11:26 AM Thu 20 Nov 2008 GMT
The Vendee Globe leaders have another 160 miles of slower sailing before emerging from the Doldrums. Lo?ck Peyron's (Gitana Eighty) lead has grown to the 39.2 miles ahead of S?bastien Josse (BT) Speeds overnight have remained slow but steady.
Armel Le Cl?ach (Brit Air) and Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac) swap third and fourth. Mike Golding, GBR, (Ecover 3) remains seventh, best international skipper.
After a slow spell before about midnight last night the leading Vend?e Globe pack can see light at the end of the tunnel, with another 150 miles or so of light, fickle winds before emerging into more solid breezes. It has been another hard night's work, but especially rewarding for Lo?ck Peyron who has gained some15 miles more on second placed Seb Josse (BT).
Racing side by side for much of yesterday Armel Le Cl?ach and Jean-Pierre Dick are judged to have exchanged third and fourth. Le Cl?ac'h (Brit Air) is computed to be third now, but is ten miles to the east of Dick as the pack slants on a south easterly course. Leader Peyron has taken more than 30 miles of east during the last schedule. The leaders have made steady progress, but now look to have a period of lighter, unstable winds to break through.
The comeback of Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) continues apace from his western position, and he is now back up to eighth position. He is about 70 miles due west of Mike Golding and made the best average speed and distance overnight, but is still 125 miles off the lead. Golding, GBR, (Ecover 3) had a spell of three gybes during yesterday evening and early in the night and has seen 'miles to leader' figure rise slightly, although his speeds have remained consistent.
The chasing pack has slowed a little too but Dominique Wavre, SUI, (Temenos II), Sam Davies, GBR, (ROXY) and Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) are having a good race together with less than 20 miles separating them, Thompson in hot pursuit of his former crew, Davies, who is some 15 miles ahead. Trying a more daring easterly option Jonny Malbon, GBR, (Artemis II), Unai Basurko, ESP, (Pakea Bizkaia), and Rich Wilson, USA, (Great American III) are around 200 miles closer to the African coast.
News from the Boats.
Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Groupe Maisonneuve):Hi there! Everything is fine. I've just clocked up 430 miles in 24 hours! After this long tack to the west, I'm really well positioned now to cover the North Atlantic in one tack! The wind eased during the night (20 knots), which enabled me to sleep a bit more than usual. In fact, I'm still in my sleeping bag. During the night, the boat pitched into a wave, surfing along at 24 knots. I went sliding in my sleeping bag, from my bunk right across to the mast compartment. Apart from that the boat has been marvellous and the automatic pilot is just incredible. I'd never tested this new generation in these conditions and I can say I'm really pleased about it. Will soon be under spinnaker...JB'
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia),in 18th place, 369 miles from the leader is now under twenty miles from Steve White and under twenty-five miles from Dee Caffari...
'The wind has returned. Over the past hour, Foncia has picked up speed again on her way towards the Doldrums and I hope to overtake Steve White shortly. There is a half moon and taking a siesta in the cockpit under the stars is really enjoyable. I had a good sleep. Got sunburnt yesterday and meanwhile my friends up at the front are still creeping along. I love it! Mich'
Rich Wilson is in 21st place this morning on his Great American III sailing on what appears to be an easterly option 507 miles from the leader. During the night he looked back on the main events of his day.
'This afternoon I finally lowered the reacher and hoisted the big genaker. I targeted a full-on effort to do the swap in 30 minutes. Made it to the minute. In gybing this morning several times, the last one had a sheet go over the side and get jammed in the windward port rudder, between the blade and the cassette that holds it. This was difficult to resolve. The rudders are supposed to kick up out of the water if they hit something hard enough, but the rudders on this boat don't come out of the water all the way. So after the sheet hit the rudder, it only came out part of the way. A rudder that is partially out of the water is a bad situation, because if it gets hit by a wave from the side, it could break. I knew I had to get the rudder out of the water as quickly as I could. I put a line on the rudder and hoisted it clear of the water. Then I hung out over the stern with the boat going about 10 knots, and I pulled on the line until I was able to work it free. Going downwind as we were, the boat can use the effect of both rudders, so we were lucky not to have a wipeout or gybe.'
'A bird came aboard late afternoon. It's never a good sign, either the bird is sick, or injured, or old, if they can't just fly along at sea, and need a lift. Hopefully, we'll get to within 20 miles of the first Cape Verde islands, and he'll go, to try to get to land. He's beautiful, white, preening, and when I go to the cockpit (he's standing on the stern now), he'll fly to the masthead and stand up there, hopefully taking care with our instruments.'
Dee Caffari (Aviva)is in still in 16th place this morning, currently sailing around halfway between Cape Verde and The Doldrums, 345 miles from the leader. Yesterday evening she expressed a few thoughts about her situation.
'I am so aware of how visible every loss or gain is for everyone watching the race and my biggest fear is letting people down. So I have grasped today and am concentrating on sailing Aviva ever closer to the Pot au Noir as that is my next obstacle. Following that we can celebrate the Equator with Neptune. I will make mistakes and I have seen some already but the greatest fact of all is being out here to make them. My sponsor and team have given me a fantastic opportunity andI can't wait to put everything I learn from this voyage into the next races.
Already my feeling for the boat grows and after a few thousand miles we will be pushing a greater pace I am sure. So we continue south, Aviva and I, with little hitches to the west hoping for a favourable crossing of the doldrums and looking at what those ahead are encountering at the same time. To celebrate my sailing south the iPod has finally been retrieved from the bottom of a kit bag and we have been cruising to Mika and Nickleback in style today.'
Standings at 0500GMT, Day 9.
1- Lo?ck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) 21068.9 miles to the finish
2- Seb Josse (BT) at + 39.2 miles to leader
3- Armel Le Cl?ac'h (Brit Air) at + 55.9 miles to leader
4- Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) at + 59.4 miles to leader
5- Yann Elies (Generali) at + 84.6 miles to leader
Selected international:
7- Mike Golding, GBR, (ECOVER 3) at + 105 miles
11- Dominique Wavre, SUI, (Temenos 2) at + 230 miles
12- Sam Davies, GBR,(ROXY) at + 242.1 miles
13- Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) at + 249.4 miles
16- Dee Caffari, GBR, (AVIVA) at + 345.1 miles
17- Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water) at + 350 miles
19- Johnny Malbon, GBR, (Artemis) at + 382.7 miles
20- Unai Basurko, ESP, (Pakea Bizkaia) at + 450.1 miles
21- Rich Wilson, USA, (Great America III) at + 507.8 miles
by Vendee Globe media
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