Steve White finishes Vendee Globe in eighth place

2:53 PM Thu 26 Feb 2009 GMT

'Toe in the Water - Steve White - Vendee Globe' Mark Lloyd/ DDPI/Vendee Globe &copy

Finally triumphing after a frustrating duel with the prolonged easterly headwinds in the Bay of Biscay, British solo skipper Steve White sailed his Open 60 Toe in the Water across the finish line in light NE'ly winds and brilliant sunshine at Les Sables d'Olonne's South Nouch mark this morning/afternoon at 12:38:55 hours GMT to take a commendable eighth place in the Vend?e Globe solo round the world race.
White averaged 10.78 knots on the water covering 28,197 miles. He sailed the 24,840 theoretical miles at an average speed of 9.49 knots.

Tired but triumphant, 109 days 00 hours, 36 minutes and 55 seconds after leaving Les Sables d'Olonne on Sunday November 9th, White was greeted by his wife Kim, and his three sons Jason, 19, Isaac 9, and Euan 6. He is the fourth British skipper to complete the race. Of the 30 skippers who started from the Vend?e town over three and a half months ago, 19 had to abandon.

Of the seven British skippers who started the race, three were forced to retire. As White finishes, British skippers occupy four of the top eight places, a level of success for overseas soloists which is unprecedented in the legendary non-stop solo round the world race which was first contested in 1989.

White's result is much more than he imagined when he set off in November. While others were in peak fitness and had up to three or four years of preparation behind them White's last minute preparations had left him on the verge of exhaustion as he left for the start, surviving a first horrendous storm on adrenalin, his wits and considerable seamanship skills. He only started sailing 12 years ago before becoming a career sailor in 1999-2000 when he worked his way up from crew to become a training skipper for Chay Blyth's Challenge Business, going on to compete in three Transatlantic races, two solo.

Despite the pre-race handicaps of lack of funding and preparation time White's circumnavigation has been impressive since the first Bay of Biscay storm which immediately accounted for four boats. He has always pushed to his limits in all conditions, light moderate and strong winds, consistently re-affirming that he was out there to race hard and be competitive. That he outlasted many more fancied, highly seeded skippers is down to his prudence, seamanship, sailing skills, keeping on top of the regular maintenance as well as being able to deal with the one bigger issue which might have ended the race for other skippers - when his gooseneck broke in the Southern Ocean.

His eleven year old Finot Conq designed boat completed its third circumnavigation. Previously Gartmore, which also completed the Around Alone as Emma Richards' Pindar, as Toe in the Water White also bettered Josh Hall's 2001 race time for the boat (111days 19hrs 48 minutes) by more than two days on a course which is made more than 1200 miles (or four to five days) longer due to the ice security gates.

White's engineering and electronic skills stood him in good stead. In every respect he is the true self-sufficient soloist, proving himself able to deal with the intricacies and possible frustrations of re-wiring and rebuilding his aged autopilots, regularly reporting back to Race HQ having spent hours under his chart table of Toe in the Water in the desolate Southern Ocean, stripping and replacing slender wires of the dimension of human hair to resuscitate his fickle pilots. He started his race by having to bring his very essential computer keyboard back to life. Were it not so potentially serious, there was almost a comedic moment when he reported that he had melted a generator hose and shorted out his battery box and had a fire which filled his boat with a mix of acrid burning black carbon smoke, and a steam and diesel fumes some three days into the race.

In the Pacific Ocean approaching Cape Horn he also dealt with the fiddly business of repairing his mainsail headboard cars, removing and replacing dozens of tiny ball bearings. But his biggest success was the complex and ingenious repair to his gooseneck - which joins the mast to the boom - which required creating a composite support from laminated battens, which was secured to the keel head by dyneema lashings which passed through holes he drilled in the deck and kept tensioned by a Spanish windlass. In reality his repairs were occasional but fairly regular but in between he proved himself extremely able to drive Toe in the Water hard and fast, several times in the Big South, White was the quickest in the fleet over 24 hours.

