Positionstabelle
01.03.2005
Press release
Tuesday 1st March 2005
1500 GMT 1 March 2005
10. Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western) 444,3 miles from the finish.
11. Anne Liardet (Roxy) 382,8 miles from 10th.
12. Raphael Dinelli (Akena Verandas) 1 192,4 miles from 10th.
13. Karen Leibovici (Benefic) 2 2019 miles from 10th.
At the Extreme of their Passion
From Karen Leibovici (Benefic), over 2000 miles from the finish, to Benoît Parnaudeau 450 miles from Les Sables d’Olonne, you have to admire the courage and determination of the 4 sailors still racing this Vendée Globe. Nearly a month after the arrival of the winner Vincent Riou (PRB), two women, Karen Leibovici and Anne Liardet (Roxy) and two men, Benoît Parnaudeau and Raphaël Dinelli (Akena Verandas) are battling, with an understandable lassitude, against the capricious elements which are making then pay dearly for each mile they make towards the Vendée coast.
A dejected Karen Leibovici is still struggling through what is seemingly a meteorological magma, which has imprisoned her off Senegal for the past 5 days. The young skipper will come within the 2000 mile mark from the finish today, though she is all too aware of the extra miles she will need to make when beating into what is proving to be a particularly cruel forecast.
It is also looking quite nasty for Benoît Parnaudeau and Anne Liardet too. Benoît is expected in Les Sables d’Olonne on Thursday, though after a violent gust of wind, he is today picking his way through some very light winds. Deliverance is in sight now for Benoit however and his bow is finally pointing towards home.
Anne Liardet is finally sailing on a N’ly course abeam of Lisbon, her great sense of humour a particular asset in such conditions. The wind is unstable both in strength and direction, though the same cannot be said of the seas with a long swell from Ireland making some very lumpy conditions for Roxy. “I’m being tossed about between two squalls” she explained earlier, having fixed Sunday as her arrival in Les Sables d’Olonne.
Raphaël Dinelli is also savouring more favourable beam winds after several days of strong wind, finally able to make good speed on a direct course. He hopes to stay on the same point of sail for at least the next 24 hours, before he heads East of the Azores and into a strong NE’ly headwind with the seas running against him.
Back on shore since his finish last Friday, American Bruce Schwab has decided to lift his boat out of the water tomorrow, Wednesday, so as to coat the bulb and the keel. Prior to the start Bruce cut away the little winglets fixed to the bulb but didn’t have the time to give the bulb a thorough going over. The work on Ocean Planet is only likely to take a day.
Quotes from the Boats:
Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western):
“I’m becalmed and haven’t slept much as I’ve had a lot of odd jobs to do. The wind has dropped considerably since yesterday. There were some big squalls but they weren’t violent. I did manage to change the staysail halyard which will come in handy for the finish. I had to chase it down at one point but I only had to climb as high as the first spreader. I’m making 3.4 knots at 66 degrees so I’m flat out! (laughs). I’m still trying to dry the boat out a bit and it’s a bit warmer this morning.”
Anne Liardet (Roxy):
“It’s not what it could be! I’ve got a bit less wind but I’m about 35 degrees off course making NE for now. It’s pretty annoying. Last night I had 16 knots of wind and I was sailing under 3 reefs and trinquette. I decided to go and shake out a reef nonetheless as it seemed a little ridiculous and no sooner had I done that, the halyard still in my hand, then the wind got up to 35 knots and I just decided to return to my kennel! You don’t want to know what I shouted up to the heavens! (laughs) I’ve been on a good course now for the past half hour. I tacked last night as the wind looked to be lifting offshore. If this holds it will be good but for now I don’t know if it’s going to last hours, or a day. My focus is to try and get hooked onto a depression as I think Benoit has taken off with one. I’m currently in a strange system with a front so maybe I’m there. It’s a real enigma and of course zig-zagging like this only serves to extend my route. I’m not pessimistic about that I’m simply objective – I’d love to reach the finish this weekend. The rig is continuing to worry me and I’m having to bail out the boat a bit more now. It’s exhausting too as you really have to hang on when you’re in the boat because when it falls down the side of a wave, you go with it...”
Raphael Dinelli (Akena Verandas):
“Things are going ok. I’m on course going flat out. Since falling in a wind hole yesterday, the wind shot right up all of a sudden. You could see it coming by the cirrus clouds while I going round on myself in the swell. Suddenly the wind filled in at around midnight last night and the boat broached right over. It was very stormy and I went down to two reefs. I had 30/35 knots under indexsail and solent and it was a bit like the Southern Ocean. I went down to the trinquette with 11/12 knots on the beam. It’s a welcome change. I’m going to try to make the most of this as it’s likely to last for the next 24 hours before it gets more complicated. Tomorrow I should be in upwind in NE’lies off a depression and will try to pass to the East of the Azores with more upwind. I’m aiming for an ETA of 11/12th March and would really like to be there by now to watch all the six nations rugby which I love... Admittedly I'd be even happier if my mast was straight like on other boats as it is a little worrying to see it bent back from the mast head like it is...”
Karen Leibovici (Benefic):
“All of a sudden I’m attacking my big jar of sweetmeats. Initially I’d planned to eat a couple a day but I went some days without touching them so I’m making up for that by eating handfuls of the things at times. Things aboard aren’t great but I having to find the energy to make something of the situation. I’m a bit angry with the elements thrown up by Mother Nature. This is the fifth day with these conditions and I didn’t expect this of my climb up the North Atlantic. The weather files are a catastrophe and then we’ll have to tackle a depression off the Canaries. Raph (Dinelli) and I haven’t had much luck with the weather. Things are set to improve temporarily tonight. It’ll only be 10 knots but it’s likely to stay till tomorrow. I wanted to get to the finish by the 7/10 March but I’m still about 3 weeks away and food and water are going to start to become an issue. I have around 2000 miles to go on paper but in reality it will be much more than that. I’ve got a final lamination session to do on the water propeller blades tonight as during the day the resin goes hard within ten minutes. After that I’ll have to try and rig up a system where I can lift the thing up and fix it back in place. I think it’s about 3 or 4 hours of work.”
Source : Vendée Globe
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
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