Another gate ticked off

As Vendee Globe fleet continued to be battered by storm force winds that have caused damage to Seb Josse's BT

Sunday December 28th 2008, Author: James Boyd, Location: United Kingdom

Image above courtesy of Expedition and Predict Wind

Positions at 0930 GMT

Pos	Skipper	Boat	Lat	Long	Spd	Crs	Spd	Crs	DTF	DTL
					1 hour av		4 hour av
1	Desjoyeaux Michel	Foncia	45 26.59' S	139 03.29' W	17.4	87	17.3	76	10050	0
2	Jourdain Roland	Veolia Environnement	46 06.03' S	140 58.02' W	15.2	68	14.3	69	10123	73.7
3	Le Cam Jean	VM Matériaux	46 25.92' S	144 40.42' W	14.7	68	15.2	60	10266	216.5
4	Le Cléac’h Armel	Brit Air	45 26.78' S	149 16.49' W	15.2	50	16.2	52	10472	422.5
5	Riou Vincent	PRB	44 58.60' S	149 36.80' W	13.6	48	14.4	54	10493	443
6	Josse Sébastien	BT	42 19.06' S	156 15.99' W	8.5	19	8.8	21	10816	766.1
7	Dick Jean-Pierre	Paprec-Virbac 2	49 06.04' S	167 05.20' W	16.3	46	13.6	60	11158	1108.2
8	Davies Samantha	Roxy	50 22.41' S	176 25.25' W	17.1	71	15.5	71	11527	1477.3
9	Guillemot Marc	Safran	50 07.30' S	170 52.73' E	15.8	81	16.1	77	12013	1963.8
10	Caffari Dee	Aviva	51 01.92' S	165 46.91' E	14.6	84	14.3	85	12194	2144.9
11	Thompson Brian	Bahrain Team Pindar	51 24.41' S	165 50.12' E	14.9	94	13.5	90	12198	2148.2
12	Boissières Arnaud	Akena Vérandas	52 12.83' S	164 40.10' E	11	82	11.1	88	12238	2187.9
13	White Steve	Toe in the Water	52 36.85' S	148 51.23' E	15.6	96	15.6	92	12806	2756.7
14	Malbon Jonny	Artemis	49 24.39' S	130 28.76' E	10.3	80	10.7	84	13522	3472.8
15	Wilson Rich	Great American III	50 11.96' S	127 08.02' E	8.4	94	9.3	96	13627	3577.6
16	Hatfield Derek	Algimouss Spirit of Canada	48 41.37' S	123 21.56' E	5.9	58	5.7	65	13796	3746.8
17	Sedlacek Norbert	Nauticsport-Kapsch	46 36.49' S	103 43.00' E	11.6	92	10.6	86	14580	4530.8
18	Dinelli Raphaël	Fondation Océan Vital	45 57.24' S	101 37.39' E	11.2	139	10	110	14674	4624.1
ABD	Eliès Yann	Generali
ABD	Golding Mike	Ecover
ABD	Dejeanty Jean-Baptiste	Groupe Maisonneuve
ABD	Peyron Loïck	Gitana Eighty
ABD	Stamm Bernard	Cheminées Poujoulat
ABD	Wavre Dominique	Temenos II
ABD	Basurko Unai	Pakea Bizkaia
ABD	Beyou Jérémie	Delta Dore
ABD	Thomson Alex	Hugo Boss
ABD	Bestaven Yannick	Aquarelle.com
ABD	Thiercelin Marc	DCNS
ABD	de Pavant Kito	Groupe Bel

This morning finds the Vendee Globe frontrunners substantially further north than they might otherwise be with race leader Michel Desjoyeaux on Foncia having just crossed the repositioned 'Pacific Ocean West' gate (at 45deg30S between 145 and 136degW). The Pacific Ocean East gate has also moved and the recalculated total distance for the Vendee Globe now stands at 24,840 miles, some 1,160 miles more than when the race started. The gate repositioning has been dictated by the race organisers following ice warnings in the Southern Pacific.

The leaders rise now has coincided with heinous conditions over the last 48 hours. On Friday many described how they had regularly seen 10m high often breaking waves and winds gusting up to 60 knots, combined with rain, hail and snow squalls. Welcome to the Southern Ocean.

"A less messy Pacific Ocean and a steadier wind is as believable as Father Christmas!" recounted Desjoyeaux drolely yesterday. "We're in slightly tricky weather with squalls dotted about our course. One hit us with 50 knots earlier... You have to be pretty watchful so as not to end up with the boat beam onto the course. It's always tricky knowing which sails to carry... Either you carry the sail for 50 knots and you don't use it much, or you carry sail for 25 knots... And when you have a 50 knot squall, you don't know what to do with all the sail area! It's a little frustrating in fact... You're never right. Indeed, since I've been talking to you, the wind has gone from 25 to 42 knots and the boat speed from 12 to 22 knots. It's hard to concentrate on two things at once..."

