53 knots

Skippers report back after yesterday's storm in the Vendee Globe

The skippers in this morning's radio vac with Vendee Globe race HQ in Paris, reported some of the heinous conditions they have experienced in the first two days of the solo nonstop around the world race.

After a start to the race that was far better than most had expectd, Dee Caffari was in buoyant mood this morning, currently holding 12th place overall and just 11 miles astern of Mike Golding.

"I am much happier now. The conditions have recovered. All is well on board now. The first 48 hours was really hard on the boat and on me physcialy and emotionally. It is really nice to be in more consitent conditions and a nicer sea stae. I feel I can start living again."

Dee reckons that yesterday the peak wind speed she saw was 48 knots. "I think I may have stopped looking at that point. It wasn’t the most pleasant, but we got through."

As to her excellent start she said: "It was awesome. We were in the right place at the right time and the boat just wanted to get going. We just headed off into the horrible weather." After yesterdays' brutal conditions she admitted that it had taken her some time to start piling on the sail again. She has damaged a batten in the staysail but otherwise the boat is in good shape. "I had a good look around this morning when it got light. I am happy with the boat."

Personally now that the severe conditions are behind her she can start looking after herself more. "I realise that I could push and push and I realised we were day three and I hadn’t eaten or slept. It was time to manage me. I feel I am back in tune with the boat now." At present she hs 15 knots from the northwest and was sailing with the Code 3 up.

"It's a lot better today," reported Jonny Malbon, skipper of 20th placed Artemis. "Yesterday was very very unpleasant. It was pretty horrible up until the front came through which was a sudden change - 47 knots and just a white out with rain and a horrendous sea state. The boat was slamming very very hard, eveyrthing was just moving all over the place. It was quite a scary time to be honest."

He nursed Artemis through the conditions with four reefs in the main and the storm jib up. "We were still trucking along, but I was really conscious that I didn’t want to damage the boat so early in the race because it was damaging conditions."

Malbon reported that he had lost time having to unravel a piece of rope which he had discovered attached around the keel of his boat.

"I am not particularly happy with where I am," he continued. "I have lost a lot of miles. The others have more confidence in their boats. I will get my act together and clean the boat up."

Malbon said that this morning he'd experienced a couple of squalls approaching the latitude of Cape Finisterre and these had headed him. "The wind is up and down, generally life is a lot more pleasant today." At present Artemis is under one reef and Solent. In putting on more sail this morning one of the reefing pennants had rammed and he had been forced to spend time rerunning it. He expected to be under full main later today .

Another issue was with the main traveller that had caused the boom to crash down violently as the front passed through last night. "The car couldn’t cope and the boom whipped across. I’ll have to keep an eye on that. Otherwise the boat is doing a fantastic job."

He reported that he hadn't really slept other than slumbering a little in the cockpit. He hoped to get some rest this afternoon.

Among the Corinthian entries Austrian competitor Norbert Sedlacek said that his boat was in good shape other than having to plug a few leaks. He saw 43-45 knots last night. "It was not so bad, but the waves were really very high and it was hard to keep everything under control." He was about to settle into his stable diet of Chinese food (he has around 30kg of it on board!). "Now the sun is shining and I am making 9-10 knots."

Great American III skipper Rich Wilson sounded tired and slightly disorientated, referring to his boat as a 'trimaran' rather than a monohull (he is more used to sailing on three hulls).

""The first two nights were very difficult," admitted the former Harvard maths professor. "These boats are designed to go downwind, not upwind, and you can see the toll it has taken on the fleet. On the frist night it was nerves and some things I ate didn’t agree with me so I didn’t get much sleep. Then there were lots of sail changes in the front where we saw 45 knots of wind and a lot of rain as we got on to the next tack."

However he is also suffering physically having suffered a fall across the cabin. "I ended up on my back - nothing broken, but I’m bruised." As a result he has eased off the throttle to try and conserve his boat and himself. "The wind shifted, but directly into the old wave pattern, so it was very rough on the boat so I slowed the boat own and lost against my group, but it was good for me and the boat.

"The boat is pretty good. When you fall off these waves you wonder how the mast and keel survives. You can hear it and feel it in the boat and you wonder how a structure such as an Open 60 can sustain this abuse."

This morning he reports 20 knots of wind and to be making 11.5 knot under staysail and one reef. "The conditions are getting better. We have a blue sky. Last night you could see Orion dead ahead. I know the fleet is out in front for sure, but that is the way it is. The Vendee Globe is nothing if not about reality. I am going to try an get back into my group."

From on board Algimouss Spirit of Canada, Derek Hatfield provided an update on his return to Les Sables d'Olonne. At the time he had 40 miles to go to reach the harbour entrance and hoped to make it before 1730-1800 when the tide would become too low.

Hatfield said that the principle reason for returning was to fix some autopiliot problems and the Pindar shore crew we kindly helping to assist source the necessary parts.

But in the big conditions last night there had been addition issues. "As the wind shifted to the north, 50 knots came through in a squall and knocked the boat on its side and the main sheet got tangled in the wind generator and took it right off the back of the boat and dumped it in the sea."

The repairs he says shouldn't take long and he hopes to rejoin the race sometime tomorrow night.

Elsewhere in the fleet, the damage to Hugo Boss is believed to be a crack on the port side of the hull level with the aft side of the keel box. Skipper Alex Thomson reported having seen 53 knots of wind last night.

Following his dismasting Marc Thiercelin has DCNS headed for La Coruna.