Vendée Globe update

Vincent Riou on PRB passes Cape Horn in the Vendee Globe © Benoit Stichelbaut / DPPI / Vendeeglobe

A ‘Fantastic’ Rounding of Cape Horn for Golding

“It’s nice to have the cape behind me” said an exuberant Mike Golding (Ecover) today, just over 100 miles from the top spot, right up with the leading duo tacking their way up the South American coast. In the early hours of this morning, Mike became the first Anglo-Saxon to round the cape, making the fastest Southern Ocean passage in the Vendée Globe between Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn of 31 days 9 hours.

“It’s taking a while to get free of the area though in these messy winds. The situation ahead looks very tricky. I’m hoping for reaching conditions further up the track, though there will be some light winds that will be impossible to escape. Obviously I’d prefer to be first but I’m happy with my position. It’s been a great recovery for me. The cape was fantastic. It was a beautiful clear day with a sea breeze from the east. At around 60 miles from land I could clearly see the mountains. I don’t know if that was because of a refraction of the light. I really enjoyed the late evening at the Cape. I was about 3 miles off at around midnight GMT. I opened a rather large bottle of champagne and had a little drop or two! I haven’t kept a count on how many times I’ve passed the cape but I think it must be 7 or 8 times. I remember that each time I’ve been surprised by the weather. I only have one recollection of a time when we had really strong winds. I was racing crewed and we had 55 to 60 knots of easterly, which is very different from this time around. It’s generally been quite kind. It is clearly a big relief to have left the Southern Ocean. The icebergs put a different perspective on things. Any three of us (Golding/Le Cam/ Riou) stand a chance of winning now. Any of us can pull away little by little. I firmly believe that anything is possible...”

“Things are going well” chorused a pleasantly chirpy Jean Le Cam today. “The Atlantic is impeccable. I saw a beautiful sunset last night, highlighted by a sighting of dolphins. I didn’t think they existed any more! There are light winds but I’m sleeping better now that we’re upwind. I’ve been able to cut the radar and it’s another atmosphere altogether. It’s complicated. There’s a whole mish-mash of weather systems ahead of us and we’re midway between a depression and an anticyclone at the moment.” Asked whether the escape from the cloud cover Southern Ocean meant the re-entry into a good light Jean retorted “It’s the return to the light full stop! The temperature is rising gently and it’s luxurious not to be passing continually from one depression to another. It meant wearing working myself and the boat at 90%. The boat is just as happy as I am to be free of that!”

Second placed Vincent Riou (PRB) was too tired to express his enthusiasm of escaping the South but his words said it all. “The Indian is a rotten part of the world, but that’s never been a secret. The Pacific in comparison was relatively calm with some beating at the start and then some downwind. The passage of the Horn was pretty sporty, contrary to the pictures. It was a difficult night with winds going from 0 to 35 knots all night in every direction. We’re upwind now on a very easterly course, due to go onto a more direct course in a few hours’ time. We’re really up and racing again now with some suspense in line for this final month...”

While the leaders slow up as they tack up the eastern coast of South America, some of those behind will have a chance to make up a bit of ground, Jean Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec) set to make particularly good speed with a favourable north north-westerly wind on the beam.

Just over 900 miles behind the latter, Australian Nick Moloney (Skandia) was feeling understandably low today, still picking his way through the Pacific as the leaders round the celebrated Cape. “It’s obviously frustrating to see the leaders already passing Cape Horn. The boat is in good shape though and I’m looking forward to getting out of the Southern Ocean. I’m continually thinking of the Cape but it’s difficult to focus on it until the weather situation becomes more accurate on the rounding the nearer we get. At least I’ve sorted out the various problems with the mast wand but I do have a frustrating leak in the solent boot which means that every time the waves surge over the bow, quite a lot of water comes into the boat. The breeze is moderating now. I’ve got very, very clear skies and lots of stars, which is nice. The wind did go up to 28 knots last night but it’s down to 18 knots now. It was quite squally yesterday. I’m happy to be going to the South/East now. My biggest headache of late has been the joining of two low pressure systems that blocked my path yesterday. Today I’m riding along in an extension of a system spinning from the north-west. It’s very frustrating and creating havoc. I’m on a heading of 125 degrees right now not wanting to go much further south. I was intending to go further south before but there was absolutely no wind. After things have settled down a bit tomorrow things should be better.”

With every mile he covers raising money for the worthy charity ‘sailforcancer’ Nick will doubtless take courage from that fact and thanks to his very northerly position, the Australian skipper will avoid a gale warning at 960 mb and deepening for his closest pursuers in under 72 hours’ time. Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet) and Joé Seeten (Arcelor Dunkerque) are likely to be the worst affected as a nearby cold front becomes active on Thursday evening.

