Looking after Chuck

As the leading Vendee Globe skippers bear down on Cape Horn in preparation for the long haul northwards, Jean-Pierre Dick on Paprec-Virbac II is heading northwards in to calmer waters after damage to his second rudder ended his race.

Just half of the starting boats are left in the race and many of those have problems that are hampering their progress. I understand the mainsails on Jonny Malbon and Dee Caffari's yachts are deteriorating rapidly while Steve White has been struggling to repair his gooseneck - the bit that attaches the boom to the mast.

In spite of electrical problems, Brian Thompson on Bahrain Team Pindar has improved his speed over the past two or three days but Sam Davies has found herself in a pocket of slack winds. Davies has been one of the stars of this race, always upbeat and cheerful, always looking at the glass-half full. I'm sure that this attitude, added to her strong engineering skills, is helping her maintain consistency in a race where the "hares" keep falling by the wayside.

A few weeks ago there were a dozen yachts in front of her. Now there are five, all top class French racers. I don't expect Sam to have the raw speed to overtake them, but if she can keep her boat together, and one or two of the others in front have problems, a podium finish is not beyond her.

In her latest log she writes: "I used to be a "bow chick" (numero 1) on fully crewed boats, so I'm used to the tough jobs up forward whilst speeding along. But the difference now is that there is no back-up behind me, and I am no longer trusting a skilled helmsman not to "wipeout", "chinese gybe" or "stuff it" on each wave. I just have Chuck (the nickname she gives to her autopilot).

She also includes some new year's resolutions:

* Sail around the world.
* Take a photo of Cape Horn.
* Stop eating the Nutella out of the pot with my fingers.
* Do not fall asleep with the motor on charging the batteries.
* Sponge the bilges every day.
* Brush hair more than once a week.
* Eat more BUT eat less chocolate.
* Cancel the above resolution as it is impossible.
* Catch up some miles on the leaders.
* Be nice to Chuck, the autopilot.
* Take no risks.

The first one and last one are probably the most important reminders for anyone seeking to complete a round-the-world race. It's not bad advice for the potential winners, either.


During this mid section of the race I have been impressed with the way that Roland Jourdain has hung on to Michel Desjoyeaux. Every time that Desjoyeaux has looked like breaking away Jourdain has raised his game so that he remains just a few hours behind.

Vendee rescue underway

I was meeting up with old sailing friends yesterday at our 3Com starboard watch annual reunion, so missed the news that Yann Elies had broken his femur.

Marc Guillemot, who diverted course, has taken up station not far from Elies's yacht. Elies, meanwhile has managed to get some drink, a little food and some pain killers inside him and has been able to fashion makeshift bed and get some sleep. This is important because he must wait now for the arrival of the Australian frigate, HMAS Arunta, the rescue ship, which is due to reach them on Saturday afternoon.

Sam Davies on Roxy is also heading towards the scene. The yachts are there for moral support as much as anything. They will not try to rescue Elies. It's too dangerous for yachts to run alongside each other in pitching seas as their masts would most likely lock together.

The injury brings back memories of sailing in the southern ocean on 3Com when we had to rendezvous with another yacht, to pass over morphine for a badly injured crewman on Time and Tide. We passed the medication over on a line. In that case, both the yachts were fully crewed. In single-handed sailing there are fewer options.

But the good news for Elies is that a rescue is on its way and he is tucked up and reasonably warm. No-one should be in any doubt, however, of the seriousness of a bad injury in such an isolated place. Sam Davies herself blacked out briefly yesterday when she injured her arm. Fortunately she suffered no more than bad bruising.

Had Elies been left exposed or unconscious on the deck of his yacht he would have been in much bigger trouble. As it is, the rescue, so far, is going smoothly. It just takes time because of the distances involved.

Meanwhile Michel Desjoyeaux has been extending his lead with Roland Jourdain not far behind him, but these two have moved more than 100 miles ahead of third-placed Sebastien Josse. Jean-Pierre Dick has completed a rudder repair to Paprec-Virbac II and is heading south east to rejoin the fleet, having lost more than 600 miles since the breakage.

