Spirit arrives

Pete Goss and his Spirit of Mystery have arrived in Melbourne. It's less than a year since I interviewed him before the boat went in to the water. It was a big undertaking and I wondered aloud about the risks, particularly since he was taking his 14-year-old son, Eliot, as part of the crew.

I wouldn't say that Goss thinks about risk the whole time but it's a big part of his thinking, except that he views it as problem solving, not as an impediment. If you're going to need to tackle heavy seas, then you build a seaworthy boat.

He knew there was a chance of a big wave turning the boat over at some stage during the voyage and included extra ballast to give it better righting ability. He believes now that the boat may have gone over 160 deg during the knock down on March 3. Coicidentally it was around this date - a couple of days later - that the original Mystery experienced its worst storm.

I think a lot of people would have thought long and hard about exposing their child to a risk of this nature. I know that Goss did. But every time he thought about it, the potential benefits outweighed the potential risks.

Eliot will have seen and experienced things that are rarely part of a teenager's upbringing. He will have learned about the useful things in life, about making judgements, respecting the elements, and the special relationships that are formed when sharing adversity. Living without risk is impossible and living a life avoiding risk is not living at all.

Ultimately, the boat was tested to the full and proved its seaworthiness. The original voyage was remarkable for its time. Goss has shown that such a voyage is remarkable in our time too. Well done to Pete, Eliot, Andy and Mark and all those who worked to make this voyage happen. There are easier, quicker ways to get to Australia but, as Goss and his crew understand, life's all about the journey isn't it?

Spirit of Mystery back on course for Melbourne

Difficulties in staging a helicopter evacuation of injured crewman Mark Maidment have forced Spirit of Mystery to divert in to Portland where Maidment is receiving treatment to his leg. The three remaining crew are now carrying on their voyage, says skipper, Pete Goss.

Evacuation after Goss knock -over

The Spirit of Mystery, knocked over by a freak wave late on Tuesday (GMT),is carrying on its voyage to Melbourne after the evacuation of crew member Mark Maidment who sustained a broken leg.

The crew had just got through two and a half days of stormy weather before the wave struck, knocking the boat on to its side and partially flooding the cabin. The wave washed away the life-raft and dinghy.

Said Goss: "We had just come out of a storm that had lasted for two and a half days and given us a right old pasting when we were hit by a freak wave. There was no warning, just a huge wall of water that smashed into the boat rolling her more than 90 degrees onto her side. There was carnage below with water everywhere, which got into the communications systems. The boat was fantastic though and I wouldn't have wanted to be in any other. She just shook herself off and came upright; but when she did, Mark's leg was broken."

Goss is continuing the voyage which has just a few hundred miles to go. The boat is due to arrive on the 9th or 10th of March.

Fighting to the finish in Volvo Qingdao leg

With just over 200 miles - less than a day's fast sailing - left ahead of them as the surviving boats from the gruelling fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race close on Qingdao, the leaders have set up an exciting finish.

Every boat in the fleet has suffered damage in battering winds that have forced three retirements from the leg. Ericsson 4 is sailing without instruments while PUMA is sailing without a boom. Both boats are within a mile or two of each other and have been gaining on the race leader Telefonica Blue, still more than 30 miles ahead of them.

In fact as I have been writing this short note, PUMA has moved up in to second place! If Telefonica loses its wind before the finish as skipper Bouwe Bekking fears, anything could happen. As it stands Telefonica looks as if it will secure the win but if PUMA can hold on to its second place Ken Read and his crew can feel proud of their come back from such a serious breakage.

For full details, click on the Volvo link to the right where there are also links to the Vendee Globe race and Pete Goss's Cornish lugger voyage to Australia. There's plenty happening at sea just now.

Monsoon Cup

For the past few weeks I have concentrated here almost entirely on the Vendee Globe, with odd mentions of Pete Goss. But there are other big sailing events going on just now.

I had hoped to catch up with the Volvo Ocean Race in Capetown but domestic engagements got in the way so my plan now is to visit the boats in Singapore in January where I hope to get the opportunity to sail in a practice session on Puma, in third place just now.

