(Photo By Jacques Vapillon / DPPI / Vendée Globe)
Rich Wilson’s last weekend at sea on his Vendée Globe looks set to be quick and relatively productive as he finally rides favourable winds back towards the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne which he should reach on Monday.
Downwind conditions of 20-25 conditions will see the American skipper gybing his way down the final miles of the track making good speed to become only the second American ever to complete the Vendée Globe. Wilson, 829 miles from the finish, has been making a VMG averaging just over eight knots and was 529 miles NWW of Cape Finisterre this afternoon making a course south of east.
The 58 year old holds three university and college degrees and previously set three sailing world records. His mathematics degree and his MBA from Harvard as well as an MIT science degree are complemented in the sailing world by setting speed records on routes from San Francisco to Boston, from New York to Melbourne and from Hong Kong to New York.
He served as Defence Analyst in Washington, a mathematics teacher in Boston, a desalination consultant in Saudi Arabia, is a successful corporate investor and a former writer for the Democrat party, and throughout his 116 days racing has constantly updated the sitesalive web site which he founded, which expert information and views from a collection of experts and presents it in an engaging and interesting fashion for young people.
Rich has written articles for dozens of American newspapers and publications along the route. His race has been one which has challenged him close to his limits, but which he has accomplished by carefully managing the risks, preparing well in advance of situations as well as dealing well with the adversity as it arrived. Wilson was violently seasick not long after he left Les Sables d’Olonne.
During the first violent storm he was thrown across the cabin and sustained a cracked rib which restricted him for some time. In the Southern Ocean he was thrown out of his bunk against the chart table, lacerating his head close to his eye. And since the Southern Ocean he has struggled with an autopilot system which will not steer to the wind angle and so he has been unable to get good rest for weeks.
His passage from Cape Horn has been difficult, plagued by headwinds for much of the time, but the final two weeks have required a time and energy sapping 600 miles detour around a high pressure system which ultimately took him closer to his home in Boston than the finish on the other side of the Atlantic.
Raphael Dinelli, now 300 miles NW of the Azores, has overcome his broken rib to make a successful repair to his boom on Fondation Océan Vital. After preparing the pieces of his boom, he placed them inside his boat to take advantage of the temperature of around 25° to get them as dry and warm as possible. By yesterday everything was ready and the repair seems to have gone well, before he had to get the boom back on deck and re-set on the rig, not an easy job with his broken rib.
With his injury the Sablais skipper has reported that has been unable to get much sleep, as it is painful for him to lie down.
Using as little power as possible, Dinelli keeps his sat phone systems off much of the time, and so today was the first time for some days that the skipper has been in contact with Race HQ in his home port of Les Sables d’Olonne:
“ I’m feeling very tired: I didn’t sleep at all during the night.” Dinelli explained today, “ I couldn’t find a comfortable position in my bunk. I have worked so hard over the past few days repairing the boom and refitting it that the painkillers don’t seem to be working any more. But the repairs and lamination work went smoothly, even if I’m going to have to be cautious and not put too much pressure on the boom. I had a hard time yesterday getting it back in place, what with the sea and my broken rib. But I’ve been back sailing again since yesterday evening. I’m under staysail and two reefs in 25 knots of wind. I’m sailing downwind making between 9 and 12 knots, averaging around ten and I managed to get by the Azores High fairly close to it without getting stuck in the calms. I need to get some rest now to finish this race, as there’s a lot left to do. There is more and more shipping around and I mustn’t drop my guard now.”
And while the two skippers ahead of him have had their down moments in recent weeks, Austrian Norbert Sedlacek is happy with his lot as he contemplates his final week to ten days at sea on his trusty Nauticsport-Kapsch. He was suffering a bit of a headache today, either the after effects of another ‘sportif’ day yesterday – perhaps a little dehydrated – or alternatively he believed the bone jarring, slamming in the choppy, disorganized seas had shaken contributed to his sore head. His other slight concerns had been his engine mountings which, by the sounds of his descriptions today, had shaken loose. He had hammered in some wooden shims which seemed to have wedged the vital piece of engineering back into place, while he also said that taking a lot of water over the deck had seem some constant ingress through the deck aperture to his keel head, which has not had a cover for some weeks now. But, 560 miles SW of the Azores, Sedlacek is skirting the high and was starting to enjoy more settled, lighter winds, sailing under his double reefed main and G2 genoa.
Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport-Kapsch): “ Personally I have a really strong headache. I think it has worked its way up from my back from the last few days, it was very uncomfortable these last few days, with strong wind and tacking, but I am sure it will get better now with the seas getting smoother and the wind coming down. The boat is running OK and no terrible dramas. I am thinking maybe I have not been drinking enough water yesterday and so I have started to drink much more. The problem is that I cannot adjust my bed or my seat, and so every time when your are tacking hard and are well heeled over, you have a very uncomfortable situation to lay or to sit in the navigation station and so the problem is that the backside tries to stabilise the body and then the neck and it spreads from there into the head. But I hope today the weather will be a little better and so I hope that I will get outside and make a little exercise, not yoga, but some exercises where you can stretch your backside and your neck.”
“Yesterday and last night it was windy with many squalls, but now the breeze is stable and comes from the ENE, and now since the last few hours from the East and so I am making some good miles, but the last 24 hours it has been very sportif sailing.!
“The problem is I have no cover from the keel compartment, and I took a lot of water and my pump has to run a few times a day to get the water out which comes through the holes for the lines to manoeuvre the keel. If you run the pump every three, four hours it is fine.”
“I will not go too close to the Azores, probably here around 35 degrees and then catch the westerly, and then…….be at home next weekend!”
“It is a really, really good feeling. Yesterday I looked at the chart and you see the routing you have done and just the 2000 miles still to go and just a small piece to go, it gives you a really great feeling, really great.”
(Photo Courtesy Mike Golding/Ecover)
In solo ocean racing the Vendée Globe is the greatest challenge. To race non-stop alone around the world is as tough as it gets. When the race was first held in 1989 the winner took one hundred and nine days to complete the course, the thirty skippers preparing the compete in the most recent edition expected that the first home would end their lap of the planet in less than ninety days.
With the quest for speed comes more powerful boats, capable of around 500 miles per day, and skippers putting more pressure on themselves to push hard, twenty four hours of every day for three months, often in wild conditions. All this with a backdrop of short interrupted bursts of sleep, freeze dried food and the prospect of intense challenges every day.
In the most recent edition of the race, nineteen of the thirty skippers who started the race failed to finish. There was drama, including, a skipper forced to abandon his yacht as it was smashed onto the rocky shore of a Southern Ocean island, two skippers in peril deep in the Southern Ocean, one injured and unable to sail, the other helpless inside the upturned hull of his yacht.
Seven British skippers entered the race, Mike Golding (ECOVER) back for his third time, looking to improve on the third place he scored in the last edition, whilst Alex Thomson (HUGO BOSS) was on the Vendée Globe start line having finished second in the last round the world race he competed in.
. For the other British skippers the Vendée Globe was a new game, Dee Caffari (AVIVA) looking to become the first women to sail alone non-stop around the world in both directions and with Sam Davies (ROXY) the only women in the thirty strong fleet. Three British men were preparing to start their first Vendée Globe, Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) former number two for the late Steve Fossett, Jonny Malbon (Artemis Ocean Racing) heading for his first ever solo ocean race, and Steve White (Toe in the Water) who had re-mortgaged his house to get to the start and line up against the best in the world
(Photo By Mark Lloyd / DPPI / Vendée Globe)
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 Vendée 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 Vendée 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.
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.
Steve White seemed almost taken aback by his reception today. “I thought I would just be able to sneak in and go to the pub!” was the first thing he said when he reached the dock in Port Olona. But he thanked everyone for turning out to to see him in. Here are the highlights of his press conference:
What did he think of his race? “Fantastic……….all of it that I can remember.”
“ I think the crucial thing that we all agree on in this race is that the mast stays up. We’d actually managed to re-rig the boat for this race, every time we used the boat before, and a lot of the times I was waiting for the mast to come down for previous races, the rigging was old and dangerous, it was a big weight off my mind to know that it shouldn’t fall down, theoretically After that really, you can have a rough guess at what the weather’s going to be, you have sails, everything you need, so how much more can you really need?”
“ I’d never been to the Southern Ocean or across the Equator, but I’d done a lot of miles and they’ve all been hard miles, through the Channel or North Atlantic, in the Western Approaches day in day out with big boats and novice sailors, so the reputation of the Southern Ocean. I didn’t think it was a problem in that respect.”
“ The start was really unpleasant, I had incidents with fire, and lots of loose gear, and the generator, and filling the boat with smoke and things like that, so it was not an easy start, I was pretty miserable for the first 48 hours or however long it was, but things change quickly so nothing lasts forever.”
Photo By Benoit Stichelbaut / Algimouss
Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water) had a close encounter with a cargo ship last night which he admits was a little too close for comfort as he sailed in busy shipping traffic off Cape Finisterre.