Guillemot says he will stay with Elies "as long as it takes." He says:
"The race was yesterday. Now we've moved on to something else. I had a similar experience a few years ago. I'm just trying to talk to him, to reassure him. The subject doesn't matter. He knows he can rely on me. It's more of a psychological help than a physical one, but that's important, because in general it's the head that looks after the rest of the body. That will help him, while he awaits the arrival of the rescue team."

Heavy weather takes its toll

Bernard Stamm's boat ran aground in heavy weather last night so his Vendee race is run. I expect he'll be keeping Dominique Wavre company for quite a while until technical help arrives. Someone saw the funny side.

The top five followers are just about holding on to Jean-Pierre Dick but they're having to sail fast to do so. Expect another breakage soon among the front runners. It's not a question of "if", but "when" and "who"?

Down the ranks, Sam Davies is still charging on Roxy, 90 miles ahead of Brian Thompson. Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty, on the other hand, has slowed right down. He was among those caught in the heaviest winds over the past two days, suffering a series of technical problems: autopilots, torn genoa and damaged mainsail halyard on Maisonneuve.

Over the past 48 hours, all of those at the rear of the fleet have suffered two big depressions with winds of 45 knots, gusting to 60 knots. That's a lot of wind.

It was noticeable that although Loick Peyron is under jury rig and out of the race (although he has not yet been posted as officially retired) he was making better progress in the last session than Steve White in Toe in the Water and has maintained consistently faster speeds than Pete Goss, slowly heading for Capetown in his Cornish Lugger.

Roxy rocking along

Sam Davies must be cock-a-hoop that she has moved in to 11th position in the Vendee Globe, overtaking both Bernard Stamm, now in the Kerguelen Islands, and Brian Thompson.

Davies has a proven ocean racer in Roxy - a former Vendee-winning yacht - but its design has been overtaken by the newer, faster designs, including Bahrain Team Pinder. The Pindar yacht is powerful but it seems that Thompson has been finding some limitations in performance although it isn't clear from his reports what these may be.

Stamm has steering problems that have forced him to join Dominique Wavre in the Kerguelens. Thompson, meanwhile, seems to have lost out, opting for a route to the north of the Islands, the only boat to have done so, so far, although others following.

At the front of the fleet Jean-Pierre Dick has made the biggest break in the race so far, pulling more than 70 miles ahead of his nearest competitor, Mike Golding. Golding and the others must stay with Dick if they are to maintain their place in the same weather system. The boats are steadily becoming less packed than they were, as would be expected. It's extraordinary that they remained so tightly packed for so long.

Golding moves in to second place

While Mike Golding has moved in to second place in the Vendee Globe, his highest position so far in the race, he and the rest of the following pack have actually lost ground on the leader Jean-Pierre Dick who managed to pull 50 miles ahead in the past day.

Fifty miles remains a narrow margin and Golding's more southerly course may help him to pick up distance on the northerly boats that have had the best of the wind in the past day or two.

The tactics among the leaders appear to be those of staying with each other and covering any possible breaks. Michel Desjoyeaux, having charged to join the front runners, seems to be pacing himself for now, regaining his strength ahead of another push later on.

Golding has spoken of sticking close to the leaders ahead of a charge up the on the final stretch, a feat he performed outstandingly in the last Vendee, but I am sure he too he will be looking for a possible break.

Meanwhile Bernard Stamm draws ever nearer Brian Thompson. While Golding showed in the last race that distances of 700 miles on the leaders can be made up from this stage, I think that those behind Dominique Wavre in 11th place may be looking at best now for a position in the top 10.

If Samantha Davies can do that in Roxy, she will have excelled herself as the boat is slower than many of her rivals. In the same way, Steve White, is still punching away after losing a sail on his under funded boat. Jonny Malbon, trailing White on the well-funded Artemis, seems to be having a pretty miserable time, having twisted his ankle to add to his woes. He is one of a number of skippers to have passed icebergs. I wouldn't have expected them so far north.