More immediately, this weekend in fact, we shall know the outcome of the world match racing championship at the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia. Again, I turned down an invitation to attend the event, partly because I have a feature in the Weekend FT magazine on Saturday. The feature that focuses on the current title holder, Ian Williams, was written some time ago.

This is the problem with magazine writing - it lacks the immediacy of the blog where I can click to the event that shows all of us the standings as they are. Anyway Williams will know this weekend whether or not he retains his title. I think it will be tough for him to pull it off but a consolation is that it's just as tough for his immediate rivals.

If you want to get a feel for world match racing you can watch televised Monsoon Cup coverage here.

Golding in the groove

Mike Golding appears to be sailing "in the groove" on Ecover III just now, breaking French dominance in the top 10 and shifting in to sixth place, his highest position since the start of the Vendee.

As the race goes in to its third week, it is still relatively tight with less than a hundred miles between the first and ninth boats.

The need for continuous checking and maintenance was underlined today when Jeremie Beyou was forced to head off towards Brazil for an unassisted pit stop in order to fix some damaged spreaders.

The top half of the order is divided in to two distinct packs now, with the top nine moving a hundred miles clear of Wavre, Guillemot, Thompson and Davies. If Golding can maintain his consistent 12+ knots progress he will soon be up among the leading boats within 50 miles of pace setter Loick Peyron.

If the race has demonstrated anything so far, it is the excellence of the single-handed French Figaro racing where the leading sailors have all cut their competitive teeth. The message for other nationalities has to be, either get in to Figaro racing, start a similar series elsewhere, or get used to the best French sailors setting the pace.

Of course fortunes will change as boats begin to suffer damage. Few, if any, of these competitors can expect to achieve a problem free rounding. The winner will be the one who can race consistently fast while keeping problems to a minimum.

Both Golding and Thompson among the British sailors have the quality to threaten although Thompson has been struggling with a sail repair. Sam Davies is sailing well too but her less powerful boat was always going to lack the speed of the leaders.

If Golding can keep his boat together - and that's a big if that applies to all the skippers - he could get in to contention for the latter half of the race. If Brian Thompson can keep his sails together and begin to exploit Bahrain Team Pindar's power advantage, he too could soon see himself in the top 10 but he must start to make an impression on the leaders soon. The reality is today he is 224 miles behind the leading boat after closing the gap to just over 180 miles last week.

Even more disappointing is the performance of Jonny Malbon on Artemis. This is a well funded boat, purpose built for the race, yet he has fallen 610 miles behind the leader in 20th place, trailing behind Steve White who had to scratch around for funding in a relatively old boat.

Much of the fleet must have passed Pete Goss in his Cornish Lugger on the Equator yesterday although Goss makes no mention in his blog.


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Vendee boats catching the Mystery

By my reckoning the first of the Vendee boats should be just about overtaking Pete Goss in his Spirit of Mystery today somewhere in the Doldrums.

It says something for the efficiency of the latest Vendee yachts that Loick Peyron, maintained speeds of up to 9 knots in calm seas yesterday, stretching his lead by something like 15 miles.

This meant that although Mike Golding had moved in to seventh place overnight - his highest position so far - he dropped miles on Peyron.

By 11am today, however, when the next set of position reports came in, conditions and fortunes were changing again.

Peyron's boat speed had dropped to 2 knots and Golding had closed the gap to 76 miles. It looks as if the race has reached that bunching up stage expected in the Doldrums. Sebastien Josse is just 14 miles off the lead with the third, fourth and fifth boats about 16 miles or so behind him.

A lot can happen in the next 24 to 48 hours. There is a real opportunity here for boats to catch up. The first to spring out of the Doldrums will have the chance to speed away from the pack, demoralising those behind.

Peyron is most likely to get away first as he has been shadowing his closest competitors. But there could be a chance for a boat that has made a bit of a gamble on its routing to make a big gain if it pays off - or fall further behind if it doesn't.

