Fastnet or bust on Hugo Boss

Today I've been getting ready for my first Fastnet Race, sailing with Alex Thomson and a few other big name sailors (such as Andrew Cape with 10 Fastnets to his name) on Hugo Boss which has to be the coolest looking of all the Open 60s.

If today's stints on the pedestal grinder are anything to go by this is going to be an extreme exercise and fitness regime, well for me anyway. I suppose I needed to get trim for the holidays but there must be easier ways.

They've shown me around the interior and it's very des res with a rather fetching orange bucket for our ablutions. The form is that you take a biodegradable bag from one of the pockets, squat in the leeward cuddy, then throw the contents over the side. So now you know. The format for urination is to go over the back in light winds but to pee in the aptly named cockpit if its getting a bit rough.

Thomson is never afraid to experiment (with technology) and this year the on board novelty is live streaming film reports from the boat to his website here.

Graham Bell, former British Olympic skier turned TV presenter is broadcasting from the boat. The race starts on Sunday 9th August, when the onboard cameras will go live 10 minutes before the start at 11.50 am.

Live feeds will then follow every three hours after the start enabling Hugo Boss to share all the action live from the race course with people online (except, I hope, any cuddy action).

“We have always been able to send back video and do live interviews, but we thought it would be great to go to the next level and test the boundaries of what is possible. I hope it will give people a real insight into life on board and share the race with us,” says Thomson, Hugo Boss skipper.

The live feeds lasting at least 3 minutes will be able to be watched every 3 hours, starting at 1500 on Sunday 9th, then at 1800, 2100, 0000, 0300, 0600, 0900 and back to 1200 until the race finishes.

The cameras will also be turned on as we round the Fastnet Rock off the Southern tip of Ireland.

This year is the 30th anniversary of the Fastnet disaster of 1979 when 15 racers died and a number of others in following boats.

The 300-strong fleet will feature a range of yachts from the smallest at just 30 foot to the largest at 100 foot. Hugo Boss will be lining up in the IMOCA Open 60 class against some of the best offshore sailors in the world, including Sébastien Josse, Sam Davies and Mike Sanderson.

The full IMOCA Open 60 entry list (yachts and skippers) for the Rolex Fastnet 2009 is:

Akena Vérandas - Arnaud Boissières

Team Pindar - Mike Sanderson

Artemis Ocean Racing II - Samantha Davies

Artemis Ocean Racing The Profit Hunter - Simon Clay

Aviva - Dee Caffari

BT - Sébastien Josse

Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson

Ocean of Smiles - Christophe Bullens

Pakea Bizkaia - Unai Basurko

Safran - Marc Guillemot

Toe in the Water - Steve White

Vendee fight to the finish

While first and second places are settled in the Vendee Globe after Armel Le Cleac'h finished at the weekend, yet another dramatic change of fortune means that Sam Davies, the highest British entrant has a chance of snatching third place.

Her nearest rival Marc Guillemot on Safran has lost his keel, a similar failure to that suffered a week earlier by Roland Jourdain. With less than 1,000 miles to the finish, Guillemot is sailing on under three reefs. Although he is now in fourth place on the water he has a cushion of more than two days in redress after standing by while the injured Yann Elies was rescued in December.

That may be just enough to stay ahead of Davies on Roxy, but he cannot afford to take too many risks while Davies may be emboldened by the chance to effectively leapfrog two places as third place is to be shared jointly with Vincent Riou, already granted his position through redress. She and her shore crew will have been doing their sums. At present she is expected to finish later this week. Now she has everything to sail for.

Fifth place would be a marvellous result for Davies in a boat that is much older than the newer designs of those sailed by Brian Thompson and Dee Caffari in her wake. Third place would be remarkable. Meanwhile Caffari knows she has a fighting chance of overtaking Thompson's Bahrain Team Pindar which is unable to sail under full power due to problems with the hydraulic rams that operate its canting keel.

There is every chance now the only two women to have entered the race will be the highest placed British competitors - another shot in the arm for women's sailing in the UK.

Can there be any more surprises left?

Michel Desjoyeaux has pulled out a 500 miles lead on Roland Jourdain in the Vendee Globe. Even with the compression that will probably occur in the doldrums, that looks like too much to overhaul now as long as Desjoyeaux's boat holds together.

The winds became so heavy just north of Cape Horn last week that Brian Thompson made the prudent decision to head for shelter, making no headway for some time in order to stay south of the worst of the weather.

He and those around him - Dee Caffari and Arnaud Boissières - know they can't catch the leaders. Sam Davies in Roxy is also probably out of reach of Thompson now as she is nearly a thousand miles ahead. While the positions may change among the three behind Roxy its is difficult to see the running order change much nearer the front unless Davies can overcome the redress given to Marc Guillemot on Safran.

Steve White has stuck to his task on Toe in The Water and looks set to be rewarded with a top 10 finish. Getting round the world will be accomplishment enough for the relatively inexperienced and underfunded Englishman.

With less than 3,500 miles to go Desjoyeaux must be beginning to scent victory but those behind can't afford to slacken off. Everyone in the fleet will remember what happened to Mike Golding when in the lead. Equipment failure can happen at any time.

Thirty boats set out on this adventure. Twelve remain.