In a fierce duel with Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto) for the past few days, Bruce Schwab’s (Ocean Planet) position isn’t looking too hot, while Conrad’s is decidedly cool, having spotted further icebergs to the east of Campbell Island, one the size of ‘Wembley Stadium’. The former is forecast to have 20 knots of westerly and 35 knots of south-westerly with a new low pressure system kicking in.

Towards the tail end of the fleet the situation looks rather complicated with a mixture of headwinds and high pressure, added to which is the stress of the upcoming risk of icebergs... Backrunner Karen Leibovici (Benefic) is currently a whole Pacific Ocean behind (5449.1 miles).

Quotes from the Boats:

Benoît Parnaudeau (Max Havelaar Best Western): “I can’t calm myself down. I’m stressed. I’m relatively south closing in on a zone where everyone has seen ice. Only Jean was further south than me here. I had no choice other than to come down south and was quite happy to have avoided the calms. The radar is on. I haven’t slept much and fortunately the visibility is good and there is barely a night. I’ve got 25 knots of wind, under 2 reefed main and solent making 11/12 knots. It’s 10 degrees outside so it isn’t very cold. You just have to be careful.

Conrad Humphreys (Hellomoto): “I’m just setting my sights now on rounding Cape Horn, and hope to overtake Ocean Planet as until now I’ve had to sail more miles on the track than Bruce and he’s had a faster wind angle than me as I’ve been forced to head NE to avoid ice, but we’ve pretty much converged and so I’ll pull out the miles on him now. It’s a brilliant day out here, warmer now with the sea temperature up to 10 degrees and 15 knots of breeze. I feel very privileged to be sailing here, and the weather is looking good for the next few days with a solid 20 knots from the West. I’ll be heading south more with the next low pressure system arriving, and soon there’ll be 35 – 40 knots from the SW when the low rolls underneath us. I try to keep within a corridor between 51 and 53 degrees South as the low pressure systems seem to form higher up as well. Am I glad, though, that I’ve passed the International Dateline – we’re back in the Western Hemisphere and every mile does seem like a mile in the right direction now…”

Position Report: (14:30 GMT)

Update from Mike Golding, ECOVER:

Last night at 0031GMT Mike Golding rounded Cape Horn and bid a less than fond farewell to the Southern Ocean. In doing so he set a fastest Southern Ocean time in the Vendee Globe between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn of 31 days 9 hours.

Golding’s record compares to the time of 32 days 12 hours for race leader Jean le Cam. In comparison the Vendee Globe four years ago saw Golding take 37 days 3 hours Cape to Cape while winner Michel Desjoyeaux managed it in 33 days 19 hours. Golding’s time is only marginally slower than Francis Joyon’s outright solo record of 31 days 5 hours and 51 minutes, set a year ago in a trimaran 50% larger than Golding’s Open 60. “That’s good. She’s no slouch downwind then…” commented Golding.

While Golding is pleased to be out of the wearing conditions of the Southern Ocean - the strong winds and giants seas combined with the incessant nagging worry about hitting ice – he is elated about how much he has closed on le Cam in the last 24 hours. Yesterday morning at 0400GMT he was 256.8 miles astern of the race leader. 15 hours later he was just 89.1 miles behind, the distance having stabilised this morning at 113 miles. “That is a lot better than I had hoped for,” said Golding. “No complaints there at all. I just don’t want to lose it again. There’s bound to be a bit of seesaw in this but it is still well inside the goal. I think [second placed] PRB did a better job of the Horn than I did. I think being that bit earlier he got around.” On hearing the 1000GMT position report he added: “It looks like I am keeping this for the moment - I am not giving it back. That is even more exciting than getting here.”

Golding passed the Horn just before dusk (local time), about two miles off, in near perfect conditions. “Yesterday afternoon it was absolutely glorious. Coming in from the angle we came in at you could see all the mountains from 60 miles away. It was really impressive. To see the Horn so clearly and in sunshine - it was quite something. At the Horn I had a sea breeze from the east, a beautiful clear sky and good visibility. I could see all the way up into Tierra del Fuego. It was a stunning site - like the southern Alps.”

However since rounding the Horn conditions could not have been more tricky. Ecover was nearly becalmed for two hours, suffering as le Cam had during the course of yesterday, before the breeze picked up. “It built steadily and I thought ’this is looking healthy’ and it went on for quite a while until after four or five hours it just suddenly turned off and went down to next to nothing. It has been up and down ever since. I have been downwind and on the wind. An hour ago I had 8 knots of breeze. Now I have 30. It is impossible to keep up with it.”

From clear visibility at the Horn a bank of freezing fog had this morning enveloped Ecover, but with it came 30 knot headwinds.

While Golding is in good spirits the price has been a severe lack of sleep. “I had a good night. Then I had that big night coming into the Horn and I didn’t sleep. Then the Horn itself and the proximity to land and I didn’t sleep and then the calm so I didn’t sleep. And now this. So I am determined to try and get some sleep.”

