Friday, March 18, 2011

CONTEST 28

Boat: CONTEST 28

Builder: Contest Yachts - Conyplex

Designer: Dick Zaal

More: CONTEST 28 Specifications

News:

Vendee Globe 2000 - Ellen finds her limit


Author: Philippe Jeantot

SWINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

The characteristic low pressure systems, which sweep around the Southern Hemisphere, have disciplined themselves into a more typical pattern. In the Indian Ocean, the low pressure centres stabilise themselves at around 52° South and advance fairly rapidly. The one situated at 77° East & 52° South is moving at 35 knots. As a boat averages about 15 knots, and the depression is travelling at about 20 knots faster, a skipper doesn№t stay a long time under its influence. An average duration is one day, which implies for the skipper a great deal of physical work.

Ahead of the depression in the light Northerly winds, the boat climbs on Port tack to try and keep the speed up. When the wind shifts and builds from the Northwest, one can begin to head more to the East, still on port tack, but under reduced sail. When the wind finally veers to the West, it is then at its strongest. So the key is to choose either the North or South side, depending on the strategy for the next day and the depression following.

As soon as the centre has passed over, the wind begins to turn SW and then South South West, easing off gradually. At that point, the skipper must gybe and set more sail, always keeping an eye out for the incoming depression in order to reposition the boat accordingly. This rhythm is one of constant adaptation of the sail configuration, a routine which allows little respite for the single-handed skipper.

The first ten boats have covered the first half of the Indian Ocean. The weather there is by no means horrendous, even if at times there are 50 knot gusts. The sea is never enormous and the wind is more stable at around 25/30 knots, allowing the boats to maintain some very good speeds.

Yves Parlier (Aquitaine Innovations) and also Dominique Wavre (Union Bancaire Privйe) may have consecutively set new 24 hour speed records, however these conditions are not a regularity and the average speeds have settled a little lower now. Parlier had a whole day in the bag at the Equator compared to his leading position four years ago, and yet at the passage of the Kerguelen Islands he now has around 100 miles advance, which is just about 7 hours. Admittedly the conditions of late have not been favourable in pushing up the average speeds, however, now that the weather systems are behaving more to the norm, we could see these increased.

Michel Desjoyeaux (PRB) is still leading, but he can see the figures of Roland Jourdain (Sill Matines La Potagиre) and Yves Parlier getting bigger on the horizon behind his boat. Jourdain is but 70 miles away, albeit 2 degrees further South. Parlier has been whipping his boat like a jockey in order to reduce his gap to 133 miles from the leader now.

This situation should stabilise, only then to invert itself. If Parlier has been consistently the fastest in the fleet for the last two days, the current low pressure carrying him along will overtake him and favourise then Michel Desjoyeaux. So then it will be the leader who will accelerate off and his pursuers who will slow down, waiting then for the incoming depression to start this concertina game again. It№s certainly an art for the skippers to manage this routine in terms of navigation and weather analysis, the constant anticipation using up every ounce of their worth.

The only two skippers to pass to the South of the Kerguelen Islands were Thierry Dubois (Solidaires) and Catherine Chabaud (Whirlpool). The former saw no reason to reposition his boat given the slight 3 ­4 degree difference between the group, while the latter decided on this safer, shorter Southerly route as a reaction to a predicted rising 40 knot wind that never blew in.

Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher) and Thomas Coville (Sodebo) are framing Marc Thiercelin (Active Wear) to the North and South respectively, just 20 miles in it between them, despite the first two suffering ripped sails in the last 24 hours. For Coville it was just the bottom edge of the small gennaker, his first sail damage. For Ellen, however, it was firstly the tack of the staysail, then an involuntary gybe, followed by broken battens and a jammed mainsail, which forced her to climb the mast and get the sail down manually in big seas. She has recovered without too much of a loss in the rankings, but the experience has certainly exhausted her.

Mike Golding (Team Group 4) has also suffered ­ the shackle holding up the genoa failed, the sail itself starting to slide down the foil. After quickly furling it he unsuccessfully attempted to pull the sail back up fully himself, as with the motion of the rig, he could only get a quarter of the way up. He has told us that he is heading into the lee of Marion Island to find flat water to make the repair and get going again.

On day 39 of the race, and on the brink of entering the second half of the race, the Vendйe Globe is still an endurance regatta with the tension staying at its maximum.

