Vendee : Ecover 3 writes from the deep south

5:05 AM Tue 9 Dec 2008 GMT

'Mike Golding on Ecover 3, Vendee Globe' Mark Lloyd/ DDPI/Vendee Globe &copy

On Sunday morning Mike found himself in 4th place and reported from Ecover 3 'I have just seen Gitana Eighty passing 0.5 miles ahead but on the opposite gybe. We are now in 4th place hurray!!! - hey, I might as well enjoy it. The way things are happening around here - I may not be here for very long!'.

Golding and Ecover 3 have now passed through the second ice gate just before the Kergulan Islands, which lie due south east of Africa. This remote cluster of islands also know as Desolation Islands are a French-owned subantarctic archipelago and are some 3300 miles from the Cape of Good Hope.

Mike this morning reported that the track through the second ice gate had been challenging: 'The past 24 hours have been quite difficult as the sea state was bad and the breeze increased to 35 knots gusting to 45 knots so it has been challenging to get the boat to steer in a straight line'.

By mid morning the weather had moderated and he managed to get a couple of hours sleep. 'One of the problems is when you wake up you decide that you need to make up on ground that you have lost, so have now got my reacher up and put up heavier sails to try and make up some ground on the next position schedule.'

Mike Golding - Mark Lloyd- DDPI-VendeeGlobe &copy

'The key at the moment is trying to find the right balance, although the polls will show you to-ing and fro-ing in the fleet. For me the most important thing is to stay in touch with this leading pack, so I am comfortable where we are now. The only thing that matters to me are the
people in front of me.'

But the Southern Ocean has, so far, not been as bad as in previous races: 'The Southern Ocean weather is relatively benign compared to previous races. We do not have bad weather for any prolonged amount of time, the last one was just a couple of days. On the previous Vend?e Globes we did the whole Southern Ocean in two or three weather systems.'

'The problem here is the constant changing in weather systems it means that you can't really get into a groove I think the guys that do the best here are the guys that make the transitions best, if you can make the transitions quickly then you move forwards easily, when it's a drag race it's hard to make gains'

However, the competition across the whole fleet is fairly intense but Mike summises that: 'You probably could have forecast that looking at the make up of the fleet. On Saturday I was on opposite gybes with Loick Peyron (Gitana Eighty) and passed within a mile of him and yesterday again he was within a mile and I had him on radar. it is quite incredible and quite intense. Everyone is looking to do a breakaway. S?bastien Josse (BT) in the north might have a bit of leverage there, but everyone is looking for a bit of leverage to get themselves away.

It is hard to imagine going around the world and not seeing someone split away. You may see the boats group up more and I am surprised that the entire spread of the fleet is quite so small back to back - whether this will continue or not remains to be seen.'

The other five British boats in the fleet are also having a good race: 'Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) is still very clearly in play. You look at the split in the British competitors and it is not very big. Dee Caffari (Aviva) is currently less distance from the front than I was in the last Vend?e Globe and I went on to lead up the Atlantic. However, the person who is sailing quite extraordinarily well is Steve White (Toe In The Water), he is doing well with the boat and has suprised a lot of people.'

Position / Skipper / Boat / Distance To Leader
(Current ranking 1500 GMT 8th December )

1. Jean-Pierre Dick / Paprec-Virbac 2 / 0.0
2. Roland Jourdain / Veolia Environnement / 35.0
3. Lo?ck Peyron / Gitana Eighty / 52.9
4. S?bastien Josse / BT / 57.3
5. Mike Golding / ECOVER 3 / 73.9
6. Michel Desjoyeaux / Foncia / 88.5
7. Yann Eli?s / Generali / 117.3
8. Vincent Riou / PRB / 140.2
9. Jean Le Cam / VM Mat?riaux / 160.3

www.mikegolding.com
www.vendeeglobe.org

by Mike Golding Media