Fotogalerie
Tuesday 4th December: PM
Day 24, 17475.9 distance to finish
It's Been A Hard Days Night
Gabart has no fear
Stamm slamming through the waves
Thomson ticked off tinkering with hydrogenerator
Golding wipes out twice
In third place, the golden boy, François Gabart (MACIF) today confirmed on Vendée Globe LIVE http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvlk1m_vendee-globe-live-direct-version-francaise-rec_sport&start=2115 that he is excited, but not frightened, about entering the mountainous swells of the southern seas. Is this naivety, optimism or just plain craziness?
The Southern Ocean is south of 60°S latitude and encircles Antarctica. This ocean zone is where the flow of cold, northward waters from the Antarctic, mix with warmer sub-antarctic waters. The Sea temperatures range from about -2 to 10 °C (28 to 50 °F). Cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent, and often become intense because of the temperature difference between ice and open ocean. These fast-moving weather systems make for highly changeable conditions in terms of both wind speed and direction. The average wave heights exceed twelve feet, and it is these, not the wind that pose the greatest danger to the sailing boats. In the Southern Ocean the waves are some of the largest on the planet. The wind shifts faster than the waves, creating dangerous time periods, following the passing of a cyclonic storm, which can lead to the development of cross seas or large breaking waves strong enough to smash up sailing boats. On reflection, it would be fair to say the Southern Ocean is an ocean to be feared.
Bernard Stamm http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/17/bernard-stamm.html (Cheminées Poujoulat) is back in the game and is in the 4th place only 16 miles behind the leading trio of Armel Le Cléac'h
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/1/armel-le-cleac-h.html (Banque Populaire)François Gabart http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/31/francois-gabart.html (MACIF) and Jean-Pierre Dick http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/13/jean-pierre-dick.html (Virbac Paprec 3) who thunder along to the gate of Crozet, trying to beat the looming high pressure threatening to stall them all and create a fleet compression.
The Swiss skipper is making good progress through the agitated seas to the south of Cape Horn and is stealing back the miles. He said today on Vendée Globe LIVE
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvlk1m_vendee-globe-live-direct-version-francaise-rec_sport, " yesterday, I was doing a manoeuvre during the LIVE . It's like being on a rodeo at the moment. The boat is going fast but constantly hits a wave with her nose. I don't know which sail I have to use. I'm waiting for the sea to calm down. I could go faster this is how it is. There are many albatross above my head and they are flying in very close."
It was a ticked off Alex Thomson http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/25/alex-thomson.html (Hugo Boss), who sent in this report today, despite his limited communications. "Today has been another day of hyrdogenerator repairs so far. I thought I had fixed it yesterday. But it looks like there are still some issues and they are not charging meaning my communications are limited today as I try to conserve power. I feel like this has dominated my race. I am starting to get a little tired of hydro repairs to be honest. It would be good just to be able to concentrate on sailing again. I still have to shave my beard! Everyone voted on Facebook for me to shave it into Fumanchu style. I think I am getting pretty close to having enough to make this happen. I just need the rough seas to calm a bit before I get out a razor!" Even in the face of adversity and exhaustion he is still the showman playing to the crowd.
Mike Golding http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/12/mike-golding.html (Gamesa) has been having an awful time as he wiped out twice in the night. He was rudely awoken by the boat broaching onto its side in a fixed position, with the keel akimbo, his rudders out of the water and his autopilots not in control. He wearily explained how he felt today, on the Vendée Globe LIVE http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvlk1m_vendee-globe-live-direct-version-francaise-rec_sport&start=2115, "I was trying to sleep when it happened, the boat just laid over, not fully, but laid over at 80 degrees, the keel was out of the water and the boat was just held pressed by the sail and the rudder couldn't grip and the boat was still doing 17 knots, but there was no steerage. The boat was sailing very close to the wind. I had to get out of my bunk fast, it was freezing cold and I got very wet pretty quickly. It is never a pleasant, not being in control. I am very tired. It's one of the by products of this race being very tired." It could be the understatement of the year, participating in the Vendée Globe is very tiring.
Jean Le Cam http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/16/jean-le-cam.html (SynerCiel) and Dominique Wavre http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/15/dominique-wavre.html (Mirabaud) have also been experiencing challenging day on the agitated seas of the Indian Ocean.
The back pack have broken free of the grip of the St Helena High, Javier Sanso http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/39/javier-sanso.html (Acciona 100% EcoPowered) is hoping he will be able to claw back some miles on the sailing trio some 300 miles ahead of him and has began to up the pace. Arnaud Bossières http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/10/arnaud-boissieres.html (Akena Verandas) sent back at video http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvlg38_arnaud-boissieres-croise-tristan-da-cunha_sport as he sailed passed the beautiful island of Tristan de Cunha, a table cloth of cloud, resting on it's brow, and Tanguy de Lamotte http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/51/tanguy-de-lamotte.html (Initiatives Cœur) said, today on the Vendée Globe LIVE http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvlk1m_vendee-globe-live-direct-version-francaise-rec_sport "I'm close to Inaccessible Island. It's wonderful. I took many pictures. It's getting colder and colder. I'm going to take the helm again. It's going to be memorable moments."
Watch web tv Vendée Globe LIVE http://www.dailymotion.com/VendeeGlobeTV every day at midday GMT to watch the latest news LIVE from the race track.
THEY SAID...
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04/12 - 4:00 P.M.
1 - Armel Le Cléac'h
[ Banque Populaire ]
to 17475.9 miles from the finish
2 - Jean Pierre Dick
[ Virbac-Paprec 3 ]
at 53.0 milles from leader
3 - François Gabart
[ MACIF ]
at 61.0 milles from leader
4 - Bernard Stamm
[ Cheminées Poujoulat ]
at 77.8 milles from leader
5 - Alex Thomson
[ Hugo Boss ]
at 207.1 milles from leader
> FULL RANKING http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/
I'm fine. Each day is different. Things are getting calmer; it's not bad to rest a bit. I was able to sleep three times during one hour. I'll try to avoid the anticyclone just like the others, to reach the next ice gate. Yesterday, night was cold with a lot of sea. It wasn't easy.
Jean Le Cam http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/16/jean-le-cam.html (SynerCiel) The day they moved the door, I immediately looked up and I knew it would be hard. I'm not going to hang out on the road, because the later we get there the lighter the breeze will be. There is a lot of wind and it was very intense this morning, but I'm not complaining. I got quite bit of sleep last night. Yesterday was a hard day because the wind was very unstable.
François Gabart http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/31/francois-gabart.html (MACIF) I'm happy with my new haircut. It's a very nice boat, I'm sailing very fast with this boat (compared to my 6.5 m), and this race is wonderful. I don't know how to describe it. I'm doing my best for the ranking. A depression is coming, I'll try to catch it. I'll be in Gough Island within 2 days. I love having animals on board, seeing the wild life. It's the magic of the Vendée Globe.
Alessandro Di Benedetto http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/skipper/32/alessandro-di-benedetto.html (Team Plastique)
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