December 2016 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 7. V G U - A' S E The Vendée Globe, a singlehanded non-
stop race round the world starting and ending in France, is the most challenging yacht race. This race is dominated by the French, who spend years training to be the best. The British have fared well at times, but really no other country has threatened the French dominance. To be successful you need to be physical fi t, be able to operate without, or at least with, minimal sleep for days on end, and be one of the best sailors in the world. You also need a great pocket book with un- limited depth. Without the proper funds you cannot purchase a new or competitive used racer fully equipped with a strong support team.
Several Americans have competed in
the Vendée Globe and this year Rich Wil- son is the only American entrant out of the 29 competitors. He has had an interesting life, with degrees from Harvard and MIT, taught and lectured, worked for the Defense Department, was a political speech writer and invested well. Over the years, he has become one of the top sailors in the world. He has made a number of record-breaking runs all over the world notably Hong Kong to New York, New York to Melbourne and San Francisco to Boston. He competed in the 2008 Vendée Globe and placed 9th
out
30 racers with a time of 121 days. However, he suff ered a major setback early in the race during the fi rst storm when he was thrown around inside his racer breaking two ribs. He was unable to sleep in his bunk until he reached the Indian Ocean. Despite the extreme discomfort he was in, he was de- termined to fi nish. He was not going to let down the thousands of children following him from their classrooms around the world. Rich wanted to be more competitive for this Vendée Globe and after the 2012 race
he purchased one of the new Open 60s. He headed to France, renamed the boat GREAT AMERICAN IV and sailed his new racer to Maine Yacht Center in Portland for a much needed refi t. Brian Harris, who runs Maine Yacht Center and well-known for his knowl- edge of preparing these type of racers, said in a statement, “The refi t covered all aspects of the boat. Removal of the canting keel and servicing of the bearings and hydraulic rams. Removal and service of the twin dagger boards and bearings. Removal of the twin rudders and steering system and complete service of the bearings and steering gear. Servicing and updating the Harken pedestal driven winch system. Inspection and service of the carbon mast and all halyard locks, including EC6 standing rigging and replac- ing textile backstays and textile anti-torsion headstays. Upgrades included: modifying interior structure to create an area where standing headroom exists. Building a more ergonomic navigation station with a bench seat/crib that is capable of being adjusted via block and tackle to always remain level when the boat is heeled for a better sleeping position. New electrical system, panels, wir- ing and electronics including Lithium Ion batteries. New alternative energy charging system including solar, wind and dual tran- som hung hydro generators. New B&G sail- ing instrumentation along with redundant autopilots and gyro compasses. Installation and integration of computer systems, several diff erent large band width satellite commu- nication systems and camera systems for onboard video.” On 21 November Rich is going well, place and making his way through
in 20th
the South Atlantic Ocean. He said in a radio message, “We’re making our way south heading just about due south. Things have
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been pretty stable and everything’s going well. We’ve got about 13 or 14 knots of true wind speed from ESE direction and with that there are pretty moderate sea conditions. We had a couple of minor things onboard the boat that I had to deal with – the hydrogene- rator hydraulic stopped working so that was three or four days of trying to fi gure out a solution for it. I fi nally did and now it’s all solved and the hydrogenerator is working now. Things like that get your attention for sure – one of the things I know about boats at sea is that when a boat needs you you have to deal with it right away, it doesn’t matter what your speed is. In the last couple of days I’ve been able to get more sleep and that’s helped a lot so I’m feeling pretty good about things right now. There’s a group of seven boats that got away and they’re gone. They’re on the other side of what’s going to be a massively confusing weather situation right in the middle. There’s really no telling what’s going to be happening. Its going to be a toss of the dice whether one can get to the south east.”
On 6 November the 29 racers came
to the line for the start of the 2016 Vendée Globe at Les Sables d’Olonne, France with more than 300,000 spectators watching. The start was given by HRH Prince Albert II of Monaco and a couple of boats were a few seconds over early and were forced to come back and restart. With a few of the top racers sporting foils it was thought that records will fall, the fi rst being to the equator, which it was thought could be done in six or seven days. This is weather dependent. The weath- er forecasts for the start was good with 15-20 knots northerly breeze, which will make the run through the Bay of Biscay exceptionally fast to the trade winds off the Canaries. Not long after the start Spanish skipper
Didac Costa turned his racer ONE PLANET ONE OCEAN as she was taking on water and an electrical issue had developed. On day 8 after the start British racer HUGO BOSS (Alex Thomson) was in the
Continued on Page 19.
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