Vendee Globe - 1230 - 22/2/01

Mark Chisnell reports - it's Groundhog Day out there

Thursday February 22nd 2001, Author: Mark Chisnell, Location: United Kingdom
Away from the agonies of the race course, Catherine Chabaud is still wrestling with the consequences of being dismasted just 600 or so miles from the finish. Two of her shore team departed Vigo in north-west Spain and headed out to meet her with diesel and fresh water. They successfully made contact and after using a liferaft as a fender between the two boats, both the shore team and the supplies were aboard Whirlpool, and the boat and her new crew are all headed towards Vigo at six knots.

Catherine sent this message, "Hello, thanks to everyone of you, I have been in good spirits since the accident happened. I would like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all those who have helped put this rescue operation together so that I can get to Vigo as quickly as possible.

"A small aircraft flew over the boat yesterday with my team on board. How can I begin to tell you how it feels to see those hands waving from the plane as it dipped and circled above me. I was so happy to see this first sign of mankind and to feel that it would not be long before I would be helped out of this sad situation ...

"As you’ve all said, the most important thing is that I’ve not been hurt during the whole disaster. It's at times like this that I can sit back and look objectively at life - much worse things have happened and will happen in this world. Thank you all once again. I will see you soon, Catherine."
Happier circumstances for Marc Thiercelin, who has given a press conference following his finish in fourth place. It was an opportunity for him to reflect on where the race was won and lost. Thiercelin reckoned, "Active Wear is a good, mature boat. But I think that the three boats that finished ahead of me were more adaptable in a variety of conditions. My boat is a rocket downwind, and we sailed for a whole month upwind climbing the Atlantic! I’ve reproached myself for not having spent more time with the architects. I’m sure that Desjoyeaux won this race on the drawing board. Skipper, technology and weather: these elements make the sport."

He also felt there had been real gains in the seaworthiness of the boats, following the rules changes put in place after the tragic and near-tragic incidents of the previous Vendee Globe, "After the Kerguelen Islands, I pushed the boat but the pilot let go. The boat flipped over one side - the bad side - and the mast hit the water. The boat didn’t invert though so that was satisfying in terms of the design rulings. This race will have really put things in perspective."

And the man who made such barbed comments about the girl he raced to catch through the Southern Ocean had some final words, "Ellen was going to stand out in this race. I feared this but thought the Vendée was a little ‘too much’ for her. She took it very well. She came back into the race regularly, so I have nothing more to say! I was enraged a few times, but twice she had beginner’s luck. She is well supported on land. She had a different race to me!"
Click for new window with link to Virtual SpectatorMap images courtesy of Virtual Spectator, click here to go to the VS site.

Please note that two different methods of calculating the Distance to Finish are being used, one by Virtual Spectator and one by the Vendee Globe Race Office, we will try to always make it clear which we are using!

Link to the madforsailing form guide.

Rankings (0700 GMT except where stated, Thursday 22/2/01, with Distances to Finish from Race Office)
1 PRB (Desjoyeaux) Arrive - 93d 3h 57m 32s
2 Kingfisher (MacArthur) Arrive - 94d 4h 25m 40s (+ 1d 0h 28m 8s)
3 SILL Matines La Potagère (Jourdain) Arrive - 96d 1h 2m 33s (+ 2d 22h 5m)
4 Active Wear (Thiercelin) Arrive - 102d 20h 37m 49s (+ 9d 16h 40m 17s)
5 Union Bancaire Privée (Wavre) (at 06:10 GMT) 45.6N 3.1W +63 nm
6 Sodebo (Coville) 46.4N 4.4W +117 nm
7 Team Group 4 (Golding) 37.2N 26.4W +1233 nm
8 EBP EspritPME Gartmore (Hall) 31.5N 30.2W +1577 nm
9 Voila.fr (Gallay) 31.2N 31.3W +1648 nm
10 Nord Pas de Calais - Chocolats du Monde (Seeten) 23.5N 35W +2079 nm
11 VM Matériaux (Carpentier) 22.2N 40.1W +2340 nm
12 Aquarelle.com (Bianchetti) (at 04:00 GMT) +2.4N 32.4W +3125 nm
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