Vendée Globe update

Ellen MacArthur on B&Q passes the midway point of her solo round the world record attempt on New Year's Eve © Ellen MacArthur / Offshore Challenges

Marc Thiercelin fifth skipper to retire from the Vendée Globe

Marc Thiercelin finally confirmed his retirement from his third Vendée Globe at 10h00 GMT this morning. He was clearly upset at the today’s radio session, after what is the first ever time he has not been able to complete a race in his entire sailing career, always endeavouring to finish what he sets out to do. “Lots of things are knocking around in my head; you have to accept that there’s nothing you can do and bounce back.” For the rest of the now 15-strong fleet, conditions are very different throughout the rankings. The top six are powering along in favourable Westerlies, Riou and Golding making a less rapid comeback on the leader than originally thought as they have had to gybe north to avoid an ice field unusually far west spotted by a Canadian satellite last night. Le Cam is currently leading by 250.3 miles having again covered the most ground over the past 24 hours (332 miles). Behind them a calm has stretched itself lazily across the fleet from Moloney back to Schwab while Humphreys is on a high speed dash on a high speed boat heading up towards Campbell island and the ice field in a pea-souper of a fog just 33 miles behind Schwab. All the Anglo-Saxons are now unofficially in the top ten. Patrice Carpentier rejoined the race in the early hours of the morning after successfully carrying out various repairs, notably to his boom, in a sheltered bay off Southern Tasmania.

Having arrived at around 04h00 GMT this morning in the Bay of Akaroa in New Zealand, the skipper from La Rochelle was able to quickly analyse the state of his monohull. “There is too much to do. I don’t have the right material aboard to make repairs to everything that is damaged on ProForm. I am forced to request outside assistance. It’ll take me ten days to do the necessary work to get the boat back into shape”. Marc then hopes to head towards the Pacific Ocean again and complete his round the world single-handed. Marc will make the repairs himself with the help of a couple of people he knows in the area that he got to know during a stopover in the Boc Challenge in 1998.

Having suffered a great deal in the race during the first weeks of the Vendée Globe 2004, Marc then accumulated considerable amount of damage: destroyed bow sprit, broken mainsail traveller cars, leaks, no internet access (and thus weather data)…It was finally a weakness in his masthead (D3) that forced ProForm to divert to New Zealand. In the throes of his disappointment, Marc Thiercelin said during the radio session that he didn’t want to do another single-handed round the world race. “The Vendée Globe is over for me. You have to know when to stop. It’s the increase in the amount of work which requires an enormous amount of investment. I have other projects, in lots of other domains. The programme with ProForm isn’t over yet either; there is still the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Route du Rhum…”

Leading the Vendée Globe fleet by over 250 miles Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) said that he was itching to get out of the Southern Ocean. “The icebergs are magnificent, but whoever rubs up against one gets stung. I am dying to turn left and I am rather happy to be first. I’ve seen enough of the south and it is time to go onto other things. I’m going to open my package for the 31st and I think that I will cook up a good meal.”

Second placed Vincent Riou (PRB) was on form in second having hooked onto the wagon to the Cape Horn. “It has been a bit strange in the south with the presence of a little depression centre that I hadn’t noticed. I was so absorbed by this issue with the icebergs that I gybed a tad early. I have plotted the icebergs on my computer spotted by the Canadian satellite and I’m going to pass to their north. It is surprising to have ice 200 miles from the Horn. I am delighted with my course since the start. The climb back up the Atlantic should be nice, racing with a boat in good condition. The race is superb. We’re having a ball. Of course I feel really sorry for Marc Thiercelin. The distance of the boats means that it doesn’t affect me quite so much as it did when it was Bilou (Roland Jourdain) for example, that I was racing with since the start. Three quarters of the fleet are still racing which is rather good. At the moment it’s accelerating quite well. Tonight I will be right into my racing and will have little time to think of New Year’s Eve. I hope to pass the Horn on 3 or 4 January.