Radio Chat Extracts

Catherine Chabaud (Whirlpool) : "I had time to pass to the North of the Kerguelen Islands but the wind charts indicated 35 - 40 knots, indicating to me a hard blow. So I chose the short route, safer for the boat. But the wind forecast wasn't quite right, as the actual conditions were calmer than predicted. It's not necessarily an advantage to have done this race once before, when you live through painful moments, all the bad memories rise to the surface."

Simone Bianchetti (Aquarelle.com) : "It's been very foggy in the last two days and last night I could have cut it with a knife! I have no problem, sailing with two reefs and a staysail. Always the same atmosphere, the waves are very short. I hit something earlier this morning, in the rudders and the pilot was blocked. But it doesn't seem like anything has broken."

Thierry Dubois (Solidaires) : "I passed the Kerguelen islands yesterday. I was 30 miles away from it and as it was cloudy. Yesterday I have had a good day, 360 miles I think. When Ellen saw the iceberg, I was further North with Thomas. After that we changed courses. When you sail with just 3-4° apart, there's no point to reposition yourself behind so I have no reason to go up. I try to avoid sleeping at night, as I want to watch for the growlers and icebergs. The water temperature dropped to 3° and it was 4.5 - 5 before."

Mike Golding (Team Group 4): "I've been sailing with the genoa in a lot of wind speed and the problem is that the shackle that secures the genoa up has failed. So I furled it away quickly but the problem now is how to re-attach it. The sail is normally attached permanently at the head, and it is furled, rather than hoisted up and down on a halyard. To replace it I have to pull the sail fully up and go up myself. This means I have to find flat water, as I've already made an unsuccessful attempt by going 1/4 of the way up, and got thrown bodily off the mast. So I'm going to look for the lee of Marion Island."

Thomas Coville: "There is another dorsal catching up on us and up ahead they'll have plenty of wind! Yesterday, due to some silly thing with the pilot, I had to slow down and repair it. I№m a little apprehensive of this area, underneath Australia, perhaps due to the very big storm I experienced with Olivier (de Kersauson) in the Jules Verne Trophy. We came close to a disaster there. So I am being particularly attentive in crossing this part. I had my first sail rip yesterday. The bottom edge of the small gennaker."

Latest Ranking* polled at 0900hrs (UT):



More Information:

  • www.vendeeglobe.com
  • YachtsandYachting.com Vendee Globe Page

ELLEN - 'I FOUND MY LIMIT'

As I sit here now I feel worse than I have ever felt in my life before...physically I am totally exhausted, and mentally - not so far off.. My whole body aches, and I feel drained. My mind feels like it's been frozen, and is trying to wake..yesterday was the hardest challenge of my life.. though funnily this morning feels 10 times worse..

It started when the tack of the staysail blew off.. The sail had been set to windward, as the wind was well over 40 knots.. the day had been fantastic - surfing at over 30 knots, and really feeling we were catching the others, and then our stupid course to the North.. I am learning so much - sailing the boat is one of those things - and only yesterday did we seem to have got it right in strong downwind conditions..

As the sail flew in to the air I bore away quickly to hide it behind the mainsail.. I dropped the halyard immediately and went on to the foredeck to sort out the mess, not easy in 45 knots, but we were slower without the sail - I just had to hold my breathe as the waves ploughed over the bow. It was then that she started to go - to gybe, and before I could make it back to the cockpit her deck was vertical, and we were lying helplessly on our side.. In itself this is a fairly bad situation to be in - but what was to come was far worse.. As she lay on her side the mainsail lay crookedly on the runners - I fought to get the other runner on to release her from this agonising position - but it was difficult climbing up the deck.. We did it - then gybed over - but had to go back as the runners were caught around the top battens.. By this stage one of the battens had broken - in fact the car it travels on too - and although annoyed I know this does happen - and is not so bad to fix... or so I thought..

On further inspection, and about 20 minutes to sort out the mess I realised that I couldn't get the mainsail down to fix the problem. In fact the batten was pushing forward over the second spreader - and neither love, money nor the best will in the world was going to let me lower that sail with out going up there to remove the batten.. going up the rig is generally the solo sailors worst nightmare - but going up in 40 knots plus - just doesn't bare thinking about.

I knew I had to do it.. I knew that if the wind rose further I would be unable to get down the sail.. In my mind I had no option - I just went into autopilot - put on my harness, rigged up a taught halyard and climbed..