The margin between Desjoyeaux and second placed Roland Jourdain on board Veolia Environnement remains at 74 miles, but the two leaders have been packing on the miles with third placed Jean le Cam on VM Materiaux back to 216 miles astern from 125 two days ago. Armel le Cleac'h on BritAir and Vincent Riou on PRB remain tight but have also lost around 110 miles on the Desjoyeaux in the last 48 hours.

Disaster for Josse

On Boxing Day disaster befell Seb Josse as his BT was knocked flat by a breaking wave in a 60 knot squall.

Josse described the incident: "I had decided to go further north to avoid the worst of the storm, choosing a more conservative approach than my rivals perhaps, but conditions were in any case horrendous with breaking waves and squalls up to a steady 65 knots (120 km/h), with hail and snow. I was sailing conservatively with 3 reefs in the main and staysail up, in the dark, when I was knocked down by a wave. The boat heeled over to at least 110º with the top of the mast in the water. I was convinced it was going to go all the way.

"It was all a bit surreal. In a second, you feel the boat going right over. Everything falls on top of you and you're sent flying inside. Luckily, I was sitting at the chart table. It took a couple of minutes to sort out the top from the bottom, try to find a lamp and understand what was happening... As the coach roof is cracked, water is seeping in, so you can see how serious it is. There were clothes and food everywhere. I think I'm lucky she didn't go completely upside down, as I couldn't have been far off doing that. Looking at the damage it's clear that tons of water came over the boat. The biggest problem is with the rudders. They're now facing each other. I can't go where I want, can't exceed ten knots and the autopilot cannot cope. I've been forced to wedge the helm in place to keep going north to find some calmer waters and judge the extent of the damage. If the rudder works, I can turn right and get back in the race. If it doesn't, I'll turn left and the race is over."

While conditions remained too dangerous after the incident to fully assess the damage, three separate cracks have appeared in the coach roof, including a longitudinal one which is leaking water in to the cabin when water comes over the deck, albeit at a manageable rate, and serious damage to the bulkhead that joins the roof to the deck around the hatch. The structural damage is not considered a danger to boat or skipper, but how much can be repaired, and how competitive Sébastien will be able to be for the rest of this epic race, is not yet known. The masthead wind instruments have also been lost.

Since then Josse has been forced to head north in an attempt to find calmer waters to effect repairs. His dilemma is to decide whether he can keep the boat safe, secure and competitive to continue to Cape Horn and back up the Atlantic or whether to take the gut wrenching decision to head east to New Zealand 1200 miles away.

Although the coach roof is moving a great deal with the movement of the boat, Josse has managed to temporarily seal the cracks and has stopped the water coming in. With the autopilot now only able to operate on basic helm fixing mode (no compass mode because of rudder misalignment, no wind mode as no wind instruments), BT is still only able to make slow progress away from the rough seas. A complete check of the boat has not revealed any other issues, so the decision about the future in the race now comes down to how repairable the rudder system is, combined with the need to repair further the cabin roof.

Jean-Pierre Dick and Paprec Virbac 2 are now to the northwest of the depression, but still in strong 30 knot westerlies. But this is in stark constrast to what befell the French skipper yesterday, as he reported: “It seems incredible, but I'm stuck in a high-pressure calm. I got caught in the trap the other evening. I'm waiting for some strong winds to arrive shortly: at least 30-35 knots. Meanwhile, I'm still busy with my rudder parts. I am trying to make a new head for the starboard side. Having to do this DIY work and race at the same time is not easy. Some good news, I made a small batten to consolidate the whole thing and everything seems to be stable on port tack, which is promising for the future. I'm spending a lot of time doing that, but there's still a lot of work to do on the boat: the time it takes to dry and make all the parts... Even if I have dropped on the leaderboard, there's a long way to go and a lot can happen. It's freezing down here, even if by heading north, I have gained a few degrees. That is important, especially when you're working on stuff outside with no gloves on.”

Meanwhile yesterday Marc Guillemot put into Auckland Island (250 miles south of New Zealand) to repair the luff track on Safran's mast. Arriving just after 0900 GMT (late evening local time) Guillemot moored in Sandy Bayon the north east of the virtually uninhabited island.

Guillemot reported: “I have discovered that I have a little more work to do than I thought. The top and bottom part of the mainsail track are damaged. It's really upset me, but I'm not beaten yet. Night fell about half an hour ago, and there's no moonlight. A cloudy front with drizzle has arrived, which isn't really ideal for climbing the mast. I think it's going to take me a while to get the boat sorted out, but otherwise there would be no point in continuing the race. I can promise you I'm far from happy, but it's either that or set out with limited sail up and that would not be enjoyable in these wretched conditions. Sandy Bay is a magical place. The weather was great for an hour or two and apart from the temperature, it was a bit like being in the tropics.”