This is tactical long distance racing at its best. Imagine lone sailors, fighting with sleep deprivation in cloying heat and humidity, needing to concentrate and trim as if they were in a round-the-cans race. It's impossible to match such short-term, intense levels of concentration but those who can maintain high levels of trimming will see the pay-off in these light conditions.

As Goss points out in his slow moving lugger, this is the first time he has been heading for the Equator when he has not been racing. What luxury.

See links to Mystery Blog and Vendee positions in sidebar

Wavre back in the fight

It's great to see Dominique Wavre - forced to return soon after the race start - fighting his way back in to the following pack as the Vendee fleet heads in to the Doldrums. Sam Davies is doing well too, overtaking Brian Thompson who must be disappointed to find himself in 13th position behind a much older boat as Mike Golding shifts in to 7th place less than 90 miles adrift of the leader,Loick Peyron.

I would expect the leaders to be very close just now to the latitude reached by Pete Goss in Spirit of Mystery but I can't see his weblog as I post this note. I have posted the link anyway so you can see for yourself when the blog is fixed. Vendee links are in the right hand side-bar.

Thompson may be struggling now but his boat is powerful enough to pick up steam as the fleet heads south in to windier waters. His challenge now is to keep in touch in the light winds. The leading Frenchmen are going to take some catching but Golding isn't letting go. The race has been remarkably open so far, the lead changing hands often without anyone getting too far ahead. As the fleet leaves the Doldrums it may give someone the opportunity to make a break. We shall soon see

Goss recalls the Vendee

As the Vendee boats approach Madeira I'm struck by how close the race is at this juncture with the lead still changing hands. It's fun to look at the tracker (see right hand link) which shows how the boats are bunched.

The two lead boats must be in good sight of each other, spurring each other on. Further back, I suspect that Brian Thompson has Mike Golding in sight now too. This makes a difference competitively although it's important that those further down the field do not begin having their own private race without keeping an eye on the bigger picture.

I'm watching Michel Desjoyeaux too striving to get back in to contention. At the rate he's going he has a good chance. Dominique Wavre, meanwhile, is almost back with the top half of the field.

Separately I have been dipping in to Pete Goss's blog (link in right hand side bar)and his own tracker here. He's hoping that he might catch sight of the approaching Vendee fleet at some stage soon. The fleet includes Raphael Dinelli, who Goss famously rescued in the 1996-97 Vendée Globe.

Goss turned back and sailed upwind to save the French man who had capsized, out of reach of any other possible rescue. The rescue earned Goss the Légion d'Honneur and a lasting friendship with Dinelli.

About the Vendee, he says: "The Vendee is more than a race, and it is how the person reacts to whatever fate chooses to throw at them that counts. It's private, something that the podium can't get to grips with as it lacks the depth, but it is real and lasting to the individual who has endured and enjoyed the ups and downs."

Sailing in spirit

I've just been reading some of the blogs written by Pete Goss from his Spirit of Mystery Voyage.

The boat is a picture and the interior looks really comfortable but it seems they had some rough weather at the start. Pete makes some interesting remarks about the ease of working with wood. I agree with his general sentiments that the world has become too complex, too over-engineered. It must have been great to get started.

All at sea, nearly

So much is happening in sailing just now it's difficult to know where to start. The Volvo Ocean race has started and Ericsson 4 has taken an early lead from Puma. Follow their progress here.

Meanwhile Pete Goss is counting down to the start of his voyage to Australia in his Cornish lugger, The Spirit of Mystery. His web site tells the whole story. I featured him a while back here.

The Vendee Globe boats are making their final preparations. Boats are beginning to gather at Les Sables d'Olonne for the race start on November 9. More about the race here.

While all this is happening, members of Team Origin, the America's Cup challenger, are in New York with the yacht, Virgin Money, waiting for favourable weather systems to sail with Sir Richard Branson in a new attempt to break the transatlantic mono-hull record, which stands at 6 days, 17 hrs, 52 minutes and 39 seconds. It's going to be a busy few weeks.