 |
6:28 PM Wed 26 Nov 2008 GMT
 | | 'Vendee GLobe race leader Loick Peyron on Gitana Eighty'
|
Variable winds have been reported right across the fleet, with leader Loick Peyron experiencing very irregular winds of 14-17 knots, while sixth-placed Mike Golding yesterday discovered a patch of light airs which saw Ecover 3 park up briefly.
However, a good day today saw Golding close up on fifth placed Riou, now just 11.4 miles ahead. Sam Davies also reported she had been sailing in everything from 6 knots to 32-knot squalls over the past 24 hours, with constant sail changes part of the daily routine for all.
First placed Lo?ck Peyron has extended away again since yesterday evening, now 18.3 miles from Seb Josse (BT) in second, while the rest of the leading bunch - Jean-Pierre Dick, Armel Le Cleac'h and Vincent Riou remain within 60 miles of the front-runner.
Dominque Wavre (Temenos II) has overtaken British skipper Brian Thomson on this afternoon's 15:00hr (GMT) rankings, going into 11th place as the pair thread their way through the islands of Trindad and St Martin Vaz. Safran's storming run continues, eating up over 300 miles in 24 hours for 10th-placed Marc Guillemot.
Mike Golding, Ecover (GBR):We're just charging south, to what end I don't know because I've got a feeling that when we get there we're all going to stop!
I do believe now that the boats behind as far back as 300, 400 miles have really got a genuine opportunity to catch up with the lead group and we could well see the race effectively restarting in the South Atlantic.
The reality is that the part of the course where we're rounding the high is currently showing as being very light but the difference between very light and zero in terms of boat speed between zero knots and 10 is massive so if a boat can just find a little bit of breeze they're going to get away.
Sam Davies, Roxy (GBR): The wind's quite unstable, in the last 24 hours we've had everything from 6 knots of wind to 32 knots in the last squall. It's quite a full time job on deck to trim the sails and change the sails, to keep the boat going as fast as possible.
I thought Last night I'd gone quite fast and when I looked at the position reports I was quite proud of my average speed being nearly 14 knots, then I looked at Mich and his average was 17.6 knots and there's just no way I can compete with that, it's just amazing!
Jonny Malbon, Artemis II (GBR):Having a good day! I've just been winding the boat up and now we're hacking along and taking some miles out of Unai which is great. It's amazing the difference between now and a few days ago when I was just wallowing in every sense of the word.
It was pretty horrible [without the Fleet 77 working], it's amazing how isolated you feel with three days with no weather and no emails. It's the first time I've felt lonely actually since I've been out here without that contact.
Vendee Globe - Wednesday 16:00 HRS GMT. FRA unless stated
1 - Loick Peyron (Gitana Eighty) 19982.2 miles to the finish
2 - Seb Josse (BT) at + 18.3 miles to leader
3 - Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) at + 40 miles to leader
4 - Armel Le Cleac'h (Brit Air) at + 44 miles
5 - Vincent Riou (PRB) at + 56.9 miles to leader
6 - Mike Golding, GBR, (ECOVER 3) at + 68.3 miles
Selected International
11 - Dominique Wavre, SUI, (Temenos 2) at + 253 miles
12 - Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) at + 253.7 miles
13 - Sam Davies, GBR,(ROXY) at + 320.5 miles
15 - Dee Caffari, GBR, (AVIVA) at + 527.6 miles
17 - Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water) at + 775.9 miles
18 - Unai Basurko, ESP, (Pakea Bizkaia) at + 851.3 miles
19 - Johnny Malbon, GBR, (Artemis) at + 856.9 miles
20 - Rich Wilson, USA, (Great America III) at + 922.3 miles
22 - Bernard Stamm, SUI, (Chemin?es Poujoulat) at + 1056.8 miles
23 - Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport-Kapsch) at + 1288.7 miles
24 - Derek Hatfield, CAN, (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) at + 1509.1 miles
by Veronique Teurlay
|
|
Cape Leeuwin, WA
Foiling - Components (Wings,Masts,etc)