Guillemot set sail again at around 2030 GMT last night just over 150 miles ahead of the trio of Dee Caffari, Brian Thompson and Arnaud Boissières. Guillemot has quickly found his stride and has been one of the fastest in the fleet since leaving Port Ross Bay. Guillemot is reported to be very happy with the repair he made, particularly after getting some good sleep in the secluded bay.

Impressively on Saturday the legend Steve White on Toe in the Water managed to record the highest 24 hour run on his evergreen 12 year old Finot Conq design covering 367 miles.

On board Great American Rich Wilson sustained another injury, this time when he was thrown from his bunk on Friday in the violent conditions. The incident resulted in a cut on his head. Astern Fondation Océan Vital is in no greater shape with skipper Raphael Dinelli heading north east as he dealt with numerous power-related issues and broken battens.

This morning Derek Hatfield on Algimouss Spirit of Canada reported being laid flat, breaking top two spreaders on port side of his mast in southwesterly winds gusting to 56 knots and huge seas. Hatfield has stabilised the mast and at present Algimouss-Spirit of Canada is sailing at reduced speed (7 knots) towards Tasmania, 1000 miles away. It is understood that this was the third time that Algimouss Spirit of Canada had been knocked down in this storm.

Sam Davies reports from Roxy (27 Dec)

Hello everyone

At last, the wind has shifted aft of the beam, after what seems like days of upwind sailing. That definitely wasn't in the brochure!!!

What's more, the sun's come out, the fire hoses have (temporarily) switched off and it's actually quite pleasant on deck. Roxy's been averaging an easy 15 knots all day and so we're BACK ON THE ATTACK!!!

The Wind Gods are definitely smiling on Roxy today. I actually feel rather guilty here enjoying the "summer sailing" I've got, when a lot of the fleet is suffering storm force winds and perilous waves.

I am so sad for JoJo (Seb Josse), who was having an amazing race, before his boat, BT, got "dumped" by a freak wave. I am in pain for him, I can imagine what a terrible feeling it must be to see potential victory snatched away from you in an unlucky handful of seconds. I really hope he manages to repair and get going quickly. He's one of my favourite three skippers in this race! Go JoJo - you can do it!

Yet again, these are signs of how powerful this ocean is and how fragile we are within.”

Sam Davies reports from Roxy (28 Dec)

"Hello everyone!

I've just been out on deck, having taken a reef. Roxy is reaching in 20-25 knots of wind and there's a nice sea. After finishing the reef, I sat up on top of my Fleet 77 dome, and marvelled at my surroundings.

It was just another normal day in the Southern Ocean, crisp and cold, a whiteish grey light, and grey-blue sea. I looked aft, and there were two polar dolphins jumping in our wake. They've been following Roxy since last night (when I was on deck trimming in the night they were swimming alongside). They are beautiful and stripy, and as far as I can see, they don't have a dorsal fin like their Atlantic cousins. There was an albatross circling around us, and every so often he dipped towards
the waves and when he climbed up again he was pedalling his feet like he was riding a bicycle - very comical! Maybe he was just doing it to show off in front of me!

At the same time, Roxy was hooning along, occasionally dipping her pole in the water and then zooming off at 23 knots down a wave, the pilot happily in control. I was just riveted to my perch on the dome, taking it all in!

It's hard to do the scene justice with words, or even photos, but I couldn't stop smiling at how awesome this is and how amazingly lucky I am to be out here experiencing days like this. That's why I'm writing it down; not just to share with you, but to try and store all my memories of this race - the good ones and the tough ones - so they're not forgotten.

S x"

Brian Thompson reports from Bahrain Team Pindar (27 Dec)

Hi All,

Front has gone through now and as the satellite photo showed there are clear skies behind, though the wind is much lighter than forecast. Seas were very lumpy when I got lifted after the front, and I had to go on starboard gybe for 2 hours during darkness to stop the boat crashing into too many waves. Now back on port as the seas have calmed a little and sailing under masthead code 0 and full main at 9/10 knots. Wind has to come back soon as Akenas seems to be making over 12 knots behind me.

Going to use the mild conditions to do some jobs, repair some small holes in the fractional 0, rebuild a halyard swivel, fix the port primary winch, do some more work to the A3, and give the boat a good checkover after the Christmas Eve storm.

I've read about Seb Josse’s knockdown, that sounds horrendous. The force of the water to do that much damage to his coachroof meant that the boat would have been picked up, turned sideways and then plunged into the water, not just a rollover. I know how impeccably that boat was built so there was no weakness in the structure, just the overwhelming might of nature. I hope that he does not find any problems that cannot be fixed, and that he can be back in the race soon; he has done an awesome job so far.