The British skipper emerged unscathed and is making fair speed across the Bay of Biscay now, trying to hike north in the contrary, Easterly winds as he makes for the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne where he is now expected Thursday.
White is expected to stay on the same tack now up to about the latitude of Lorient, where the breeze is likely to bend to a more favourable northerly direction, but the weather files also suggest it will be lighter, so nothing about his final approach seems to be falling in his favour. Once again he voiced his frustration today, saying that every time he tacked the wind had changed to be more against him.
“It’s like pulling teeth. I just want to get in.” White said today.
His VMG remains consistent at around 6-8 knots, although he said today that with 30 knot winds off Finisterre the seas were as big and awkward as he could remember, only the second time he could recall not being able to stand up on the foredeck of his Open 60, and having to work on his hands and knees.
At 1430hrs this afternoon White had a direct distance of 267 miles to Les Sables, which in reality is closer to 330 miles with winds still mainly Easterly to 25 knots.
Rich Wilson’s weather conundrum is just the type of cerebral challenge the American skipper would enjoy sitting at home toying with, in theory, trying to find the optimum routing around the high pressure system to his east, but with a high pressure ridge also to squeezing him to the west. Two hundred miles to his west there is the option of express downwind travel to the north, but from there he then has a long, long way back to the east to get to the French coast. Unfortunately this puzzle comes towards the end of Wilson’s highly commendableVendée Globe and in reality is just the kind of challenge he could be doing without when all he wants to do is be able to point the bows of the Great American III at Les Sables d’Olonne and get finished.
He is into lighter breezes in the high pressure ridge at the moment and so should be getting more chance to rest and recover a little, but still with a difficult regime of sail changes.
Conditions remain rough for Raphaël Dinelli. The skipper of Fondation Ocean Vital is having to battle upwind in 25-30 knot trade winds and heavy seas. He will be heeled over and shaken about for the next four or five days. Conditions are very different for Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport Kapsch) at the rear of the fleet. Unfortunately for the Austrian skipper, the Doldrums are stretching out as he climbs towards the Equator. Sedlacek said today that he was not enjoying the stress of the Doldrums but was looking forward to getting across the Equator tomorrow (Wednesday). And having access to a fuller sail selection now that he has replaced his headsail halyards has been a godsend, even though he has been slowed to three to five knots for much of the day.
Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water): “ I had a bit of a long night with a lot of ships around Finisterre, I had to call several of them to get them to alter course for me. So I am quite tired and nearly got run down as well. I came as close as I ever have in my entire life to getting run down. It was the closest I have ever been to a ship which was not at anchor I think. An under arm throw with a tennis ball and I could have put it on its deck.
I called him up and he obviously had not seen me and it took him five minutes to respond, and then when he did respond I said ‘what are you going to do?’ and he cam back and said he was going to turn to starboard and come down your starboard side. I thought that was rather odd, cos if he had turned to port he would have gone under our stern which would have been a much better thing to have done, he did an alteration to starboard which was big but it was not big enough, and I got headed and it finished up with us bow to bow and an angle of about 90 degrees and I baled out. I dumped the traveller all the way down because there was about 30 knots of breeze because the boat would not bear away, and as I crouched down to see I could see he had turned as well I had no idea that a ship that size, 160 metres, could turn so quickly and the bow was blown around and I saw his nav lights change underneath the boom, then I pushed the buttons on the pilot to come back up again, we both turned into each other effectively. Anyway I missed him he came under my stern and I called him up and said: ‘that was rather close wasn’t’ it?’ and he went absolutely berserk, and I thought which bit of the rules of the road have I not understood whereby you are supposed to get out of the way and I call you and ask what you are going to do, you tell me and you still end up hitting me. But I am going to report him You can’t let people get way with that.
Photo By Mark Lloyd / DPPI / Vendée Globe
His is a vicious cycle at the moment. Toe in the Water, a relatively older, wide boat with a fixed keel and sailplan more optimized for downwind sailing needs more breeze in order to sail to narrower angles to windward. But more wind means bigger seas and more crashing and bashing around.
“I am slamming away like I don’t know what, here. It is just so frustrating. This boat must be just about the worst there is in the fleet for going upwind. Norbert’s is a narrower boat with a canting keel and that would be preferable. In this wind I tack through anywhere around 100 to 105 degrees and below 15 knots that rises to 120 degrees and that really dictates where I am going. If I can get up the to the north of the latitude of Les Sables and the NE’lies hold it could be OK, but down in the south of the Bay it is a bit light and swirly.”
