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9:15 PM Sun 28 Dec 2008 GMT
While Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) looks to be making something of an escape at the head of the fleet at the Western Pacific gate, Canadian Derek Hatfield is limping towards Australia after suffering two broken spreaders sustained when he Algimouss Spirit of Canada was knocked down late on Saturday night. The skipper is bruised but unharmed.
Seb Josse continues sailing to the north with no decisions forthcoming yet as to whether BT can be repaired.
This sixth edition of the Vend?e Globe will be 1160 miles longer than the 2004 race, the distance increased by the Pacific ice security gates put in place to corral the fleet north to avoid the proliferation of drifting ice. And so it will be another evening of d?j? vu for Michel Desjoyeuax (Foncia), not simply because he is increasing his lead at the top of the fleet, but because he will once again pass under the symbolic10,000 miles to the finish mark that had had already marked off prior to the East Pacific security gate being moved north.
Desjoyeaux has gained to lead by 85.8 miles this afternoon, reaping a dividend since he passed through the Western Pacific gate this morning to enjoy an improved wind angle and more conducive sea states. Only Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnment) has been able to stay with Foncia, Jean Le Cam (VM Mat?riaux) losing 78 miles over the last 24 hours, Armel Le Cl?ac'h (Brit Air) 118 miles and Vincent Riou (PRB), 102 miles.
Riou, the defending Vend?e Globe champion, reported problems with his engine and has been using his back up generator as the primary power source meantime. The worry for Le Cam, third, Le Cl?ac'h fourth and Riou, fifth is if - as Le Cam warned today at the radio broadcast - that conditions will continue to benefit The Professor.
Derek Hatfield, the Canadian skipper who has fought back valiantly to 16th since re-starting four and a half days after the fleet in Les Sable d'Olonne, is limping to Australia, possibly Hobart, after his Algimouss Spirit of Canada was knocked over by a big wave late on Saturday night. Hatfield told the radio vacations that he is 'devastated'. He was in his bunk one second and the next he was standing on the cabin roof. His two top port side spreaders which tension the standing rigging to support the mast, are broken, waving in the wind when the boat came upright again. Hatfield was pitchpoled and dismasted off Cape Horn during the Around Alone race in March 2004 in his Open 40, also Spirit of Canada.
Ninth placed Marc Guillemot has been making good speed since leaving the Auckland Islands early this morning, repairing his mainsail luff track in a quiet bay watched by an appreciative audience of noisy seals and a couple of scientific explorers on the remote island cluster. His remarkable race continues after spending 36 hours giving psychological support to injured Yann Eli?s. He has the trio Brian Thompson, GBR (Bahrain Team Pindar), Dee Caffari, GBR (Aviva) and Arnaud Boissi?res (Akena Verandas) in pursuit, some 180 miles behind, with Thompson quickest of the fleet this evening, passing Dee Caffari to regain tenth place.
Derek Hatfield, CAN, (Algimouss Spirit of Canada):'It is a nasty day for us. Early this morning the boat was rolled totally upside down, mast in the water, I found myself on the cabin roof and when I went outside two of the
spreaders are broken, the top two are broken on the port side. So I am heading north and obviously I don't think I will be able to fix them myself, I am just starting to assess how we are going to go forward from here.'
'It feels like it was totally upside down, you can see water at the windows, it was pretty unbelievable the size of the wave at the time. I was lying on the bunk at the time, and then the next minute I know I am standing on the ceiling type thing. The wave was obviously quite big but the waves, at the time, did not seem to be the size that could do that kind of thing. But it rolled very quickly and all kinds of things went whizzing past my head. I have a nasty bruise on my legs - not sure what did it - and a nasty bruise on my ribs. I just feel so bad for my sponsor Algimouss, and for all the people that have supported us to be in the race. It is very very sad.'
'We had been through a series of low pressure systems culminating in the one last night. Last night I had seen 55 knots and had to reduce to bare poles for a period of time. The boat was being totally overpowered and the seas were building. It was a number of times that we had been knocked down, it was only this morning as the winds were subsiding that the big wave rolled us over with the mast in the water. It was blowing 45-50 most of the night, very nasty conditions.'
'I feel devastated. It is a very emotional time. I have been cleaning the boat up and securing the mast, and putting the mainsail up a little bit. The bottom section is OK and so sailing slowly towards the north, towards Australia, it will take me five or six days to get there. I am just devastated for everybody in the team. We had not had a good time, but we were feeling pretty upbeat about the race. You can see though from the number of people who have been knocked out of the race, there is a very narrow margin between getting through, and, painfully, not getting through. Any one of the fleet could be in harm's way.
'It is surprisingly in the middle of the spreaders, about two thirds of the way out from the mast, one third of the end of the spreaders is broken.'
Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia): 'I haven't really touched the toolbox recently. I'm keeping an eye out to avoid any problems. As soon as conditions allow, I will be busy. But it's not for the moment. I've had my fair share of
problems, but I've managed to slip between the net. Sometimes the boat goes surfing down a wave and once she hits the bottom, it's a huge shock and you really tense up. But you can rest assured, I'm not doing anything silly.'
Vincent Riou (PRB):'One of my two generators is not working and I've just come back up, as it's more or less repaired. My foot is better and even if it still hurts a bit, it doesn't handicap me moving around the boat. I could go outside now, but the conditions aren't right for the moment. the seas are still rough, but it's nothing like what we had 36 hours ago. For the time being, everyone is licking their wounds and looking forward to Cape Horn for some finer weather. When the storm is really violent, all you can do is ride it out, forget the race and try to sail as best you can.
'In the end, all you can really do is sleep. Near the floor if possible to avoid getting shaken around too much by the waves.'
Dominique Wavre reaches Fremantle
At 8h30 local time, 23h30 GMT after sailing for just over ten days following damage to his keel head, Dominique Wavre (Temenos II) entered the harbour in Fremantle during the night with the help of some members from the Ecover and Gitana 80 teams.
'I am relieved and proud to have managed to sail Temenos II here. We're a team and I really did all I could to take care of her, so I'm pleased to have arrived. Of course, it hurts giving up the Vend?e Globe, and there will always be a degree of frustration, as the race goes on, and I'm looking ahead to the next one, but for the moment, it's a relief just to be here.
We hope to put Temenos II on board a container ship in mid-January. The boat is due to arrive in Europe a month or so later. We will then get together with the designers, engineers and experts, to try to understand how and why the keel broke.
It seems that Mike had a similar problem. We talked about it when I arrived this morning and we'll be working together to find a solution. In any case, we're going to have to find the means to be able to set sail again with a keel that we can totally rely on. We cannot make any concessions in this area, as the safety of the competitors depends on it.'
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