With Golding’s objective of being within 150 miles of the leader at the Horn achieved so now he can set about exploiting his Open 60’s upwind ability in the Atlantic. “I think it is one thing catching and quite another thing passing. First I have to have the right sails up and be going in the right direction.”

At present the wind direction is upwind, from the northeast. This means Golding will follow le Cam and second placed Vincent Riou in heading due east and will not pass through the Strait of Le Maire at the end of Tierra del Fuego.

In the history of the Vendee Globe the race leader at Cape Horn has always gone on to win the race but never before has the race been this close after 58 days at sea. Effectively the Atlantic will be a new race for Mike Golding and his steed.

Update from Nick Moloney, Skandia:

SKANDIA GYBES TO SOUTH EAST FOR FIRST TIME IN DAYS: Windshift has finally allowed Nick to gybe towards the south, but there is a strong risk of a new depression forming right over him and ‘swallowing’ him for a few hours before it tracks to the south east. This could mean confused wind and seas, as the unstable air mass gathers pace around him. A difficult 24 hours coming up. Doesn’t look like many options for him though, and through this he could then be in to a more ‘normal’ Pacific Ocean depression flow. Only a few hundred miles now from being half way across the Pacific section of the Southern Ocean to Cape Horn.

RACE RESTART AS LEADING TRIO PASS IN TO SOUTH ATLANTIC: PRB passed the mythical Cape at 2045, 15 and a half hours after leader BONDUELLE, but now only 61 miles behind him after Le Cam was slowed right up for hours after passing. Golding on ECOVER passed at 0115gmt, just 4 and half hours after PRB, and at 0400 is just 113 miles from the leader BONDUELLE. The race is on, never has it been this close in a Vendee Globe on re-entry of the Atlantic.

EXCERPTS FROM AUDIO CONFERENCE courtesy of Geolink/Iridium: None today. Timezones are difficult right now, with our call effectively right in the middle of the night...and whilst Nick isn’t tucked up in bed all night, its a harder time to take the call...

Update from Conrad Humphreys, Hellomoto:

“It has been very stressful. I’ve seen 6 icebergs in the last 24 hours and having positioned myself 200m further North to go around them I seem to have seen my fair share. The water was only about 9 degrees when I saw my first two big ones standing on deck at sunset, they just appeared off the bow before the radar picked them up, which means they were over 6 miles away. I was convinced there were 3 at first but one was just a big wave swell. During the day icebergs become interesting and at night they become terrifying! When you go from one extreme emotion from last night, where all I wanted to do is get north and find my way out, you start thinking there’s ice everywhere and in reality it’s not like that. And then it changes dramatically when you see an iceberg the size of Wembley Stadium and you even venture for a bit of a closer look and it’s an amazing sight, you can see the light shining on the top of it and waves breaking over the back of it. Well, I have to admit that I was as scared as I’ve been for a long time, especially when the boat is going at 15 knots, you’re on deck and suddenly they were there! Just imagine sailing into Plymouth Sound and you start to see the cliffs rising up on the horizon, this iceberg was a big piece of land like that!

Last night really took its toll as I slept in the cuddy outside and cat napped. To be honest it was futile, as I was better off looking at the radar, it’s a difficult one as you won’t see something small on radar but then it was such a black night the chances of me spotting or avoiding anything in the water would have been pretty remote. You end up in a bit of a no man’s land and so it’s better just to close your eyes, get your head down and just say to yourself there’s probably a 1 in 99 % chance of hitting something and play the risk game, you just can’t keep awake. You’re thinking constantly “what if..!” and reminding yourself where everything in the boat is just in case you need to react quickly, you’re really wired but it can only last for so long until your body gives. I fell asleep just staring at the radar, woke up 40 minutes later as the alarm was beeping and there was an iceberg the size of a small country park!

I’m just setting my sights now on rounding Cape Horn, and hope to overtake Ocean Planet as until now I’ve had to sail more miles on the track than Bruce and he’s had a faster wind angle than me as I’ve been forced to head NE to avoid ice, but we’ve pretty much converged and so I’ll pull out the miles on him now. It’s a brilliant day out here, warmer now with the sea temperature up to 10 degrees and 15 knots of breeze. I feel very privileged to be sailing here, and the weather is looking good for the next few days with a solid 20 knots from the West. I’ll be heading south more with the next low pressure system arriving, and soon there’ll be 35 – 40 knots from the SW when the low rolls underneath us. I try to keep within a corridor between 51 and 53 degrees South as the low pressure systems seem to form higher up as well. Am I glad, though, that I’ve passed the International Dateline – we’re back in the Western Hemisphere and every mile does seem like a mile in the right direction now…"

More Information:

• Vendee Globe website