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7:48 PM Tue 23 Dec 2008 GMT
All things being equal, wind in the right direction, fuel reserves lasting out and even finally a bit of good luck Mike Golding should make landfall in Fremantle, Western Australia on Christmas Day.
Docking in Fremantle will bring to an end a long, and deeply frustrating week, coaxing ECOVER 3, nearly 1000 miles north, but it will take much, much longer - if ever - before the British solo skipper comes to terms with what happened, losing his rig only hours after taking the lead in the Vend?e Globe.
HMAS Arunta, the Royal Australian Navy's Anzac class Frigate dropped a pre-christmas selection box off to Golding when it was making the return passage with injured French skipper Yann Eli?s onboard. Ten cans of fuel was the most welcome offering, as well as some fresh meat and bread, a tin of ham, and a few beers to help him on his way.
'It was very welcome gesture. They delivered it with exceptional precision and professionalism. The whole thing was over in less than an hour. They circled round me about 200 metres or so off, launched their RIB and it was all done and dusted very quickly, they hardly slowed and I kept going.' Said Golding today, 'I sent an e-mail to the Arunta's commanding officer expressing my gratitude as well as offering to make sure we pay for the fuel, but he told me it was their Christmas gift to fellow mariners.'
'The Australians should have great pride that they have a Navy which achieved such a mission in such circumstances. I am sure that the personnel on board take pride in the job they have done, and I think they have absolutely every right to.' Commented Golding who sent back a couple of mini bottles of Mumm Champagne which he had been saving.
The last week has been busy and there has been little time to rest. Most recently in the last 24 hours he has been dealing with a fuel leak which filled the engine bilge with diesel and which required him to strip the fuel lines to discover what the problem is. 'I spent most of the last day stripping it all back and now an hour just clearing up the mess. I should have just enough fuel to get in, I have enough for about 160 miles and have just over 200 miles.'
But Golding reveals that all through the period he was building up to lead the race, he was very worried about the prospects of ECOVER 3's keel failing:
'Losing the mast has left me feeling emotionally empty and gutted, this was my third Vend?e Globe and with a 7th (2000) and a 3rd (2004) places under my belt I was bullish about my potential for going all the way to the top slot in this 2008 race. ECOVER 3 was performing as planned, I was sailing well within my capacity and had all my sails intact - vital in such a long race. I felt in control of my position within the fleet and was able to up the pace when needed. In fact I had very few non manageable problems onboard, my biggest being that I was going to run out of sugar shortly!'
'It is true however, that Dominique's (Temenos II) keel head failure was playing very heavily on my mind though. In the true spirit of this sport, Dominique telephoned me to tell me of his problem virtually immediately after he discovered it. We have keels of the same design, built at different places, but fundamentally identical.'
He was left on the horns of a dilemma, whether to race on or pull out, as Roland Jourdain did from the last race at around the same time: 'This had left me in a crazily diabolical dilemma. The keel head breaking could easily cost you your life, it will happen completely unpredictably and at speed the boat will instantly crash into a broach. If you are on deck you could be flung over the side to certain death, if you are below you may well be injured. If you survive the break then you are left with a mortally damaged boat, which in storm conditions may break up and sink.'
'Four weeks ago I discovered cracking around my keel head and in consultation with engineers we had concluded that this was superficial fairing rather than structure. But when Dominique phoned me there was little doubt left that we may well have a potentially serious problem.'
'In this knowledge, for the past week of racing I had somehow managed to continue to work the boat , convincing myself that 'my keel' would somehow be OK. Whilst the engineers studied the problem and gave me some rather unconvincing assurances, I ran the boat with the keel at 80/90% cant, reducing the risk but making staying with the lead pack ever more difficult.
With the shore team we decided that we would monitor the keel head cracks and make a final decision, 'in or out of the race' at the Western Australian ice gate. We either turned right and continued back down into the southeast and the next gate or we keep going northeast retiring from the race, like Dominque and head for Perth.'
'Each and every skipper in the Vend?e has a huge investment with their participation in this event, including myself. This is not simply a 90-day race but encompasses years of hard work and preparation. It is not an event so much as a way of life, to do it you have to live it for years prior to the starting gun.
In this spirit, I was not about to quit easily and certainly not from such a competitive position in the race. But continuing was easily going to rank as the most stressful situation I have ever put myself in. Despite the wranglings I had basically made my mind up even before I put down the phone to Dominique - this is the Vend?e, I am a serious contender - I want to continue!'
'So it's a cruel irony that it is entirely possible that the mast breaking has inadvertently actually saved my life! Perhaps someone 'up there' really is watching out for me? And quite possibly I am as I have always thought - the absolute luckiest - unlucky person on the planet.'
by Mike Golding
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Hamilton Island, QLD
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