It was bitterly cold, the biting wind cutting into the bare skin on my hands and face, the first part to the first spreader was OK - not too much movement, and I still had energy - but the second part to the second spreader was 10 times harder with each inch I climbed...I was beginning to get tired - as each wave we surfed on (which were about 10 meters high) was trying to throw me off the mast.. As I got to the second spreader I had just two feet to go, but it felt those were the hardest two feet of my life

I struggled to inch my way up, and hung there a while banging away at the mast trying to recover..I found the energy from I don't know where - and made it onto the spreader. The batten was in front of me, and if I timed it on the surfs I could pull it out. Relieved it would come I dropped it to the deck.

I was now quite cold, and shaking with the effort, you'd think getting down is the easy bit - but in fact it took me further to the edge than I wished to go.

I had to take each jumar [climbing equipment] in turn and lower it - taking the weight of the working one to put it on the lazy one.. Each few inches I descended I had to take my weight with my hands - or legs - which proved exhausting still....

I arrived at one point with a slack jumar and an unattached one - with all my weight on my right wrist in one of the webbing loops on the sail. I hung there - banging into the mast - trying desperately, and unsuccessfully to get my foot through the gap between the sail and the mast.. I started to hurt badly - still no joy. Goodness knows how I managed to get that other jumar on - but I think that hospital kids had a fair lot to do with it, and the want to get back home again..

It took over an hour to get down - just 15 meters... a painful hour.. Once on the deck I was shaking but overjoyed - and set about fixing the issues... The batten I changed - another I tightened and sewed a part of a spreader patch on.

I barely had the energy to put the sail back up again, then collapsed in the cockpit.. A I dashed about the deck working my vision went funny - I was seeing stars permanently, as if I was about to black out.. Bizarre - I didn't but wonder if it's something to do with adrenaline or having been closed to the edge.. or then again maybe I was just frozen.

I was so glad to have made the repair, but till this morning really didn't realise how much it had taken out of me.

This morning was worse.. I saw a rip in the genoa... along the foot.. I tried to sleep last night - but was worried about it - so at first light tried to fix it.. It was impossible - even with the sail sheeted hard behind the main it flapped and flicked in my face, and ripped the stitching out that I was trying to put in. [the sail is permanently up, to take it down is very very difficult right now, so she is forced to try to repair with it in place]. Hence this morning is one of the worst.. I cannot sail at full potential.. the sail I need is out of action.. SO frustrating..And now - to top it all - after putting up the gennaker in 17 knots of wind - it's now blowing 28 and on the limit..

After trying to fix that sail I was at my lowest point in the race.. I cried out loud to the heavens...just sometimes you have those moments - and that was one of them... After almost killing myself yesterday to keep going and fix the problems whilst hanging in with the fleet, today I am losing miles, because of a stupid tear in a sail.. So frustrating, I can't sleep, or switch off.

Something else I guess I have to learn.. The good news is though the sun has come out.. Maybe I'll get a chance to dry out that sail...

Thanks so much for following me everyone.. The support emails are fantastic.. They really change my days, and give me more than just a reason to be out here.. Sharing this challenge is one of the most important things for me. Second to, though I have to say - making it back home to France! till tomorrow...

ellen

ps. I have an admission to make. I've broken in to the next 10 day box of food 3 days ahead of schedule...to raid the chocolate. I just needed some instant energy...stole the Maltesers, Snickers and dried pears. this must be looking up.

More Information:

  • www.kingfisherchallenges.com

GOLDING NEEDS TO MAKE TWO TRIPS TO TOP OF MAST

In a telephone call to his shore team today, Mike Golding reported that he needs to make at least two trips to the top of the mast to sort out a problem he has with the furler system. Golding believes that the retaining pin, which holds the genoa at the top of the furler system, may have moved.

Team Group 4's genoa is currently partly unfurled about a metre from the top of the mast and Golding needs to go up the mast, unfurl the sail, pull it up to the top of the mast and fix the pin back in position. Golding has already tried to fix the problem, but in the current weather conditions he was unable to get more than a half way up the mast

Golding has decided to head for Marion Island, one of the Price Edward Islands about 280 miles away which, at his current speed, he should reach in less than 24 hours. Approaching from the south, Golding will sail Team Group 4 to the eastern side of the island where there is flat water and where the calmer conditions will allow him to go safely up to the top of the mast, identify the exact problem and carry out the necessary repairs. Team Group 4 will not anchor and Golding will not require outside assistance.

This morning Golding was sailing at 15 knots with his Code 5. If Team Group 4 arrives at Marion Island in daylight, Golding predicts that the necessary repairs will take only 2 - 3 hours.

More Information:

  • www.teamgroup4.com

See also: CONTEST 27 for sale