Vendee Globe - PRB homeward bound, Kingfisher the wounded
by Philippe Jeantot 11 Jan 2001 15:47 GMT
Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB), leading the Vendée Globe still, passed Cape Horn yesterday evening at 1907 hrs (French time) and at the same time crossed over from the Pacific to the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Right ahead now is a 7114 mile straight line with Les Sables d'Olonne at the end of it. No more vast Southern Ocean swell, with its characteristic long, deep and powerful waves. No more need for dodging depressions and icebergs, for fearing capsize or major damage in deserted and hostile waters. No more taste of bitter temperatures, rendering the skipper exhausted and frozen after every manoeuvre on deck. Cape Horn is the exit sign out of such hellish conditions. Once passed, the indicators signal a left turn and the heading is directly North, towards sun, warmth, forgiving winds and a better life.
However, the fleet still must negotiate in reverse the Saint Helen high pressure system, sitting fat and round in the middle of the South Atlantic, also the light airs familiar to the Brazilian coastline, and then cross the Equator and the Doldrums, which are normally less active in the West. Then the upwind battle continues in the South East trade winds generated by the Azores anticyclone. The final hurdle is to position well for the Westerly flowing North Atlantic low pressure systems. Lastly, cross back over the Bay of Biscay and arrive at the finish line in Les Sables d'Olonne.
In the first Vendée Globe, Titouan Lamazou took 34 days to sail from Cape Horn to Les Sables. In the second edition, Alain Gautier took exactly the same number of days, and in the third edition, Christophe Auguin took 38 days. If Michel Desjoyeaux adds his current number of days at sea to the number of days taken by the two first Vendée winners, that is 62 + 34, we get to an estimated total run of 96 days, and an arrival on February 13th.
Desjoyeaux has four days and 18 hours advance over Christophe Auguin, who holds the current record of 105 days and 20 hours. Veteran of two previous Vendée's, Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations), gave his prediction : "I think Mich is in time to break the 100 day circumnavigation. Christophe Auguin was quite slow coming up the Atlantic."
Life in the Pacific Ocean for the rest of the fleet has livened up a bit, with the wind decidedly more co-operative again. Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) admits that her second position is by no means secure, though, as she continues an all-consuming battle to position well for a tricky front coming in to keep North of its centre, pick up the better winds and round Cape Horn tomorrow night.
Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potagère) and Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear), anticipating their own passage the day after Ellen, are now on the same latitude and just one degree of longitude apart. Thiercelin is waiting to pounce on the Œwounded bird' ahead of Jourdain, though, knowing that the skipper of 'Sill' will be relinquishing his top three spot in order to anchor off the Chilean coast, climb the mast and fix his mast track for good.
Josh Hall (EBP-Gartmore) is back in the good times, surfing along at up to 24 knots, and if the weather holds he expects to reach Cape Horn by the 17th January. Within a day's sailing behind Catherine Chabaud (Whirlpool), he is slowly but surely attacking the miles lying in between them.
News of the adventurers: Simone Bianchetti (Aquarelle.com) succeeded in finding shelter off Stewart Island and without actually anchoring he let his boat drift with bare poles, as he climbed up to fix the second spreader on his mast. "It doesn't look pretty, but then it's sturdy and it has put me at my ease again."
Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations) spent another successful day in his temporary floating workshop in the bay of Stewart Island. He has dismasted the boat and started cutting carbon. "When I saw the boom vertical and the mast horizontal the whole thing seemed somewhat paradoxical!" Amused by circling helicopters carrying curious photographers, Yves is certainly vying with Michel for attention, if just for his incredible ingenuity and determination.
Radio Chat Extracts:
Simone Bianchetti (Aquarelle.com) : "I had some difficulty in preparing the work, getting out the paint and filling. But then, to do the stratification work, the weather and temperature were perfect. The sun dried the epoxy. It doesn't look pretty but then it's sturdy and it has put me at ease again. I didn't anchor as that would have taken me half a day. I thought about going to say hello to Yves Parlier but the island is quite dangerous because of the rocks and I have no charts of the area. I really wanted to see him though but I couldn't take the risk."
Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations) : "I've dismasted! It took forever but it was okay. When I saw the boom vertical and the mast horizontal the whole thing seemed to be somewhat paradoxical! I have an anchorage on a rocky ledge, which I discovered at low tide. Tomorrow I'm going to cut into the mast and delaminate the layer of carbon inside. All being well, tomorrow night I'll do a test run to see if the extension piece is holding. Last night I went to wash myself in a freezing stream of water and on returning to the boat, I felt a cramp in my backside. It then took hold in my legs, and I nearly fell over. According to my doctor, it's my sciatica nerve, which cannot support the cold. I think Mich is in time to break the 100 day circumnavigation. Christophe Auguin was quite slow coming up the Atlantic."
Pasquale de Gregorio (Wind) : "About the sea, it is enough to go 2 degrees south in latitude that the panorama and atmosphere change radically, becoming sad, lugubrious and the waves turn into a shape very partcular. I'll get used to it. Today the desalinizator produced other 7 bottles of pure sweet water and the cabin Vhf is also repaired and back to work. The weather and temperature are not too bad and with light winds, good to make other boat checks."
