sail straight into the channel for safety reasons, but access cannot be made before 1600 GMT this evening. Virbac-Paprec will be the sixth boat to moor alongside the Vendée Globe pontoon.
Very much looking forward to his own home-coming on Hellomoto, Conrad had clearly decided that he was going to make the most of his birthday today to boost his spirits. He has just turned 32. “I’ve had lots of emails and messages this morning for my birthday which has been really nice. I’ve just spoken with my wife and the office and it’s been such a great morning that I haven’t even been able to check Joé’s position. I tacked several times last night and it was pretty stressful with two big container ships cutting me up. I have to cant the keel using gravity so it’s not easy to make manœuvres. You really have to anticipate them well in advance.”
Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque) is reckoning on an ETA of 0200 GMT on Saturday morning. “I’m going to do my utmost to get there. I have some superb conditions and flat seas, which is great for close-reaching. I am making the most of all the little wind shifts and I think that I’ll be able to weave along like that for the next three days”. Joé has decided to leave the downwind conditions behind him so as he can follow a route close to the orthodromy. “I would have had to go a long way North to hit the W’ly air flow, even higher than my home in Dunkirk. I am destined to finish upwind and my thoughts are with Conrad as he must be suffering more than me.” The Dunkirk skipper believes that his latitudinal separation from the British skipper will be particularly precious for this final sprint.
The position of the two boats on the race track is simple. Hellomoto is South of the Azores archipelago while Arcelor Dunkerque is in the North. Both of them have the same programme: a long beat over the coming days with Conrad Humphreys likely to suffer particularly difficult seas.
Quotes from the Boats:
Jean Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec):
“It’s been a very, very long night. My batteries are virtually flat and I’ve been helming a great deal! I came across numerous fishermen and you really had to be careful. I had two ninety minute chunks of sleep last night between keeping watch and helming. At the moment I am under three reefed indexsail without anything up front but I’m going to hoist a small jib up forward. My goal will be to try and go straight into the channel once I’ve crossed the line. I think I’ll try and pass it solely under jib and without a indexsail so as I am more manoeuvrable. It’s true that I can’t really imagine what is awaiting me at the finish and even had a bit of a problem sleeping even though I was tired! I’m going to try and eat a little to give me strength as the evening promises to be a long one! For my last meal I have noodles, beef with little onions and rice with some powdered milk.”
Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto):
“I’ve been on quite a different course for the past 24 hours – south of the high. I tacked round the Azores last night and now have around 15 knots of wind. I saw two large container ships yesterday evening which proved pretty tricky. It was difficult to manoeuvre around them and things are complicated by my energy problems and hence lack of radar to spot shipping. I’m not on a great course but I think conditions are light for both Joé and I. I have to admit that I haven’t even looked at the positions this morning though, I’ve just been enjoying spending some quality time on my messages. I believe I’ll have pressure as we head up towards the finish so we’ll be evenly matched. The boat is in good shape though it’s a bit tricky to cant the keel using gravity. I’ve relashed it and conditions are relatively stable now. I was feeling the effects of my solitude last night and made a little note about it in my diary entry but it’s a special day today that I will celebrate with pancakes and fruit.”
Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque):
“I finished my repairs yesterday night at around 1800 GMT. I began them at around eleven. It was a great day. I saw 5 or 6 turtles, some jellyfish (Portuguese Man of War), lots of birds and some big dolphins...The cold air from the North has just caught up with me. At the moment I’m sailing 30° from the route which is ok and I still have to shift all the moveable ballast up to windward. I’ve just changed onto port tack and the sailing is great.”
Benoit Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western):
“It’s good to have my head the right way up again in the Northern hemisphere. It’s winter now and only 28 degrees down below so it’s a festive ambiance aboard with the traditional equator camembert, nice and hot and runny. Hmmm, still very fine but without a lot of wind. I made the most of it to take a little dive and check out the keel and the rudder. In fact I spent my whole day making repairs and I’m hoping that the boat is clean to take on the Northern Atlantic. There’s still a bit of housework to be done and I’m going to work on the weather and the Doldrums.”
Anne Liardet (Roxy):
“I’ve come off of things quite well. Conditions enabled me to kick off again yesterday and I am upwind with 13 to 15 knots of wind. I should pass the equator tomorrow evening if things reindex like this. The weather is fine. In this climb back up the Southern Atlantic I’ve been luckier than some of the others. I have come right back on Benoît and I’m thinking of Karen a lot.”
Karen Leibovici (Benefic):
“I’ve got 37 knots of wind and I’ve had as much as 45 to 50 knots. This wind doesn’t show up on any of the files. I realised that the closer I got to shore the worse the conditions were. As a result I took the decision to head offshore of Brazil. The seas are very built up and it’s impossible to make a direct course. I have passed over some banks with less than 11 metres of water. The boat is quite heavily canted over and I’m not really managing to rest or sleep. There was a lot of lightning in the squalls but not much rain. The showers lasted just 5 or 6 minutes in fact which is a shame as I’d really like to have collected some rainwater.”
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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