“It is very frustrating because it seems like every time I tack the wind heads me.” Said White this afternoon, 100 miles to the NW of Cape Finisterre, whilst still heading SE.
“I shall probably tack in a couple of hours and then see where that gets me. I am hoping the breeze will hold up. I am making 9.5 – 9.7 knots but I don’t want to push too hard in these seas because I don’t want to bring the rig down.”
Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport-Kapsch) has been recovering today after a four hours mast climb yesterday. His climb, to repair his mast track and to replace two headsail halyards, ultimately proved successful but he found two small cracks in his mast level with the top spreaders.
“The climb was a bit ‘sportif’ and used every last bit of my energy to do it. It was completely done afterwards. I took a big spanner with me and managed to secure the mast track and replace the halyards. But now I am exhausted and it is a bit stressy with the ICTZ which is very active with big squalls.” Said Sedlacek this afternoon, who has 200 miles to sail to the equator.
“I will have to be very careful with the mast with the big headsails but otherwise it should be very careful. For the mainsail I can still only sail with two or three reefs. I have a bad headache today after yesterday and will be really happy to make the next 60 miles and get out of the ICT and get into the NE’ly trade winds.”
Rich Wilson is 1175 miles west of the Canary islands and has been making steady progress north. He is sailing upwind in the NE’ly trade winds off the Canaries. In the short term, he knows that he is at the mercy of a high-pressure area that has moved across from Nova Scotia. If he wishes to get around it to find downwind conditions, he will need to add many miles to his route to reach 45° longitude west. If he does not do this, Wilson will have to struggle upwind, which is something he has certainly been getting used to since the Horn. His current ETA in Les Sables d’Olonne is around 5th or 6th March.
Photo By PIERRICK CONTIN / DPPI / Vendée Globe
Arnaud Boissieres spoke of his win today ” My boat was extraordinary. She already came sixth and fifth and now seventh, so I owe her a lot. It’s a bit like Roxy coming first, first and fourth. It is the designers, who came up with these great boats, and I just try to drive it as best I can. I tried not to break anything as I would have been told off afterwards. The first to come out to me this morning was Dee Caffari, which was great as we did a lot of the race together and we often communicated with each other. These English sailors are extraordinary and I had a good relationship with Dee in particular. When you see all the people here, you start to wonder if you haven’t done something extraordinary. I don’t believe I’ve done anything out of the ordinary. I just sailed her as well as I could.”
“ Of course, I didn’t expect such a welcome. There were crowds for Michel, Armel and Marc, so maybe people said it would be unfair if there weren’t crowds out for me. When I entered this harbour two and a half years ago, it already felt like I was in the Vendée Globe.”
“ I was down at Cape Horn just ahead of Aviva. I turned left. I was warned that it was not easy after the Horn. But Aviva and Pindar really sail quickly and I had a tough time with the fishermen off Brazil and the oil rigs. I called up my project manager who told me it was normal that I was left behind and to head for the coast of Brazil, where it is nice and warm. On the radio sessions, I could only repeat the same thing every time – fishermen, oil rigs, no wind…”
“ When you see people like Mich and Vincent Riou and Peyron in the race, you think you don’t have much chance –maybe tenth or fifteenth if you’re lucky, but finishing was really the goal, so finishing seventh is great. After 105 days alone, you necessarily change somewhere inside. Your family, partner and team are also transformed. Of course, there were some hard times. Gusts at 85 knots. I call up Denis Horeau, the Race Director, and he tells me they’re looking at the weather for the three of us at the Horn. So the race was suspended. I’ve known Brian for some time and now I know Dee well, so it was nice to be with them and it all went well.”
“ Off Tierra del Fuego, you have violent gusts. You see the snow-capped mountains and as you approach the Horn, you tell yourself you have to merit the Horn. When you’re in the storm, you don’t have time to worry. You get ready for it and get your food and water and survival gear together and just wait. You can’t sleep or rest as you wonder how bad it will be. After you have a great story to tell and you feel like you have accomplished something. Brian told me to get close to the Horn to see what it looked like. I did the English Vendée Globe. I knew Brian from the Mini days and Sam and as I said before, Dee is extraordinary.”
“This wasn’t a challenge going back to my past. I got over my problems with support of those around me. I don’t see it as revenge for those trying times. I’m just lucky to earn my living from my passion. I’m someone who is privileged. Thanks to people like Jean-Philippe Chomette.”
The future? I’m already thinking of setting out again and starting a new 4-year campaign to develop a boat and team.