Along the way his humour was irrepressible, sometimes quintessentially English schoolboy - with his Crikey!, Cor! and 'I'm dying for a beer' - while his keen, often wry observations made his blogs both informative, and entertaining, always on the right side of self indulgence and always written with wide-eyed spontaneity. While others either ripped blithely through the Southern Ocean dealing with familiar territory or simply struggled with it, White positively loved it and says that his sailing will never be the same. He remained patient and level headed throughout, well able to stay on top of his emotions, save perhaps Christmas Day when he missed his kids and was frustrated with not being able to push his boat hard enough.

His ambition at the start was to get round in one piece; short term it was to ride out the storm and finish his preparations, gradually building up his race pace. But at Cape Finisterre he was in 17th place, just less than 90 miles behind the leader and he simply kept a good steady pace, and sailed an astute course battling it out on the way down the Atlantic between compatriots Jonny Malbon and Dee Caffari. He passed the Cape Verde Islands in 16th place and was 19th at the Equator, as the newer boats slowly extended their lead.
He was simply unlucky to miss the window of opportunity in the Doldrums and lost 200 miles and is quick down the Brasilian coast. By the time they approach the first ice gate he within 62 miles of Arnaud Boissi?res and Dee Caffari and having a great race. He lost a little after the gate, and then compounded his losses slightly at the second gate when he failed to plot the new positions of the gate and had to double back.

By the Kerguelen Islands he was in 14th place and sailing a generally safe, intelligent course, occasionally battling with his capricious autopilots which cause him to wipe out many times and lose him many miles.

In some respects the Southern Pacific offered White some of the highs and lows. He was trapped by a high pressure system which let Caffari and Boissi?res gain more than 350 miles away from him in three days. Until then he certainly was driving hard with a belief he could catch them. But after that he hit is stride, lovingly describing the long surfs with his boat on song in the Pacific as some of the best sensations ever.

After rounding Cape Horn in ninth place, the Atlantic weather was both cruel and kind to White.

Consistently sailing upwind virtually until the finish line in a boat which was never designed nor optimised for windward sailing, if he struggled for motivation he never let it be known and he continued to work hard with no other boat within 500 miles of him. He may have avoided the big low pressure systems in the South Atlantic, but he would have given his eye teeth to have ridden home on the heels of one in the North Atlantic this last frustrating week.

Since the Pacific White has been talking consistently and clearly about he plans and his desire to move on from this race, seeking a newer, faster boat and a budget which allows him to race on an equal footing. White's Vend?e Globe has been not so much a Toe in the Water as one huge step in the right direction.

Steve White's Race:

9th November- The start of the race, but for Steve it was a late night:
' I didn't get to bed until 2am because we were still fiddling around down here.'

11th November: While several boats were seriously damaged on the first night and on the day after the start, Steve makes it through relatively unscathed with a cautious beginning and can celebrate his 36th birthday.

12th November: Steve talks about a small electrical fire, and a damaged hose on his generator filling his boat with a mix of diesel fumes and steam.

16th November Steve finds himself battling it out with two of his compatriots -Dee Caffari (Aviva) and Jonny Malbon (Artemis), but the newer boats will slowly extend their lead.

19th November: Steve begins to suffer from the heat 400 miles from the Equator, but in spite of autopilot worries can be pleased that everything is more or less working

20th November: Steve hangs on to Dee, but just watches Mich Desj go by

21st November: Steve slowed in the Doldrums and loses over 200 miles to the leaders in two days

24th November: Steve crosses the Equator. Toasts Neptune with some wine Norbert Sedlacek gave him, but does not cover himself in porridge

28th - 29th November: Passing Trinidade Island, Toe in the Water is among the fastest in the fleet and claws back some miles on the leaders, although he doesn't realise it at the time.

1st December: Steve executes his short time penalty and is back in a battle with Jonny Malbon

2nd December: Steve had never spent more than 22 consecutive days at sea before

7th December: Steve White discovers the southern ocean 'I am a Southern Ocean 'virgin' yes, and I have been thinking a lot about that. And when you read what people write about being down here, about them being conservative and what sails they have had up I think 'wow that really is conservative, what are they doing?' and now I am down here it is unlike anywhere else I have ever been. The swell is relentless, driving swell which is very, very much in charge, and it does things to the boat handling if you slow down and it drives your boat speed up and up and up. You just have to keep a handle on it, because anything that does go wrong could go very, very wrong. Hence the reason I am not really getting into bed very much'

8th December : Toe in the Water passes the longitude of the cape of Good Hope and enters the Indian Ocean (18th skipper)

11th December : After some confusion over its position Steve passes the second Ice Gate. '' I would like to say there was something technical but there wasn't I forgot to re-route it. What happened was I got the e-mail that said the ice gate had been moved and I registered it and then when it came to putting the ice gates on to the MaxSea from the sailing instructions I forgot it had been moved.'

