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7:59 PM Mon 10 Nov 2008 GMT
As the Vend?e Globe leaders head into a stormy evening and night, the Bay of Biscay is bearing its teeth, winds of 45-50 knots and big, confused seas are expected to give the skippers a serious test.
Michel Desjoyeaux, 2001 winner and one of the favourites for this race, has been forced to return to Les Sables d'Olonne to repair problems with his ballast system which flooded his engine with water, leaving him unable to charge his electrical system.
Of the record breaking fleet of 30, Desjoyeaux is the third skipper forced to return within the first 24 hours of the race. Dominic Wavre made a short pit stop hours into the race to repair a generator problem, while fellow Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm is back in Les Sables d'Olonne to replace his carbon bowsprit after hitting a ship last night.
The fourth skipper heading back is Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty on Maisoneuve.The skipper of Groupe Maisonneuve informed the race directors at 17h that he was heading back to Les Sables d'Olonne. He hopes to reach the harbour at around noon tomorrow (11th November). A deck panel was damaged in the bad weather. Jean Baptiste estimates that repairs will take two or three days.
Reminder: Vend?e Globe rules stipulate that if they suffer damage, the competitors may only return to Les Sables d'Olonne to carry out repairs before heading off again. They must cross the start line by 13h02 on 19th November.
Derek Hatfield on Algimouss Spirit of Canada is reported to now be the fifth skipper who is returning to Les Sables d'Olonne. He is the third citing some form of electrical problems as the reason to return to the start port.
Standings at 1500GMT
1 Marc Guillemot (FRA), Safran, 23491.4 miles to finish
2 Loick Peyron (FRA), Gitana +10.1 miles
3 Roland Jourdain (FRA), Veolia Environnement +12.1 miles
4 Kito de Pavant (FRA), Groupe Bel, +14.2 miles
5 S?bastien Josse (FRA), BT, + 15.9 miles
Selected international:
8 Dee Caffari (GBR), AVIVA, +18.1 miles
9 Mike Golding (GBR), ECOVER 3, + 19.5 miles
14 Alex Thomson (GBR), Hugo Boss, + 28.1 miles
18 Brian Thompson (GBR), Bahrain Team Pindar, +37.3 miles
22 Jonny Malbon (GBR), Artemis, +52 miles
24 Derek Hatfield (CAN), Algimouss Spirit of Canada + 55 miles
25 Steve White (GBR), Toe in the Water +57.9 miles
26 Rich Wilson (USA), Great American III +61.2 miles
27 Dominique Wavre (SUI), Temenos II, +71.2 miles
30 Bernard Stamm (SUI), Chemin?es Poujoulat, +188.8 miles
The first night and full day at sea for the Vend?e Globe skippers has been relentless. But it is about to get worse as they face a difficult encounter with a malicious cold front which is expected to bring them winds of up to 50 knots with big, confused seas. The worst is expected to pass through late Monday evening before moderating to a more manageable 25-30 knots.
While one of the pre-race favourites, Michel Desjoyeaux, was forced to make the difficult choice to return to Les Sables d'Olonne to make repairs to a water ballast leak, and more importantly to Foncia's engine which - he quipped - was forced to 'take a swimming lesson', severely limiting his ability to generate electrical power, the race leader Marc Guillemot admitted from his nav station on Safran in today's live radio reports that he had been too busy to notice that he was leading.
Guillemot elected to tack to the south overnight and his choice has helped him build a lead of just less more than 10 miles (on the 1500GMT positions) over second placed Loick Peyron on Gitana 80. Peyron has alternated with Roland 'Bilou' Jourdain, skipper of Veolia Environnement.
That strategy has paid for Britain's Mike Golding on Ecover 3. Veteran of two previous Vend?e Globes, Golding has been playing catch up since being recalled for being across the start line early. During yesterday he gained eight places to lie ninth.
Top international skipper so far has been Dee Caffari on Aviva. The Briton has remained in the Top 10 since the start. Her bright yellow sister-ship to Golding's, was 1.4 miles ahead on the afternoon rankings. Compatriot Brian Thompson has been handed a four hours penalty for not having his support team off his Bahrain Team Pindar before the four minutes pre-start cut-off.
Desjoyeaux was the third of four skippers so forced to return to the start port. His shore team were standing by late this afternoon, ready to make the quickest possible repair to the IMOCA Open 60 on which Desjoyeaux won the Transat Jacques Vabre last November. In the dock at the moment is Bernard Stamm, who is working against the clock to replace the carbon bowsprit of his Chemin?es Poujoulat.
Double solo round the world race winner Stamm, who had to retire from this race in 2000 and could not make the start in 2004 due to keel problems, was hit by a boat on Monday evening, after less than eighty miles of racing. Thanks to the AIS tracker on the onboard computer, Chemin?es Poujoulat's support team appear to have identified the boat with which Bernard Stamm collided. In fact, Stamm's team report that is is not to be a fishing boat, but an 80-metre long Maltese cargo vessel which is believed to be a freight carrier. According to reports the paint from the ship's hull side matches that left on the Open 60's hull side.
Bernard Stamm (Ch?min?es Poujoulat) talking about his repairs:'It's a race against the clock, but there are things you can't hurry. For example, we're going to have to rebuild the bowsprit in its entirety and you can't change the time it takes to dry composites, whether you are racing or not. This repair job needs to be done as seriously as everything else we have done on Chemin?es Poujoulat up until now. We're going around the world and it's going to have to last.
'The countdown has begun. while the others are all sailing upwind. It's not a big problem, but if I could get away today, rather than tomorrow, it would be better. However, looking at what needs to be done, I shan't be leaving Les Sables until tomorrow afternoon to try to sail the best race possible.'
Penalty for Brian Thompson.
As Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) still had some of his team on board during the final Vend?e Globe start countdown (four minutes before the gun was fired), the International Jury has given him a penalty of four hours.
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia):'I had a small leak in the ballast system and underestimated its importance and the damage. This morning I started up the engine and after 40 minutes of charging, I could smell something burning. The engine was taking a swimming lesson and didn't appreciate it. I have already done part of a round the world voyage with an engine which was extremely difficult to start, but if it wasn't going to work at all... I therefore took the decision to turn around. I hope to reach Les Sables d'Olonne by 2200h and that the sea, which is already high, will allow me to do that, so we can get to work on the repairs.'
Bernard Stamm (Ch?min?es Poujoulat):'It's a race against the clock, but there are things you can't hurry. For example, we're going to have to rebuild the bowsprit in its entirety and you can't change the time it takes to dry composites, whether you are racing or not. This repair job needs to be done as seriously as everything else we have done on Chemin?es Poujoulat up until now. We're going around the world and it's going to have to last. The countdown has begun. while the others are all sailing upwind. It's not a big problem, but if I could get away today, rather than tomorrow, it would be better. However, looking at what needs to be done, I shan't be leaving Les Sables until tomorrow afternoon to try to sail the best race possible.'
Mike Golding (ECOVER 3):'It's been pretty wet and wild. I've been pretty busy - one of the mast cars failed. And trying to decide whether to tack on each and every shift - it's very shifty. I've done one hitch and it seems to have worked out okay - now we're all just trucking west and it seems to be building again now. I think by about 3 o'clock this afternoon we'll have some pretty wild conditions.'
by V?ronique Teurlay
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