Vendée Globe day 86 - A hard night ahead for Brit Air

15:00 HRS GMT Rankings:
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1 . Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) finished after 84 days 3 hours, 9 minutes
2 . Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) at 1194 miles to finish
3 . Sam Davies (Roxy) at 1071.9 miles to second
4 . Marc Guillemot (Safran) at 1200 miles to second
5 . Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) at 1455.5 miles to second
6 . Dee Caffari (Aviva) at 1769.2 miles to second
7 . Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) at 2162.3 miles to second
8 . Steve White (Toe in the Water) 3150.3 miles to second
9 . Rich Wilson (Great American III) at 4452 miles to second
10 . Raphaël Dinelli (Fondation Océan Vital) at 5672.8 miles to second
11 . Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport - Kapsch) at 6104.5 miles to second
RDG . Vincent Riou (PRB). 3rd . 30 boats started.

After taking on second place yesterday Armel Le Cléac’h is now expected to finish in Les Sables d’Olonne between 1800hrs Thursday and 0600hrs Saturday morning but the Brit Air skipper has one big hurdle to negotiate before he can consider the prospects of his place on the second step of the podium after Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia). Le Cléac’h is expecting winds of over 45 knots, gusting to 60 knots with a big, awkward cross seas to contend with, as he counts down the final 1000 miles to the finish line.

Le Cléach said today:

“I am not thinking about the place at the moment, I will think about it when I get across the line. Just now I need to get through these big winds.”

He was making over 16 knots this afternoon and is over 1100 miles ahead of Sam Davies, GBR, (Roxy).

Arriving yesterday in the commercial port of Porto Delgado, Sao Miguel in the Azores, Roland Jourdain’s keel inspection revealed virtually nothing. That is, there is virtually nothing left: only a short twisted stump of keel blade remaining. Having sailed more than 700 miles with no keel, his decision to abandon handed his second place to Le Cléac’h. Jourdain explained today that his personal belief is that the keel fractured in two stages.

“In my opinion, I think the breakage happened in two stages, otherwise I would have capsized the first time. The bang I heard, I thought it was the bulb and in fact I think that when the keel broke, it twisted and a piece stayed attached to the hull, which stopped me from capsizing. Then at a later moment, when I was taking in a reef, I heard a cracking sound coming from the hull and that must have been the piece breaking off.”

Some 1100 miles behind Le Cléac’h Sam Davies and Marc Guillemot are intent on playing out their different strategies at the Azores High. They were separated by more than 250 miles laterally this morning. Although Guillemot is in the possession of 50 hours of redress, he stated again today is that he is determined to beat the English skipper who has a home in Brittany, on the water. Davies leads him by 165 miles and had gained 14 miles since this morning in terms of Distance to Finish, although the French skipper has been consistently faster on his route round the west of the high pressure system, similar to that taken by Michel Desjoyeaux routing to Cape Finisterre.

America skipper Rich Wilson was recovering today and had Great American III back under control after a long night during which his autopilot linkage failed. A bolt in the main self steering linkage failed when the American skipper was in the midst of an unexpected episode of 35-45 knot winds and big seas. He had to hove to – backing the staysail and countering its turning moment with the helm hard over – as he climbed into an inaccessible aft compartment ‘which even Olga Korbutt the gymnast would have struggled to get into’ to make his repair. When he managed to re-boot both his autpilots he had just returned to ‘situation normal’ on Great American – upwind, getting another pasting.

More information on the www.vendeeglobe.org website.

Voices at Sea:

Marc Guillemot (Safran): “I’m making good speed towards the high. The trajectory isn’t the best in relation to the finish, but I think it’s worth it in terms of speed. In 36 hours, I think I’ll be past the high. Over the past two days, I’ve been on a route further north-westwards than the direct route. The idea is to get around the high via the west and then at the top, I should reach the front. This is the fast track home. I think it will pay off, even if it means a lot of manoeuvres. If I’d stayed close to Samantha sailing upwind, it would have been unlikely that I would have caught her. As for my ETA, I’d say the 12th February. I’m getting a bit low on bread and biscuits, as I hadn’t planned on spending so much time out here. I have enough to eat though, except I’m really missing fresh fruit and vegetables. My real favourite is oysters and I know my oyster farmer friend will be waiting for me at the finish.”

Sam Davies (Roxy): “I’ve had the same conditions for 5 days, even if the waves have calmed slightly and we’re not slamming as much. I’m currently doing around ten knots and trying to see whether I have made the right choice. I’m happy with my position. The high is a long way west. I think I should get through without too many hold-ups. I’m wondering what I would do if there weren’t other boats around me. I’m not really taking a short cut, as I’m staying on the edge, so the route is a bit longer. Roxy is doing fine, but must be tired after three months on the water and sometimes I haven’t been kind to her, but touch wood, everything is fine. As for me, I’m looking forward to finishing and I can feel that I’m really tired now. When I arrive I think I’ll just collapse. I’ve got plenty of food left. Too much in fact, so I’ve been throwing stuff to the fish after taking off the wrappers. But I don’t really like doing that when people like Cali don’t have enough. I wish I could leave him a big package.”

Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air): “Time to put the crash helmet on! For the next few hours, we’re going to be facing some difficult conditions. Some heavy seas and very strong winds. Right up to the finish, the weather will not have been on my side. But that’s something you just have to deal with. We’ll ride out the storm and if all goes well in 24 hours, it should start to ease off. The sea is already starting to get rough and it’s slightly on the beam, so we can’t go too fast and we’re really slamming. There’s about 35 knots of wind and it’s going to strengthen during the afternoon to reach 45 knots this evening. We’re going to have to be careful as they have forecast 8-10 metre high waves…

In virtual terms I’ve always been ahead of Samantha, because she would need to be 500 miles in front because of my redress, but I’m determined to battle it out without taking that into account. We’ll see in 40 hours or so where we are, with me in the north and Samantha in the high.

Update from Brian Thompson on Bahrain Team Pindar:

Life-size surprise for sailor’s wife

Record-breaking yachtsman, Brian Thompson, who is currently nearing the end of the solo, non-stop, round the world yacht race, the Vendée Globe on board his boat ‘Bahrain Team Pindar’, was determined not to miss out on his wife’s birthday celebrations, despite being in the in the middle of the Atlantic. As a romantic birthday surprise, he organised for musicians from the Royal Marines Association to deliver gifts and serenade Nathalie with ‘Happy Birthday’ on the doorstep of their family home, accompanied by a life sized cardboard cut out of himself.

The celebrations were far from flat when an elated Nathalie and their two young children Genevieve (3) and Tristan (18 months), later enjoyed a traditional birthday tea party, speaking to the ‘real’ Brian at sea on board his boat ‘Bahrain Team Pindar’, whilst his cardboard stand-in looked on.

Wife Nathalie commented, ‘I got the shock of my life when I saw Brian on the doorstep, but it was a wonderful surprise and a very romantic gesture. We all miss him so much. It’s been a difficult three months without him, but we’re starting to get very excited about him coming home.”

The 'Everest of the Seas’, the Vendée Globe is one of the toughest challenges in world sport, where competitors sail non-stop around the world without assistance. During the 25,000 mile journey, he has encountered some of the most treacherous waters on the planet, including the notorious Southern Ocean - a remote wilderness of unpredictable weather, huge waves, severe cold and the constant threat of ice-bergs.

The race began on November 9 in Les Sables d'Olonne in North West France, where Brian is expected to return in a few weeks. He is currently lying in fifth place, out of the 11 remaining boats, less than half of the original fleet of 30 that started.

Nathalie continued “I felt quite guilty when I told him we were tucking into the delicious cake and champagne he’d sent, knowing that he only has freeze-dried food left on board. He said he’s looking forward to some home-cooking, fresh fruit and vegetables, a cold beer and a nice bath!”

Update from Sam Davies on Roxy:

Scary fish that go bump in the night

“Hello everyone!

The trade winds train continues northwards with Roxy, and it is starting to cool down a bit. I have got out my fleecy blanket to curl up in when I sleep – soon the sea water showers are going to be invigorating!

This morning, as I did the daily flying fish death count and clean-up, I discovered a really scary looking, long fish! He wasn't a flying version, and was probably minding his own business chasing his dinner when his world got churned up and dumped on Roxy's deck. The poor beast got trapped under the outhaul line, and his meal got spared to live another day!

Whoever was destined to be his dinner, however, had a lucky escape. This beast means business: he has a mouthful of very sharp teeth that would make light work of your average little flying fish. I was quite scared picking him up even when he was dead – imagine a "girl with mouse" scenario. I have no idea what kind of fish he is/was: answers on a postcard please!

Tonight, there have been no fish landing yet... maybe the moon helps them see Roxy coming?

I have just crossed paths with a French cruising boat named "Primadonna", who is on passage from Cape Verde to Pointe a Pitre. Luckily I had my radar on as we are also crossing the "Transquadra" fleet. I saw the little blip on my radar cross just a mile and a half from Roxy so I called them up and we had a nice conversation. After I gave them the latest weather information, I found out they have been following the Vendee Globe news on RFI with their BLU!

That was the first time I have spoken to anyone on the VHF since the beginning of the race. They told me they thought Roxy was a ship as they had seen her navigation lights and her huge mast!

S x”

Update from Dee Caffari on Aviva:

Life back on an angle

There are now less than 3,000 miles left of the Vendée Globe yacht race for Dee Caffari onboard her Open 60 yacht Aviva. The solo skipper, who is heading towards her goal of becoming the first woman to sail solo, non-stop both ways around the world, is enjoying the North East trade winds and is getting used to living at life on an angle once again.

Following yesterday’s retirement of Roland Jourdain, agonisingly only 1,200 miles from the finish line, Caffari is now in sixth position chasing Brian Thompson 310 miles ahead of her for a place in the top five finishers.

Dee Caffari’s latest diary entry received on Monday 2 February 2009 at 18H30 GMT:

“Slowly, ever so slowly last night the wind filled in and by this morning I had changed headsail, put a reef in and filled my ballast tanks. I was convinced that I was finally through and now sailing in the established North East trades.

“The sky was grey and overcast which was a bit depressing but I was relieved just to be sailing in the right direction. I trimmed the sails and spent the rest of the day catching some rest, which I have to admit was a little tricky as we are now sailing on the wind and it takes a while to adjust to life on an angle that is a bumpy ride. Having spent the majority of the race off the wind and then spent two days going nowhere, to now be fully pressed leaning over felt strange.”

Dee and Aviva