Positionstabelle
02.03.2005
Press release
Wednesday 2nd March 2005
1500 GMT 2 March 2005
10. Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western) 219.5 miles to the finish.
11. Anne Liardet (Roxy) 489.9 miles from 10th.
12. Raphael Dinelli (Akena Verandas) 1141.5 miles from 10th.
13. Karen Leibovici (Benefic) 1618.5 miles from 10th.
All Winners !
As Sir Robin Knox-Johnston highlighted on the eve of this 5th Vendée Globe, those that finish this ‘Everest’ of ocean racing will all be winners, whatever their ranking. Having won the first solo round the world race on a sailing boat without stopovers and without assistance in 1969, he is well placed to know. They are in fact both winners and heros if we look at the incredible way the end of this race is panning out for the two women and two men still at sea. The Atlantic and its associated weather systems have all strayed away from their normal patterns giving our 4 sailors a heady cocktail of calms and violent storms with the common denominator in this general misery being upwind conditions with the seas running against them. After 116 days at sea they are really feeling the pressure now, a fact that Benoît’s supporters are all to aware of, numerous of them coming from all around tomorrow evening to give him and his Max Havelaar Best Western the welcome they deserve.
Benoît is giving this last 250 miles his all. “I was working flat out all night” he says, “under the squalls and the real April showers, with a boat that broaches in the cold and the icy sea”. The N’ly wind has kicked back in and is set to ease off tomorrow, at the point where the skipper from La Rochelle approaches Les Sables d’Olonne. Once again the tide has its part to play in the proceedings, Benoît unable to enter into the channel to Port Olonna until 1800 GMT.
Feeling quite low yesterday, Anne Liardet (Roxy) was back on form today after escaping the capricious high pressure ridge. A good sleep under a big thick duvet, a moonlit sky and the constellation of Scorpio shining out over a calming sea giving her back the energy and enthusiasm she has had since day one. “I’m longing to get to the finish but it will still be quite emotional, as it always is when you’ve experienced something as rich as this. Just one or two more tacks and I’ll finish off with wind on the beam in the Bay of Biscay. See you on Sunday!”
Raphaël Dinelli (Akena Verandas) was almost jubilant today, despite the fatigue and the extra work on deck to control a boat bashing around in 40 knots of wind. “I had some knock downs at 50 knots and the boat was surfing along at 20 knots. Having made over 270 miles in the past 24 hours on a direct course, Raphaël has every right to be satisfied with his performance. With 1400 miles to the finish he is digging into his last box of food, proof if there was a need, that this big loop of the world is coming to an end.
The bravery award has to go to Karen Leibovici (Benefic) as she struggles to get her boat moving steadily through whirling winds which come and go in a blink. Fatigue, pain, rice and pasta cooked in sea water, there you have the menu onboard Benefic for the last 1900 miles of Karen’s Vendée Globe…
Quotes from the Boats:
Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western):
“The wind got up yesterday evening with some big cumulus which are increasingly active. I reckon I’ll get in tomorrow afternoon though what time I couldn’t say. I’m making 11/12 knots in the big squalls and 8 knots otherwise so if we work on a 10 knot average I would say an ETA at the start or the middle of the afternoon. The winds may ease though...I’m not really attacking at the moment as I’m under 3 reefs and trinquette in quite a lot of wind. It’s ok while it’s like that though I’m getting thrown around a bit in these ‘April showers’. I’m making 13 knots right now with wind on the beam and I’ve just had to try and reduce the apparent wind a little as I’ve got 40 knots of wind.”
Anne Liardet (Roxy):
“Things are better today. The seas are down a bit and though there’s obviously still a wind, the boat is suffering less. I’m tacking on port on a virtually direct course towards Cape Finisterre in 9/10 knots of wind. It’s better than when I was in the storms though it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to stay on course for long with a N’ly headwind on its way. N’ly will be good for getting to Les Sables though as it means that I won’t have the wind directly on the nose in the Bay of Biscay. I slept like a baby last night under my fabulously comfortable duvet. The alarms went off every hour and a half for me to bail out the infiltration of water but you wouldn’t believe how good it was to sleep like that! It was a beautiful night, clear skies, a moon, stars. I saw Scorpio really clearly. You want to keep on going with nice moments like that! I feel serene now though of course it will be lovely to get home. It’s always rich in emotion when you’re about to end something big. The rig is really floppy and swaying around a bit but there’s nothing more I can do to tighten it with the wrench. I’m just going carefully and making sure I don’t put up too much sail area. I’m under solent and one reef and I’ve still got a bit of water seeping in though it’s better now that I’m pushing down to starboard. I have seen another crack so I’ll have to try and seal it later. Everything else is ok though the powdered foods I have left are a misery! Outside it’s lovely and sunny with cumulus clouds and the beautiful light you get at 45 degrees N. It’s heating up the boat quite well. If I get round the Cape as I want to, and then go on to hit the N’ly wind, there’s a chance I might make it in on Sunday.”
Raphael Dinelli (Akena Verandas):
“It’s a bit warlike at the moment. It’s a pretty bumpy ride and I’m still flat out with peaks at 18 knots overnight. The action started in the middle of the night when I found myself on a collision course with a cargo ship in 40 knots of wind. I didn’t know whether to luff up so that the wind was on the aft quarter or what and spent around 15 to 20 minutes trying to get into a safe position. I managed to get through on the VHF and we ended up having a nice chat about the race. I had up to 50 knots in the gusts overnight and was surfing at 20 knots with the boat broaching 3 or 4 times with the waves crashing onto the deck. This morning the winds dropped but we’ve still got big seas. We should get NE’ly later with 30/35 knots but for now we’ve got cross seas and it’s a monstrous hotch-potch of conditions. Thankfully I’m making a fairly good course but soon I’ll be upwind in short seas. If things continued as they are now then I’d be home in five days but as it is I’ve got one box and a week’s worth of food left and then plenty in reserve.”
Karen Leibovici (Benefic):
“I’m making a bit of headway. After upwind in the calm, it’s upwind in the storm. There are heavy seas and the boat is slamming a lot. It was a rather wild night with some squally patches giving me very shifty winds. I am exhausted and I’m having difficulty staying upright. It’s impossible to keep up with the pace of the wind. I barely have time to take in a reef when you have to hoist the sail back up and vice versa. I prefer to stay under-canvassed for a while so as to recuperate. I can’t take any more physically. The pilot won’t hold in the calm anymore, so I’ve had to helm. You have to be on the ball the whole time in this shifty wind. I hope that the Azores high will get back in place so I can finish the rest of my race in relative comfort. I don’t want to look too much at what’s ahead as I may be in for some more bad surprises.”
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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