We’re on the right gybe now and finally making some progress in the right direction. It was very marginal and then it came my way” said Mike Golding (Ecover) of the same conditions. “The wind is gently strengthening and in the next 24 hours it will head us [ie the wind will veer further round towards the north] and we will slowly come down on to a course that will take us all the way to the Horn. So, a big arced course, along the rhumb line or to the north of it. If you don’t get to a certain place by a certain time you miss the boat. I think Jean will have to go through this transition and we should be able to close some miles down. I don’t know how much we’ll compress back up. Obviously I’ve been suffering from it for the last 36 hours. Whether or not he will suffer as much, remains to be seen. We are steaming along at the moment.”

With some totally windless zones behind in the mish-mash of high and low pressure systems sweeping between the two capes, Conrad Humphreys is lucky enough to in a great system. “Things are looking complicated up front with a high pressure ridge to negotiate. I think it´s possible to pass Bruce in the next 24 hours though. I´m in good winds at the moment but the ridge is moving east and I have to round it at some point. I will have to go north to round the ice, and then west. I think I should be able to get going again. For now I can´t see beyond the bowsprit, and we´re still sailing in 20 knots of wind..it´s stressful and I´m on edge. I´m relying on the fact that no ice has been reported in this area. I really need to have the radar running all the time but it draws a lot of power so I´m switching it on and off. I´ve got enough power at the moment to last me until the end of the race if I go carefully. I´m nervous, can´t sleep or even rest easily it´s too tense...I will head towards Campbell island and then gybe onto a safer course. I´m very pleased with my pace - since Cape Town I have made up 300 miles on the leaders even though I haven´t been pushing overly hard. I feel I could push harder but I don´t want to break anything. I couldn´t be in a better place but it would be nice to spend New Year´s Eve with a few more people! For 2005 I´d like a new 60 footer for the next Vendee and a fast drive to Cape Horn."

The first competitors should pass the Cape Horn on Monday.

Happy New Year from all the Vendée Globe Team here in Paris.

Quotes from the Boats:

Karen Leibovici (Benefic): “I am becalmed, stuck in a ridge of high pressure. I’m not moving along very quickly. I’m making the most of it to make repairs and check the boat, especially going up to see what it looks like up forward. I have repaired by generator underneath the boat that converts the energy made by powering through the water into onboard power and helps me charge my batteries. My back is still causing me pain but I have decided to just live with it. The pain will only go away when I’ve had the iron bars taken out of my back (after a car accident in August). My wishes for 2005? Wind to catch up with my friends.”

Anne Liardet (Roxy): “I’ve had some real hassles today! My main automatic pilot has gone haywire and I have spent all day on it trying to understand why it’s broken down. I think I’ve found out the reason but it’s nigh time at the moment and I’m going to sleep a little before I can repair it tomorrow. I think it’s a problem linked with the dampness. The past year has involved a great deal of emotion and work to get where I am today.”

Nick Moloney (Skandia): “Crossed the dateline, so my New Year is tommorrow! New Year’s Eve, not got much planned...I’ve got a bottle of champagne for Cape Horn though. Think I can still catch some of the boats ahead of me, but it’s likely to be a procession to Cape Horn, and then we’ll see what happens in the Atlantic. It has surprised me every day that I have got this far to be honest. Pretty hard work. A lot harder than I thought it was going be. Only 40 more days of eating of Go bars, and then never again in my life! Hardest thing for me is not being able to go down below, get my oilskins off and get in my bunk knowing that everything is ok on deck with the other guys up there, and go to sleep. I can never shut my eyes and think everything is under control, that makes life tough and very limiting! The good thing about having New Year in the middle of the ocean is that the cops can´t chuck me in jail. It´s really good to be approaching the new year and I really hope that 2005 has in store for me a fantastic memory of the finish and a fantastic memory of a large portion of this adventure, and I hope 2005 brings for everybody else a lot of happiness and a lot less world grief. My thoughts a primarily with people in desperation or heartbreak from the effects of the tidal wave.”