Joé Seeten( Nord Pas de Calais/ Chocolats du Monde): "The weather for the last 48 hours has been terrible. Hard to push the boat through it, I keep in 1 reef in the main sail. I should arrive at Cape Horn on January 22 23rd. I hope there'll be a welcoming committee for me there! Without doubt Yvon and his daughter Karine (Fauconnier) will come out. It would be great to see someone after one and a half months! Four or five days ago both my wind generators broke down. I think it was due to the magnetic South Pole as they have graphite particles inside them. It seemed so bizarre for both to fail a few days after each other."
Bilou (Roland Jourdain: Sill Matines la Potagère): "A depression has passed above me, I'm sort of sailing between upwind and close reaching with the shifting wind. I'm feverishly waiting to reach the rock. I'll be able to work out my ETA when the wind changes, perhaps around 0000hrs on 13th January. I'm ready, with a watertight bag weighing 7 8 kilos, carrying all the tools inside, to shin up the mast. My checklist looks like an Air France pilot's pre-flight inventory! Once I'm up top I can't have forgotten to bring anything with me! I can't get the anchoring operation wrong the first time either. To do this single-handed is not something I'm experienced at. I'll have to wait until it's held before going up the mast. Sometimes I am envious of the others, and things are great for Michel, he's on a roll, it's all been a question of weather strategy. Yes, I look at him and am jealous of his position."
Latest Ranking* polled at 1100hrs (UT):
Boat Skipper Lat Long Hd Av.Sp DTF
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1 PRB Michel Desjoyeaux 54°02'S 63°10'W 24 15.6 6923
2 Kingfisher Ellen MacArthur 56°38'S 78°24'W 128 10.6 +562
3 Sill Matines Roland Jourdain 55°19'S 85°43'W 63 13.8 +847
4 Active Wear Marc Thiercelin 55°02'S 86°15'W 57 14.9 +870
5 Sodebo Savourons Thomas Coville 53°11'S 96°54'W 121 13 +1242
6 Union Bancaire Privée Dominique Wavre 52°05'S 101°03'W 88 13.5 +1406
7 Whirlpool Catherine Chabaud 52°38'S 117°09'W 114 12 +1907
8 EBP-Défi PME-Gartmore Josh Hall 51°32'S 121°46'W 113 12.1 +2088
9 VM Matériaux Patrice Carpentier 55°06'S 143°31'W 65 9.2 +2709
10 Voilà.fr Bernard Gallay 53°54'S 146°52'W 98 6.6 +2844
11 Nord Pas de Calais Joe Seeten 55°15'S 151°59'W 97 10.9 +2978
12 Team Group 4 Mike Golding 53°55'S 155°05'W 78 12.8 +3107
13 Aquarelle.com Simone Bianchetti 47°44'S 171°17'E 89 7.9 +4393
14 Aquitaine Innovations Yves Parlier 47°09'S 167°41'E 0 0 +4537
15 DDP - 60ème Sud Didier Munduteguy 49°06'S 127°29'E 121 8.9 +5773
16 Wind Pasquale de Gregorio 45°27'S 126°31'E 130 4.2 +5936
17 Old Spice Javier Sanso 31°42'S 115°03'E 126 9.5 +6902
18 Modern University Fedor Konyukhov 47°33'S 81°21'E 106 8.4 +7389
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NOT HAPPY : ELLEN DIRECT THIS MORNING
On Realplayer 64.23.31.209/clients/kf/latesta_uk.ram or download 64.23.31.215/cgi-bin/ftp/1/1101a_uk.mp3
I just need to go to sleep. I tried. I can't. I haven't slept much in the past 24 hours. Wind all over the place, and despite getting into sleeping bag - I can't sleep. Back in oilskins once again. Wind now coming from 070 at 27-30kn. The lack of downwind sail really pushed me further south than I wanted, and more than that I am really worried that I am going to need it to
get round the Horn.
Motion horrid, boat slamming - I am at 45 apparent and am trying to leave forward ballast out so as not to load up mainsail too much. Speed is down to 11kn, as I try to keep North as I can.
Hard going.
Will be a long wait for front, as it runs NE-SW. Big risk that I'll not even make it above centre, and will be beaten by it as it moves SE. hope not.
QuickScat images show that the wind behind front is maybe less than 20knots. We're in deep trouble if this is the case, as cannot sail deep enough to make Cape Horn. It will be a frustrating shambles.
ellen
KINGFISHER SAIL INVENTORY: Kingfisher started the race with Mainsail, Solent and Genoa all permanently attached to the rig. Staysail, Gennaker, 2 Code 5s and 2 Spinnakers all stowed and hoisted as required. The sail graveyard has in it both Code 5s, 1 spinnaker and a gennaker thats hanging on to its last breath...and will relive if Ellen has anything to do with it. The leg from Cape Horn home is in theory 65% close-hauled or wind conditions such that Staysail, Solent or Genoa will be the choice of sail, after which its the Gennaker - a significant but not dire percentage. Its certainly not over, despite the loss of the gennaker being a severe blow to Ellen.
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GOLDING CHASES SEETEN FOR 11TH PLACE
Mike Golding reports that Team Group 4 has a little more wind today, although weather conditions are still frustrating due to the high pressure system. This morning Golding was sailing at around 13 knots, considerably faster than the boats immediately ahead of him. Despite the conditions,
Golding is rapidly catching up on Chocolats du Monde sailed by Joe Seeten, who is in 11th position. Golding is still about 120 miles behind Seeten, but the Frenchman is looking over his shoulder. In the radio chat with Vendee Globe Race Headquarters today Seeten asked "Where's Mike Golding -
is he behind me or in front?"
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