The head of the fleet is bowling along and the hierarchy is squeezing together to the extent that Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) is being put under increasing pressure with a lead of just 2.5 miles over Marc Guillemot (Safran), who is right on his tail (and may even be within sight), and 3 miles over Yann Eliès (Generali) who is positioned a little further over to the East. And this haemorrhage of miles, which the leader has been suffering since exiting the Doldrums two days ago, also concerns the other prototypes of the same vintage since Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) is just 20 miles away, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) only 58 miles back now...

Is the leader experiencing technical difficulties? If so it is a small issue since the speed differential is not very big (less than a knot) and the solo sailors are continuing to lengthen their stride to reach averages of 13 to 15 knots boatspeed. The boats are skimming 300 mile days, which is pretty good considering they were sailing fairly close to the wind, in 20 to 30 knots of breeze yesterday, the wind today gradually dropping off as they make northing.

Half-time!

As the weather forecasts are still fairly stable, the Azores High has been rather static over the past couple of days, gradually collapsing in on itself and generating a slight easing of the E'ly tradewinds. Virtually sailing due North, the fleet should be able to make some lateral gains today, a more E’ly position taking them closer to the direct course in order to pass between Madeira and the Azores. Homing in on the African coast is important in the medium term for anticipating the S'ly wind rotation when level with Gibraltar, early signs of an Atlantic disturbance to complete the course. A 4,200 mile course, of which the solo sailors have already devoured a good half, and given the grib files and the pace the sailors have been setting of late, a finish can be envisaged as early as 13th December!

As for the chasing pack, Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR) took over the reins on Friday morning to the detriment of Samantha Davies (Roxy) and above all Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve), who has lost 70 miles in the past 24 hours! For Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas), the loss of his staysail yesterday morning (in addition to his gennaker over four days ago) has severely hampered his pace and the three Anglo-Saxons, Dee Caffari (Aviva), Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada) and Rich Wilson (Great American III) bringing up the rear are now a day and half behind the leader.

Night Messages:

Mike Golding (Ecover): "It is very bumpy conditions, very wet on deck and quite wet down below. There is quite a big sea running. It is very uncomfortable and hard to move around. We have a problem with the ballast system. There is so much water on the boat that the forward ballast is filling and so every two hours or so I am ending up with a full tank of ballast on the leeward side forward. The only way to clear it is to bear off downwind and drop the scoop, so that is not very quick. Otherwise at the moment it is pretty bumpy, pretty jerky and very difficult to get some sleep." "I think we have another two days of this, which would be fine, certainly the boat is going fast enough and is quick enough in these conditions, i! t is just not quick having to slow and empty the ballast which is not doing us any good."

Dee Caffari (Aviva): “After a miserable 24 hours crashing to windward in 18 – 24 knots of breeze I decided that I was a broken person and called the shore team to tell them how miserable life was. During the afternoon after looking at the position reports I learnt a top tip that I could not learn from a website that tells you how to sail an open 60. I cracked the sheets by ten degrees and I entered a whole nicer environment. Not brilliant but much better. So what these rock stars that sail these boats do not tell you is that they do not sail upwind unless they have to. Sail somewhere else until the wind changes. Life is faster and more comfortable. It is top tips like this that I am learning by spending time out here with my boat.”

 

Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada): “Hello from Spirit of Canada. Today was a long day exiting from the doldrums and into wind, plenty of wind. Most of the day the boat was upwind at 26kts True. Welcome to the northern trades and then some. The air is much cooler tonight, an indication of what’s to come by next week. After all, we are only weeks away from Christmas. What a strange feeling this is. Position: 12 08 19N, 030 52 023W, Speed 11.3 knts, Direction 009 degrees. Take Care.”

Yann Eliès (Generali): “The tradewinds are sporty with 25 to 30 knots of wind! We are sailing upwind at 80° from the axis of the wind. The boat is suffering, slamming into the waves... and me with it! The noise of the carbon and the way the boat jerks around are a bit stressful, but we're going fast which is good for the spirits! I really enjoy driving Generali in these conditions. I’m battling with the head of the fleet which is very motivating. I really look forward to the positions every 4 hours! On a strategic level, we have two possibilities: either make a direct course towards Cape Finisterre leaving the Azores to port, or round to the West of the islands in order to track down the train of depressions. According to the weather information I have, I'm going for the first option. For two days I’ve been closed in down below as it's so stirred up and wet outside! Yesterday morning, I put on my foulies and boots to do a check of the boat as Bruno Peyron taught us to do in the Trophy Jules Verne! I’ve had fairly little time to train between the boat’s launch and the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre (and the Calais Round Britain Race KJ) and have been concentrating on double-handed training sessions with Sébastien Audigane. Leaving Bahia in the Transat Ecover BtoB I spent my first night onboard Generali in solo configuration! I quickly found my rhythm which is both a great satisfaction and reassuring for the Vendée Globe. Linking two Atlantic crossing is trying but an excellent test for both the gear and the men!"

Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat): "Nothing much is happening other than the oscillations of the wind. It’s still grey with little patches of blue sky from time to time. It's still as wet as ever so you get the whole caboodle when you just go and ease a sheet. We’re still heeled over. All's well aboard and I'm frequently checking the boat over to try and locate any possible technical problems."

Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel): “Good evening. Conditions aren’t ideal for writing on a computer keyboard, especially on this particular one as it's waterproof. It's a good idea except that you have to press down hard on the keys like a deaf person in order to get a letter out (I don’t see why a deaf person would type harder than anyone else, that's tonight's philosophical question?!!!!). Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. The Ecover B to B race.... I was saying that it’s bouncing around a bit. Picture a ping pong ball in a washing machine, and there you have Kito inside his Groupe Bel!!!! We’ve already covered over 2000 miles since Bahia over the past week, all that despite a rather laborious passage through the Doldrums and nothing to show for it. For the past 2 days I've been heeled over in wet conditions, the boat playing at being a submarine in the waves. Next time I’ll bring earplugs and a book on ‘plumbing in 10 lessons’.... We've got a big problem with the neighbour above, (yes oddly he lives outside on the terrace...), he must have left his shower running and it is dripping constantly into my bunk. I’ve been forced to move my bouncing office, which is where I’m writing to you from this evening. It’s a bit early to talk of ETA, but it would seem likely that a SW'ly air flow will push us towards Brittany. It all depends on how and at what speed we cross the Azores High. We could get there as early as 14th December in a wet, but not to cold atmosphere..."

Translation Kate Jennings

Translation Kate Jennings