18-19th December: Due to pilot problems Toe in the Water is repeatedly wiped out and Steve loses precious miles

24th December: Winds in excess of 50 knots. Gooseneck pin breaks, but has to wait to carry out repairs

25th December: Phones home many times, has a tough time on Christmas Day missing his family

26th December: Sailed 367 miles, the highest average in the fleet over the last day, despite a broken goose-neck.

29th December: 310 miles SW of South Island New Zealand, in 13th place Steve is now finding time to learn French from the popular audio lessons of Michel Thomas.

30th December: Steve starts preparing the repairs for his gooseneck fitting

January:
1st January: Steve the first to enter 2009! But he is busy fixing his autopilots

5th January: Finally calmer conditions and good speeds. 'Downstairs is a bit in chaos - it's quite like a student flat at the moment, I'm trying to dry out a load of things so there's clothing spread all over the place, bits of the gooseneck repair and I had some plumbing to do, but I'm gradually tidying up.'

7th-9th January: Toe in the Water slowed in a Pacific high. Steve loses 350 miles in three days to Arnaud Boissi?res and Dee Caffari

9th January: After Riou and Le Cam are forced out of the race, Steve is up in ninth place. 'It's incredible to be where I am position-wise, but it takes a bit of getting used to be here at the expense of so many other people who have gone out in various unfortunate ways. It's incredible though, if I had the money and entries were open I'd be paying now to secure my slot for next time.'

12th January: After repairing his pilots, Steve can enjoy some excellent surfing, knowing nothing better than this sweet sensation.

16th January: While Dee, Brian and Arnaud shelter at Cape Horn, Steve White take advantage of the strong winds to the south of the low to achieve some of the best speeds in the fleet.

17th January: Headboard car problems as he approaches Cape Horn.

19th January: Steve rounds Cape Horn.

20th January: Three miles off Island de los Estados) was being hailed on the VHF by a nearby cargo vessel and admitted he had no running backstay on.. ' I am juggling a bit just now.can you call me back...'

23rd January: After a couple of days of strong upwind conditions, Steve is now reaching up the coast of South America;

25th Januury: The old boat does not do well in the Atlantic climb. 'I am absolutely hard on the wind. It is pretty painful stuff really. It doesn't seem like there is an end in sight. We are in that weather that the boat does not work very well. 16-22 knots upwind.'

30th January: With the repeated upwind or light conditions off Brazil, Arnaud Boissi?res extends his lead as Steve approaches Rio staying well off shore.

4th February: Brilliant sunshine, but rather monotonous sailing and no rivals within 500 miles

6th February: As Armel finishes in second place, Steve is about to enter the Doldrums

8th February: Toe in the Water back in the north

Highlights from Steve's blog

6 Feb:
This bit of the ocean is to all appearances as close to a desert as I would ever have thought it was possible to get. I don't think I have ever sailed so far or for so long with the same sails up. The days are the same; the sunrises and sunsets are seemingly instant - they are very brightly coloured but only ever for a very few minutes; the afternoon squall clouds disappear after sundown to be replaced with the most staggering display from the stars which stretch uninterrupted from a finger above the horizon in all directions, the Milky Way visible clearly and the occasional shooting star topping off a spectacle that you can enjoy for hours whilst sitting in the cockpit in the warm, steady night time breeze, even in the early hours. When the sun comes up the heat is switched back on instantly and it becomes an oven on deck and a sweatbox downstairs, making it difficult to eat or sleep. Then, after lunch the squalls develop and keep you occupied until dark - and so passes each day.