“ The team? This is vital. You need to get on with them. We’re only a small team with a group of friends, who come and help. To begin with, I owe everything to my parents, my sisters, who have always supported me. There aren’t words to describe the family. You need that solid support on land. My Dad told me not to say anything stupid when talking in a crowd.”
“vFollowing my leukaemia at the age of 17, I underwent treatment for 18 months. When I began this project with Jean-Philippe Chomette and Christophe Chabot, I met Christine Janin, who was the first Frenchwomen to climb Everest. She welcomes sick kids to the Alps. When I did the Round the Island race, we said there was a parallel between the sea and mountains, so we did a partnership with that charity. It seemed natural. There was no calculation in choosing that charity.”
“ I’m looking forward to fresh fish and fresh vegetables and a gin and tonic with more gin than tonic.”
Another consistent night for Rich Wilson as he works the narrow band of breeze between two high pressure systems. The Great American III has been making 8.7 to 8.9 knots this morning and covered over 150 miles in the last 24 hours.
Raphael Dinelli crossed the Equator last night at 1945hrs GMT back into the Northern Hemisphere on Fondation Océan Vital and this morning is already 65 miles north of the line and making 8-9 knots and is well into the NE’ly trade winds.
And Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport-Kapsch) is 150 miles off the NE corner of Brasil now, 460 miles behind Dinelli and will be getting towards the fringes of the Doldrums this morning.
Photo By Jacques Vapillon / DPPI / Vendée Globe
Arnaud Boissières is remaining true to this afternoon’s schedule and should not disappoint the crowds who are certain to turn out and offer a huge welcome to this popular local IMOCA Open 60 and the skipper who is completing his first Vendée Globe.
Arnaud Boissières had less than 70 miles to sail to the finish this afternoon and was still making nearly seven knots, keeping him on target to arrive for a triumphant return up the channel in Akena Véranda’s hope port of Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday afternoon.
He told today’s radio session that he was already enjoying signs and memories of home, after having spoken with some Les Sables fishermen who congratulated him on his race:
“I’m enjoying myself out here and having a nice time. Yesterday evening some dolphins came alongside and this morning an hour and a half ago, some fishermen from Les Sables congratulated me on the VHF. I have a lot of respect for them, and so I really appreciated that. I hope to see them again soon in Les Sables.”
“ Already yesterday, there were a lot of cargo vessels around. I’ve come a long way in my Veranda and have so many memories. I just felt so good in my boat and I didn’t have any major problems.”
“ I will remember particularly Cape Horn and the Southern Ocean…There have been so many things. Finishing seventh is just incredible. The boat came sixth with Thomas Coville, fifth with “Jojo” (Sébastien Josse). As for my race, I owe it to my boat, my team, and all the experts, who were ready at all times of day and the people at Akena, who gave me so much support. It feels like there were 150 people aboard the boat!”
“ I should finish tomorrow after coffee and you’ll have time for a couple of brandies… The sun is out, the seas are not very choppy and there’s just 12 knots of wind, and even that is easing off. This morning the dolphins were back. It just makes it feel so good to be out here and so I’m taking advantage of every little moment. It’s just great!”
Steve White on Toe in the Water has 700 miles to the finish and seems to have to chosen to try and route to the east on an inshore course which are present is sending him back on a course south of Cape Finisterre where there is likely to be only light breezes and considerable traffic. He faces a long slow beat and consequently his ETA has now slipped to Wednesday or possibly Thursday. But he is still making the best part of ten knots this afternoon.
Rich Wilson, USA, (Great American III) has two options at the moment: to try and wriggle up the narrow band of contrary winds on the edge of the high pressure system to his east, which will save him miles but will require him to expend more energy, or to take the long way round. This routing sees him first having to breach a high pressure ridge which would see him slowed in light winds, which may in fact give him some time to re-group before a final push to France, but this is a longer routing.
Raphael Dinelli’s (Fondation Océan Vital) fortunes have improved this afternoon as he starts to feel the more solid NE’ly trades, signaling he is leaving the Doldrums behind and indeed his speeds have picked up nicely in recent hours. And while he has been in the Doldrums it has been a chance for Norbert Sedlacek to gain 50 or so miles and so the Austrian is now 430 miles behind on Nauticsport-Kapsch. Sedlacek was contemplating his mast climb this afternoon to try and replace his two foresail halyards.
Norbert Sedlacek, Nauticsport-Kapsch: “ I had a lot of work to do during the night. There was a little rain and the wind shifted a few times. Now it’s settled to become an ENE’ly, but it is not that strong. There is 30% cloud cover. So I’m in a good mood now. The air and sea temperature are the same. 28°C. It’s just right for a nice shower.”
