Vendée Globe day 3 - How the day began
by Vendée Globe media 12 Nov 2008 09:43 GMT
12 November 2008
0400h GMT rankings
1-Jean Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) 23030.2 miles from the finish
2 Seb Josse (BT) +2.7 miles from leader
3-Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) 6.1 miles behind
4-Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) 11 miles from the leader
5-Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) 13 miles behind
6-Vincent Riou (PRB) 14.9 miles behind
Selected International
11-Mike Golding (ECOVER 3) + 51.3 miles
12- Dee Caffari (AVIVA) + 58.2 miles
13- Sam Davies (ROXY) +72 miles
14- Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) +73.1 miles
16- Steve White (Toe in the Water) +119.5 miles
News
After a perfect night’s sailing the Vendée Globe solo skippers are on the train south, pushed by favourable 15-18 knots N’ly winds and making around 12 knots heading towards the islands of Maderia.
Jean Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac 2) is leading again, 2.7 miles ahead of Seb Josse (BT).
After the storm the reward of brisk sailing under maximum downwind sail area sent by steady winds from the north, there is the chance to catch up on rest.
Jean Pierre Dick took the lead again overnight, taking a slightly more offshore route than Seb Josse who is the most easterly of the breakaway group of six which maintains a distance of about 30 miles on the chasing pack.
This morning Josse was about 195 miles NWW of Lisbon, while fifth placed Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) is the most offshore, about 40 miles further west.
Under perfect moonlit conditions Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) had to make a stop of about half an hour, around 0200hrs GMT, to remove an obstruction from his keel.
There is still only 15 miles between the leader and sixth placed Vincent Riou (PRB).
Eighth last night Mike Golding (Ecover 3) lies 11th this morning, 3.9 miles behind Marc Guillemot (Safran), while Dee Caffari (AVIVA) in 12th has made a progressive gain on 13th placed Sam Davies (ROXY), Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) is still 14th.
Back at the start line
Alex Thomson with the damaged Hugo Boss arrived back outside Les Sables d’Olonne at around 0500hrs GMT, awaiting the tide to enter the port to lift the boat out and make an assessment of the crack in his hull side.
Derek Hatfield (Algimouss Spirit of Canada) is working on his electrical repairs but is having to lift the rig from his boat to repair his mast track. Hatfield’s biggest concern at the moment is budget, a statement from his team said this morning.
Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) has his bowsprit repaired now and the mast only needs stepping, which should enable the Swiss sailor to set off again this evening (Wednesday). For Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Maisonneuve) who arrived back in port during the night, the pit stop could well take a little longer than expected. The French sailor has major structural problems to deal with and an inspection is set to be carried out this morning, while Marc Thiercelin (DCNS) is now docked in La Coruna in Spain.