Vendee: Anticipation preparation and trepidation

11:45 PM Thu 4 Dec 2008 GMT

'Lo?ck Peyron (FRA) Gitana Eighty - now up to third place' Vendee Globe 2008 &copy

As the Southern Ocean delivers the first big winds of this Vend?e Globe, speeds at the front of the fleet climb proportionately. The leaders are well into 35-40 knots of wind and big rolling seas, anticipating forecast gusts of 45-50 knots tonight as the gales peak for about 10-12 hours.

Knowing how little distance separates the top 10 boats, the challenge is not just pressing hard when you can through the worst of the storm, setting the Open 60 up to deal with the big squalls and gusts, but also anticipating when the wind is building and when it is starting to drop away again.

Most are now predicting that this system will be relatively short and sharp.

Seb Josse and Yann Eli?s remain locked together, rivals and sparring partners of the same mind set and on the same course. Incredibly after 25 days of racing, on a clear day they would be still within in sight of each other, scything through the ocean side-by-side cutting virtually parallel wakes only five miles apart, Josse's British built BT representing the Farr design office for whom the Vend?e Globe represents one of the sport's peaks they have yet to conquer, and Eli?s' Generali carrying the hopes of the French design office Finot Conq, incumbents and most regular winners of this legendary solo race.

Lo?ck Peyron, who had lead this race for longer than any other skipper, has climbed back in to third place on Gitana Eighty 28.5 miles behind Josse, holding a course some 80 miles to the north of the main, chasing pack.

Mike Golding, who holds the Cape to Cape speed records in the south, is pushing hard in eighth and is fastest of the top 10 on the early evening poll, less than one mile behind Vincent Riou (PRB) winner of the last race who lies seventh. This hungry pack, only 13 miles apart, are also racing virtually side by side with Golding, Riou and Jean Le Cam all closely spaced, the British skipper having gained more than 25 miles on leader Josse in the last 24 hours.

Sam Davies, GBR, (ROXY) relishing the rock and roll ride - Vendee Globe2008 &copy

Already surfing along in more than 40 knots of wind at times, Sam Davies, GBR, (ROXY) was relishing the rock and roll ride, while Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) in tenth was making the most of the 30-35 knots he had during today's radio chat session. He is now 140 miles off the lead, and reckoned today that he was about 5 hrs 45 minutes behind Golding.

Derek Hatfield, CAN, (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) may now be having a great race with Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Groupe Maisonneuve), dueling with just a mile between them in 22nd and 23 rd place, but the Canadian skipper said today that he has a major clean up operation to deal with today, after sluicing through a crude oil slick, a large quantity of which washed over his decks getting trapped in his sheets, rope bags, cockpit and equipment.

Meanhile Unai Basurko, ESP, (Pakea Bizkaia), who reported damage to the cassette stock for one of his rudders, is now making 8 knots NE towards the quieter winds of the St Helena high pressure area where he plans to try and effect a repair.

Derek Hatfield, CAN, (Algimouss Spirit of Canada): ' Pollution is today's topic, oil spills to be precise. Around 10:00 UTC this morning, white and red Algimouss Spirit of Canada sailed through a large patch of bunker oil and came out a sickly brown colour. The boat was surfing along at 15 knots or so and of course shipping a lot of water over the decks. The boat decks are now covered with sticky greasy crude oil.

It's everywhere, on the ropes, line bags, deck hardware and cockpit floor. It will probably take me a day or more to clean it so it doesn't track inside the boat. A couple of days before the race start I was given a bag of Ecover cleaning solutions from Mike Golding's team, they sure will come in handy with this mess, thanks Mike.'

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) : 'I'm certainly covering the miles. I have joined a loyalty scheme. The more miles I gain, the more presents get! I looked at the last rankings, but I can't really see what my friends are up to. I'm the first to step up the speed and pick up the wind. The wind gauge is indicating 5 knots more since you called. Now I've got 39 knots. If life stops as soon as the wind reaches 35 knots, you shouldn't be doing the Vend?e Globe or be down in the southern seas.'

Marc Guillemot (Safran): 'I went through a tricky period for thirty hours or so. I've several pilots which have bugs. It took me time to figure it out, but now, everything is a lot better. The idea was to get back in the game as quickly as possible, instead of crying over spilt milk. At the moment, conditions are quite rough, with 25-32 knot gusts. The seas are quite heavy. The sun is just peeking through, as we speak.'

'The first Ice Gate is behind us. Now the goal is to pass to the north of the Kerguelen Gate. It was a great idea of the organisers to have modified that gate; like that, we won't have to be kamikaze pilots! We have to be ready for the little low coming in later today. I've tidied up the boat. In these conditions we shift the weight as far back as possible.'

Lo?ck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) :'I passed the first gate, but I messed it up a bit. I slept too long and lost some ground. Conditions are good. It's really nice weather. There's a 25-knot NW'ly, with waves forming and it's still a bit stressful. The temperature is pleasant and the 'cruise' is quick! Apart from that, I haven't yet climbed the mast to change the halyard over. I'm waiting for some calm weather.. I hope to do it in a couple of days.'

'There's going to be some wind tonight, but nothing nasty. The real question is finding the right sail area. I'll soon be moving to some smaller sails. That's my strategy for the night. We need to look after the boat, as in the Vend?e Globe, to win you need to finish. We need to pay attention to the boat. I gave her a complete check this morning. There are always some little jobs to do: wear and chafing... The problem is we can't see it all.'

1500 HRS GMT. Rankings, (FRA, unless stated)
1- Seb Josse (BT) at 18090.8 miles to finish
2- Yann Elies (Generali) + 3.6 miles
3 -Lo?ck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) + 28.5 miles
4 - Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) + 32.1 miles
5 - Jean Le Cam (VM Mat?riaux) + 44.1 miles

Selected International
8- Mike Golding, GBR, (ECOVER 3) at + 73.3 miles
12- Dominique Wavre, SUI, (Temenos 2) at + 258 miles
13- Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) at + 445.3 miles
14- Sam Davies, GBR,(ROXY) at + 552.8 miles
15- Dee Caffari, GBR, (AVIVA) at + 662.9 miles
16- Bernard Stamm, SUI, (Chemin?es Poujoulat) at + 673.1 miles
18 - Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water) at + 733.1 miles
19 - Johnny Malbon, GBR, (Artemis) at + 792.4 miles
20- Rich Wilson, USA, (Great America III) at + 938.2 miles
21- Unai Basurko, ESP, (Pakea Bizkaia) at + 1141 miles
23- Derek Hatfield, CAN, (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) at + 1444.8miles
25- Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport-Kapsch) +1603 miles

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