Brian Thompson reports from Bahrain Team Pindar (26 Dec)

Hope you all had a good Christmas with family and friends.

Out here on the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, its been a tough Christmas Day and a better Boxing Day.

Christmas Eve I was in the 60 knot storm and had to take the mainsail down for half of the day, then a lazyjack broke during the night, which is the rope that holds up the boom and the mainsail. The bit of broken lazyjack rope up the mast had tangled itself helpfully around the three parts of the main halyard. Without the lazyjacks the part of the mainsail below the reefs would just fall down on the deck if I hoisted the mainsail, and there was much too much wind to go straight to the full mainsail.

On Christmas Day morning the wind had lightened and I needed to get the main back up. The waves were still quite large but the wind was a ‘mere’ 30 knots by this stage. I got my climbing gear ready and thought that only going up 10 or 12 metres would be relatively straightforward. Unfortunately it was not to be, and with the motion of the mast with just a headsail flying, and some problems with the climbing gear, I both failed to sort out the lazyjacks and I also got thrown around the mast quite thoroughly. I was wearing a wakeboarding wetsuit to protect my upper body and a helmet, both of which I was very thankful for. By the time I got down I felt like Muhammed Ali at the famous Rumble in the Jungle fight, getting pummelled by George Foreman for 15 rounds.

When I got down I walked weakly down the sidedecks and crashed out on the beanbags, had a drink from the water bottle and just lay there recovering for a good while. Then I got as much food and drink as I could, to get my energy levels back up. It did not feel like the typical Christmas morning to me!

For the next few hours I worked on improving the mast climbing equipment, putting in non-stretch ropes instead of the very elastic mountain climbing ropes and then gybing the boat and setting up the equipment on the mast for the return fight. The wind was dropping as I was just in a high pressure ridge and the waves had decreased a little too. I did a trial run just going up and down 3 metres, to test the new equipment, then I set off on up to the level of the lazies with the new piece tied to my harness. I got up there quickly, did the job, and got back down within 30 minutes. Still got thrown around but it was infinitely better than the first time.

Now I just had to splice up the lazyjack system which took a little thought and trial and error, but pretty soon I had done that enough to hoist the mainsail to the 4th reef and then refine it further. Again, fortune was benevolent as the wind suddenly dropped to 15 knots before a squall, so I seized the moment, turned the boat upwind and in a few passes, got the head of the main through the lazyjacks and up into the air.

Then it was time to finish the lazyjacks and, as I was doing that, I looked up and there was another boat - Aviva, a mile away! I had not seen another boat or ship since seeing Temenos off Brazil some weeks ago. I went down below and called Dee on the VhF and we had a short chat before I got back to finishing up and then hoisting the mainsail. It was good to be sailing again, and during the night the wind increased and the boatspeed was in the high teens. I opened a few presents during the night and had a freeze-dried Christmas dinner and some mince pies, a small slice of Christmas.

Today, Boxing Day was more of the same steady 30 knot conditions before a front, which I was grateful for, as I banked a lot of sleep to recover from the pounding on the mast. Tonight (the afternoon your time), the front passed over and now suddenly the skies have cleared and the stars have come out. Unfortunately the wind has also dropped 20 knots so its time for the big sails.

Derek Hatfield reports from Algimouss Spirit of Canada :

Seems that 35 knots of wind is becoming very normal as the low pressure continues to plague the fleet. I'm sitting in the cabin reading all the inspirational emails that have been sent over the past few weeks and I am truly moved by the messages that people send me about how they feel as they follow the race. Some are motivated to do things for themselves where otherwise they might not. Some feel that the race is a great metaphor for real life and that it brings out what is truly important in their lives, and that is to focus on ones goals and never stop trying to reach them. Whatever the message, I find them truly inspiring for me. As the storm is still raging, I have not had the opportunity to work on the mainsail so it is down on deck still. The boat slips along sometimes surfing up to 20 knots just under staysail. Makes me think that I am overpowering the autopilots with too much sail area during those times when the pilot crash jibes the boat and causes damage. The IMOCA 60 is a powerful sailboat and I'm learning that it doesn't need a lot of sail area to make it go fast, especially down here. From all the reports from the rest of the skippers, sounds like everyone is dealing with their own issues, it's reassuring to me that I'm not the only one that is having trouble in the tough weather. Let's hope everyone comes thru this series of storms without any more damage or injury. I closely watch the barometer on the nav station wall and just now it started going up from 985 and I know the center of the low has passed and the beginning of the end of the "blow" has started. I think there is another 18 hours or so before it has truly passed but it helps my morale to see that change in direction of the barometer. Come on 1010, that's the 24-28 knots of wind zone where good winds and flat seas make for some fantastic sailing. It will take me about 3 hours working on the mainsail to get it back into fighting trim once this storm has passed. Hopefully tomorrow I can do the work and get back on the road again.