11.12.2008
First iceberg on zone
Though Loick Peyron’s dismasting sent a cold shiver throughout the fleet,
judging by the speeds being indextained by the leaders at the 1600 hour
ranking, the awareness of the problem must have only been short-lived
amongst the skippers in the fleet. With every mile that’s ticked off, the
competitive spirit is as fierce as ever, and it is hard to see who might
soften the infernal pace of this Vendée Globe.
During contact with his shore crew, Dominique regretted Gitana Eighty’s
withdrawal from the competition, because even though its skipper hasn’t yet
officially retired it would be hard to see how it could be any different.
“Loick was a great driving force in this race. It’s sad to see him leave the
Vendée Globe in this manner.”
For the 23 other skippers the race goes on. Aboard the boats, the cold and
dampness are continuing with their shared offensive. Manœuvres are performed
at the cost of considerable use of energy reserves, and the skippers are
taking a long time to warm themselves up. Numb with cold the skippers are
thinking twice before they set about making a sail change, and extra time is
needed to perform manœuvres. “With the same amount of wind the difference in
the time it takes to carry out a manœuvre is incredible between the
tradewinds and the Deep South” explained Roland Jourdain during the radio
session. Armel Le Cleac’h meantime expected to see his beard grow and he
joked that he just couldn’t bring himself to remove “a layer of hair that
was keeping him warm”.
Dropping down as far as 52 degrees south during the day, it was the same
scenario aboard Temenos II. Despite being used to the rigours of the Swiss
winter, the skipper was beginning to feel the biting cold as he dove
southward. “It’s freezing! The minute you drop down in latitude you can feel
the difference; you feel the boat getting colder too. The air is icy and
saturated to 200% humidity. Added to that a small cloud of rain passes over
us from time to time…”
There are limited ways of responding to these cold spells aboard these
spartan carbon hulls. For today Dominique admitted that he was really going
to town with methods of warming up: maximum number of fleece layers, hot
coffee, calorie rich meals, small chemical warmer packs to rapidly warm up
hands which are frozen by sea water of 3°C, “the perfect equipment for the
Deep South” according to the skipper. Though managing the gear is the
subject of much debate, physical management of the sailor must not be
overlooked either. “The cold makes life a bit complicated. As soon as we go
on deck and start the slightest little manœuvre, you go back down below with
freezing hands. You can almost physically feel the calories disappearing.
It’s important to eat well and cover yourself up so as not to lose too much
energy. This morning I went to the mast foot to take in a reef and was
completely soaked. I went back inside with frozen extremities. During the
manœuvre you manage to get hot but that’s even worse because sweat cools
down very quickly and makes you feel even colder. I sometimes have to force
myself a bit to eat, as it’s an effective way of warming yourself up.”
Without too much hesitation a passage to the south of the Kerguelen
archipelago seems to be taking shape for the first part of the fleet. Fairly
soon after that a beefy low generating violent wind is set to join up with
the boats. However, for the time being, Dominique still has around 500 miles
to go before the islands and is likely to have a W’ly air flow which is
seemingly going to compel the skipper to make another gybe. “There’s a good
breeze at the moment, between 20 and 30 knots. When we pass Kerguelen we’re
likely to be slowed a little by a small, localised calm patch, which won’t
affect the frontrunners. I should get there tomorrow evening. After that
we’ll have to gain northing rapidly to escape the worst of the upcoming low.
This morning we still had fairly cross seas and two big breakers smacked
against the side of the boat. Since then the sea has become a little more
organised. It is more regular but it’s not very comfortable! It’s quite
unpleasant to be running on the edge of the wind with our boats. There isn’t
a laminar air flow in the sails and we’re not being pushed along at a
constant speed. With the waves we’re managing to do some great surfing at 20
knots, but immediately after that the boat drops back down to 10 or 12
knots.”
The first boat to see an iceberg at 51°09S and 61°02E, estimated to be
between 30 and 40 metres long, was skippered by Michel Desjoyeaux, who
alerted race management today. Though Dominique hasn’t reached this zone
yet, the skipper shouldn’t drop his guard. A non-identified floating object
was signalled across Temenos II’s route. Whether it is an iceberg or a
fishing boat, the satellite observation was unable to distinguish, but
Dominique is going to have to double his vigilance. In the pitch black with
virtually zero visibility, the skipper planned to devote his time to a
scrupulous radar vigil.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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