Imagine trying to grab an hour's sleep when your boat is speeding along at 20 knots at night with the possibility of an iceberg out in front. Yes, the boats have radar but some of these bergs are quite low in the water and you can't watch the radar constantly.

By the way, I cannot understand why the mainstream press is ignoring this race. Perhaps it's because the Vendee's own web site covers it so well. But I'm sure if more was done to bring it to the attention of the public there would be a lot more interest. Unfortunately, as in the past, the press only gets interested when there is life-threatening drama and no-one wants to see that happen.

The Vendee has already suffered two deaths in its history and no-one should be under any misapprehension that better boats and better communications have made the race safe. The boats are much faster than they were in the past and speed brings added risk. It's one tough race. You have to really want to be there.

No respite in the Vendee

Mike Golding has progressed well in the Vendee Globe so far, focusing only on the leader during any section of the race. But now, perhaps, he will need to focus on someone else. Indeed the whole fleet, including race leader Jean-Pierre Dick should be watching one man, Michel Desjoyeaux.

Desjoyeaux on Foncia has jumped two places in the last eight hours putting him neck and neck with second placed Roland Jourdain, just 35 miles behind the lead. If anyone can break away from the pack it is Desjoyeaux. The way he has driven his boat from a position 40 hours behind the fleet after a problem forced his return at the start of the race, has been the hallmark of a true racer.

Golding and the rest of the French skippers at the front of the pack have the class to stay with him but will they be able to match his single-minded drive and willingness to force the pace. Some will be worrying about yesterday's dismasting of Loick Peyron. How much should they push their boats with nearly 16,000 miles still ahead of them?

There may be no choice. Two skippers further back deserve a mention for the way they are trying to haul their boats back in to contention - Bernard Stamm, who is catching Brian Thompson, and Dominique Wavre. Both could yet figure in the final mix.

Peyron's misfortune is a sharp reminder to the front runners that, however well engineered their boats, this kind of racing will expose any weaknesses. These are sailing boats maintaining power-boat speeds in the world's most inhospitable ocean. The weather readings are forecasting 40 knots winds in the next day or two. There really is no respite.

French yachts in a "Tour du Monde"

The Vendee Globe just gets better and better. Jean-Pierre Dick's boldness after the last ice gate in taking the most southerly route has paid off, allowing him to snatch the lead in Paprec-Virbac 2.

But the fastest skippers in the last the session, all averaging over 18 kts, were Mike Golding, Loick Peyron and Michel Desjoyeaux. Desjoyeaux has moved serenely in to seventh place, almost neck and neck with Jean Le Cam, both sailing in the wake of Mike Golding.

Desjoyeaux seems unstoppable just now and Golding too seems to be flying. But it is impossible to tell what these speeds are demanding in concentration. The harder these skippers push, the more likely it is that someone makes a mistake.

But this race is so competitive that none of the leading pack can afford to let up. This new generation of Open 60 yachts is proving remarkably resilient.

I can't help but notice, however, that Brian Thompson has lost more miles on the front runners, now 527 miles behind and very much in the following pack. Mike Golding proved in the last Vendee that kind of deficit can be made up. Indeed Michel Desjoyeaux has done just that after finding himself 671 miles behind the leaders when still in the North Atlantic.

If Thompson is to stand a realistic chance of getting back in to contention he will need to begin pushing the boat harder. Any reticence to do so is understandable since the boat has not long been equipped with a new mast. But at this stage in the race, with so many boats flying along ahead, there is unlikely to be a second chance.

The lead has changed hands so often that the French sailors almost seem to be racing like cyclists in the Tour de France, taking it in turns as pace setters in what amounts to a "Tour du Monde". Certainly it must relieve the pressure to hand over the lead for a while. I wonder if this is part of the tactics? I know the French sailors speak to each other regularly so they are well appraised of their respective positions.