Bruce Schwab (Ocean Planet): “Regarding our much less dramatic efforts at sea, I have been battling to stay in front of a ridge of high pressure that would park us for some time if we get caught. The options have been limited; either very far south towards the icebergs or the more northerly route we are taking. Right now we right on the edge of the ridge just barely staying in the wind, and that is why we jibed to the north for a few hours last night, which worked quite well. If we can hold on, hopefully we can pass under New Zealand without getting swallowed by the high. If we get stuck then there will be headwinds afterwards, so the going will be very slow. Behind us, Conrad on Hellomoto is flying with good winds while we try to keep crawling along. But that is the way it goes. He is also apparently willing to sail a very daring course right through the area of icebergs south of New Zealand at 51/52 degrees latitude. I wish him luck.”

Position Report: (14:30 GMT)

Update from Mike Golding, ECOVER:

This morning Ecover was the most southerly of the three lead boats in the Vendee Globe and had just gybed back onto a course just north of east, a manoeuvre that may be skipper Mike Golding’s last before he approaches Cape Horn, the maritime world’s most notorious landmark, on Monday (3rd January).

“How am I doing? Good – better,” said Golding this morning. “We’re on the right gybe now and finally making some progress in the right direction.”

Yesterday morning Golding had attempted to make the gybe northeast but without success and ended up losing ground to race leader Jean le Cam in the process. He gybed back to the southeast risking entrapment by the lighter winds to his south and then at around 2200GMT last night made the crucial gybe back, this time successfully.

“It was very marginal and then it came my way,” said Golding. At present the great circle route to Cape Horn (ie the shortest distance) is on a course of 110deg but this is not a good option as it will take Ecover into lighter winds. Instead Golding will take a route closer to the rhumb line course (effectively sailing a compass course towards Cape Horn of around 090deg). This is longer but will enable Golding to sail faster in stronger wind.

On port gybe this morning, with 24-30 knots of westerly wind coming over the port aft quarter of the boat, Golding says his optimum route to the Horn will take him on a long arc north. “The wind is gently strengthening and in the next 24 hours it will head us [ie the wind will veer further round towards the north] and we will slowly come down on to a course that will take us all the way to the Horn. So, a big arced course, along the rhumb line or to the north of it.”

For this to work timing will be critical. “If you don’t get to a certain place by a certain time you miss the boat,” he says. This means that if Golding falls behind then he risks falling into light winds 24 hours out from Cape Horn.

Another advantage of sailing to the north is that it takes him away from yet more icebergs on this occasion spotted by a satellite belonging to a Canadian survey company. This morning the northernmost of these was just 170 miles off Ecover’s starboard bow.

The shifting conditions over the last 48 hours have seen his closure on race leader Jean le Cam grow again from under 200 miles to 308 this morning. Golding believes he can regain some of this lost ground before reaching the Horn. “I think he’ll have to go through this transition and we should be able to close some miles down,” he says of le Cam. “I don’t know how much we’ll compress back up. Obviously I’ve been suffering from it for the last 36 hours. Whether or not he will suffer as much remains to be seen. We are steaming along at the moment.”

For Golding his arrival at Cape Horn can’t come soon enough. “My New Year’s resolution is not to come back to the Southern Ocean on the Vendee Globe! That is an obvious one I might be able to keep. I wish everyone a Happy New Year and look forward to seeing everyone back in LSD [the finish in Les Sables d’Olonne]. Hopefully that won’t be too long now.”

Update from Nick Moloney, Skandia:

‘Crossed the dateline, so my New Year is tomorrow! New Year’s Eve, not got much planned...I’ve got a bottle of champagne for Cape Horn though.

Think I can still catch some of the boats ahead of me, but its likely to be a procession to Cape Horn, and then we’ll see what happens in the Atlantic.

It has surprised me every day that I have got this far to be honest. Pretty hard work. A lot harder than I thought it was going be. Only 40 more days of eating of Go bars, and then never again in my life!

Hardest thing for me is not being able to go down below, get my oilskins off and get in my bunk knowing that everything is ok on deck with the other guys up there, and go to sleep. I can never shut my eyes and think everything is under control, that makes life tough and very limiting!’