17 Jan:
I have just spent the longest time just gazing out of my door looking at all that is around me. It won't be long now and the Southern Ocean will be behind me, for a while at least, and I shall really miss it, it has been fantastic - bleak, desolate, isolated, powerful, all of those things, but immeasurably beautiful too, with undoubtedly the best sailing in the world. As I looked out there were three albatross - two older ones and a spotty brown young one - they are quite sweet really, he was flying round and round the boat, obviously curious and practising his slow flying at the same time. He was doing well, but hobby horsing slightly on the really slow bits where as the adults just fly like they were on rails!

I am ready to leave the South though now; firstly before I break anything else more serious than the loo seat and the kettle handle, both casualties of the last blow, and secondly because then it will be nearer the time when I can come back better prepared and more knowledgeable, and as much as I love my old boat, I would like to return in a faster one and keep up with the front runners. As such my thoughts are turning in earnest to looking for a sponsor to take us through to the 2012 Vendee Globe. It will be strange indeed to get back on that treadmill, but I think things will be different for us after this, and people will take us a bit more seriously. I always thought that I would want to do 2012 as well, but now I have experienced most of this race, I know I want to, and there is a big difference.

29 Dec:
Since I wrote last, there have been some real highs and lows, I think for me the most extreme of the race so far. I have to say Christmas day was thoroughly miserable, so much so I nearly wasn't going to mention it. I felt I was on a go slow at the back of the fleet on a broken boat, on the opposite side of the world to my family who I really missed, and I have come here to race after all not cruise, and it was very, very difficult at that moment as you see the leaders slipping away, those behind gaining on you as you feel you are just firefighting breakages all the time. Alone on a boat all emotions are heightened, so all of the above coupled with some very touching Christmas cards and a sad book for a present meant I was really struggling. I had to give myself a really good talking to and examine why I was here, what I have gone through to get here, and what the event meant to me. Sometime in the early hours of Boxing Day I awoke to a sharp cracking noise and thought the worst, that the boom had come off, but no, it was my small wooden Christmas tree which had come unstuck from the chart table and all the little resin Santas had hit the chart table all at once with a sharp crack right by my ear. I took that as a sign and packed it away (until we have another little Christmas when I get home) and put Christmas and all of the associated emotions firmly behind me. So after having given myself a good kick up the backside I pulled my finger out and had quite a good run over the next period - maybe I tried a little too hard, the generator ripped off it's mountings and is currently lashed down! Another job, but a quick and easy fix when it calms down in the next forty eight hours.

20 Dec:
It is old news now I suspect, but I experienced my first major Southern Ocean blow. It was at the time the most uncomfortable twenty four hours I had spent at sea. I was ready and waiting for it, batteries charged, lots of water made, gear stowed and the fourth reef prepared. I had the storm jib in the cockpit ready for use, and waited. The barometer dropped more quickly than I have ever seen, and then stopped. Then it blew. Not the most wind that I have ever been in by a long way, but still very strong - fifty seven knots at the height, and steadily over fifty for a long time. The sea state became very large very quickly, and then began to even and become regular just in time for the shift when it all went haywire again. It was pretty entertaining to gybe in a big cross sea and fifty knots, but I took my time and the boat behaved impeccably. On the other gybe the sea was suddenly much easier again, and we had some fantastic boatspeeds - twenty nine knots on the GPS on one surf as I sat clutching the chart table, holding on for dear life and wondering how it would end! The noise and motion are terrific at those speeds, more akin to a bobsled than a boat I would imagine as you sway and bang through what feels like a tube of water all around you, and the water comes down the deck with enough force to take your legs from underneath you and then fills the cockpit. Periodically I went on deck to have a look around and check everything, but also to observe the power of my environment which was breathtaking - mountainous seas the colour of lapis lazuli topped with brilliant white crests that were blowing off, towering up near the second spreaders, and occasionally the sun would shine turquoise through a wave crest just before it broke. Sometimes we would perch on top of a wave, and then drop down into the trough with the boat pointing down at an angle of about thirty degrees and plough straight into the one in front. The first time I saw it happen I thought we were going to pitchpole, but as always up came the bow, solid bow wave down each side and over the deck, but always most importantly that bow came up as a Finot should, and it gave me even more confidence in the boat, it is a very seaworthy hull shape. Down here the seas are always large, and you are a long way away from home and help - that sense of isolation is tangible and adds to the suspense and the experience, which is what makes it different to a blow in the Atlantic or anywhere else I think - how you perceive it.