The good thing about having new year in the middle of the ocean is that the cops can't chuck me in jail. It's really good to be approaching the new year and I really hope that 2005 has in store for me a fantastic memory of the finish and a fantastic memory of a large portion of this adventure, and I hope 2005 brings for everybody else a lot of happiness and a lot less world grief . My thoughts a primarily with people in desperation or heartbreak from the effects of the tidal wave’

For full audio at www.ocftp2.com/audio/vendee2004/nm311204b_uk_e.mp3
New Year thoughts and a message from Nick at www.ocftp2.com/audio/vendee2004/nm2005_uk.mp3

Update from Conrad Humphreys, Hellomoto:

“I’m flying along at 20 knots in very thick fog, so thick I can’t see the end of the bowsprit… The water temperature’s down to 4.5 degrees here and with it comes the fog because the NW wind is not as cold. I got into it first thing this morning, I’ve drifted a bit further North since and it cleared up a bit, the water temperature went up to 7.5 degrees and now it’s very, very thick, and so it’s pretty stressful as the wind angle is far forward and it’s fast, wet sailing. I’ve been in this for 12 hours already and there’s nothing I can do, I’ve put the radar on and put the rear-mounted camera back on the stern as it draws less power than the radar, but I really need the radar on full time now. I’m half relying on the fact that no ice has been seen in this area. It’s edgy… I had a brief chat with Ellen this morning, she was about 40m behind me and further south but I hear she has rolled underneath me. We were both charging batteries at the time so it was pretty noisy. It’s good to know each other’s positions given the conditions but I do feel for her going through this on a trimaran, at least I only have one hull…

“I’m edgy partly because this high pressure ridge has changed shape and instead of lying from the NW to the SE it lies now from NE to SW and it’s a bit of a race against time to get through. I want to pass north of Campbell Island and make my way back up to 50 degrees South. I need to average some high speeds to get through the ridge. It’s better for me than the boats to the north but it’s the agonising thing that if you hang in to the south you have to hang into the breeze. Having decided to pass north of Campbell Island and north of the ice it’s a race to get through this ridge and I’m sailing with my foot down pretty hard at the moment… Joe Seeten’s got headwinds and can’t tack to the North or he’ll run straight into the high pressure, he’s realised the only way through is to head south. In reality, though, he won’t lose anymore if he just sits where he is and has a 24hr kip and wait for the South Westerlies to move forward again! It’s the same with Bruce on Ocean Planet, he’s got 300 miles of calms to get through, whereas even if I cross the ridge at 52 South there is some gradient wind. The whole ridge is moving east and it’s real make or break as if you get on the other side of it you will get away in the South Westerlies, otherwise you could be parked up for a long time on the South East of New Zealand..

“Looking ahead I just want to get beyond this ice, that’s my major focus. By the 3rd or 4th January things will be back into a rhythm again but this period of transition is tricky, as you don’t sleep, you’re pushing the boat hard, I’m nervous about resting because you’re not making the right tactical decisions and you’re analysing the weather 3 or 4 times a day but I can’t really afford to with the power issues. It would be good to get through this transition and get moving again. Sailing a little bit blind is tense…

“I’m ready for New Year and had a full wash and scrub, change of clothing but I didn’t shave my beard! I’ve rummaged around and found the New Year Day Pack with a few gifts – in particular I got a ‘Whoopee’ cushion, I’m wondering who thought I’d need some extra wind power down here..?! I got mini bottles of Plymouth Gin and tonic water and a couple of party poppers, but if I fired off the bowsprit right now they’d disappear without me seeing where they went!

“Happy New Year to my team, my sponsor Motorola, everyone who has sent messages or been checking the web site, have a great time! Make sure you compile your list of things you want to do next year and tick them off! It will happen and Good Luck! I’m looking forward to 2005, to getting through this part of the race…it’s a pretty awesome place to be celebrating New Year, I didn’t expect to be 20 miles from Ellen, and I’ve got my bottle of bubbly to crack open as it’s New Year for me in a couple of hours. Maybe this fog will lift as I scream my way past Macquarie Island to the south of me and start climbing north towards Campbell Island.

More Information:

• Vendee Globe website