January 2017 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 19. Vendee Globe Update Continued from Page 1. 28 November (Day 23): BANQUE


POPILAIRE VIII is now pulling away from HUGO BOSS with a lead of 31 miles. Since both racers are on port tack HUGO BOSS cannot use the damaged starboard foil. Third place EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD (Se- bastien Josse) is dropping further back and is now more than 500 miles back. The rest of the main fl eet is still stuck in the St. Helena high averaging just 5 knots compared to the 20+ of the leaders. Some of those further back still know they have a chance as this is a race of attrition. If you can keep your boat together, mostly by being lucky, you still have a chance to win. Another retirement occurred when INITIATIVES COEUR (Tanguy de Lamotte) sailed back into Les Sables d’Olonne. Despite being retired due to mast damage, his raising money for chil- dren who need heart surgery, he was treated as a hero. 29 November (Day 24):The top two


racers are still within 20 miles of each other as they neared the Kerguelen Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean. HUGO BOSS was hoping to be able to tack so he could use the good foil and increase his speed. They, as well as those back more than 3,500 miles, were expecting a big breeze. Ten boats were still in the Atlantic and they were starting to get more speed as they moved out of the depression. 1 December (Day 26): HUGO BOSS


was back in fi rst, but only by 30 miles. They are still in favourable weather, which means more records could fall. A great description for one of the racers who had suff ered in the back with very light winds for several days, but now was in 30 knots of breeze and building seas. In 20th


place is American


Rich Wilson, he said, “It’s noisy, the boat’s vibrating all the time, and then there’s a motion to it which is this sort of jittery, erratic movement like a freight train going downhill out of control. You’ve got to hold on all the time, and how you sustain that stress especially at night in the dark is just really hard. It’s not comfortable physically or mentally – at least for me it isn’t.” 2 December (Day 27): HUGO BOSS


was still in the lead, but just by 15 miles. With a storm bearing down on some of the racers in the middle of the fl eet near the Kerguelen Islands the thought was how they could fi nd some shelter. The racers did not like winds over 30 and waves over 18 feet in height as it really punishes the boat. 3 December (Day 28): Jean Pierre


Dick sailed his racer STMICHEL-VIRBAC into the Antarctic Exclusion Zone and was penalized eight hours. This zone is designed to lessen the threat from drifting ice and he had failed to update his computer when the ice wall was updated. The two leaders were four miles apart


and 800 miles from Cape Leeuwin on the Western end of Australia and six days ahead of François Gabart’s 2012-13 record pace. 4 December (Day 29): SPIRIT OF


YUKOH (Kojiro Shiraishi) has suff ered a broken mast in winds of 35+ mph. The break occurred above the second spreaders and since there was no way to make repairs he was forced to retire and headed for Cape Town. To date, fi ve racers have retired from the fl eet of 29 who started the race. HUGO BOSS was still in the lead and


was 39 miles ahead of second place BAN- QUE POPILAIRE VIII and was just 220 miles from Cape Leeuwin. 5 December (Day 30): BANQUE POP-


ILAIRE VIII is back in the lead by 100 miles over HUGO BOSS and is ready to break the record from France to Cape Leeuwin. BANQUE POPILAIRE VIII passed the


YORK'S MARINE 11 Gordon Drive Rockland, Maine 04841 (207) 596-7400 www.yorkmarineinc.com


Cape in a time of 28 days, 20 hours and 12 minutes, breaking the former record by 5 days and 14 hours. Just over fi ve hours later and back about 100 miles from the leader HUGO BOSS passed the Cape. With the high winds being experienced


by some they are trying to protect their boat and gear. Still there were several that suff ered torn sails and rigging issues. ED- MOND DE ROTHSCHILD while sailing in 30+ knots of wind and 12 foot seas suff ered damage to the upper part of the port foil and its trimming system. Due to more severe conditions forecast, he has opted to protect the boat and worry about the race when conditions became more favorable. Another damaged boat was FAMILLE MARY-ET- AMINE DU LYS (Romain Attanasio) with damaged rudders. 6 December (Day 31): American Rich


Wilson, has passed the Cape of Good Hope in an elapsed time of 29 days, 16 hours, 18 minutes.


BASTIDE OTIO (Kito de Pavant) hit


an unidentifi ed object severely damaging his keel housing and mounts and this meant all the was supporting the keel was the hy- draulic ram. He was also experiencing a lot of incoming water, which has fl ooded the engine compartment. A rescue call went out with the nearest vessel just over 100 miles away. Since by the time they arrive on scene it will be dark and it was thought that they would wait until daylight and rescue Kito with a RIB. 7 December (Day 32): Kito was now


safely on board the research vessel MARI- ON DUFRESNE about 100 miles from the Crozet Islands. Now came news from LE SOUFFLE DU NORD POUR LE PROJET IMAGINE (Thomas Ruyant) suff ered a failure to his port ballast tank system when the snorkel tube broke off . He quickly tacked getting the hole out of the water so he could make repairs. In third place, EDMOND DE ROTH-


SCHILD (Sebastien Josse, French) an- nounced their retirement due to severe damage to the port foil that would not be eff ective enough to sail the rest of the way, which is about 15,000 miles. The two leaders were now more than


1000 miles ahead of third place. BANQUE POPILAIRE VIII is still in the lead over HUGO BOSS with a 140 mile lead. 8 December (Day 33): The two leaders


passed the imaginary halfway point, but they now needed to protect their boats due to the upcoming weather system.


9 December (Day 34): The leaders are


in a severe low as the fi ght across the Tasman Sea.


10 December (Day 35): Leaders escape


the low, but HUGO BOSS is not 170 miles behind BANQUE POPILAIRE VIII. They can now look over their boats and see what needs to be dealt with and may be catch up on a little sleep. 11 December (Day 36): BANQUE PO-


PILAIRE VIII lead during the night shrank back to 80 miles. 12 December (Day 37): It was becom-


ing obvious that the damage to the starboard foil was plaguing HUGO BOSS’s speed. Skipper of KILCULLEN VOYAG-


ER-TEAM IRELAND (Enda O’Coineen) says, “Why am I putting myself through this? It’s tough, it’s cold, it’s wet and to think I did it with my own free-will.” 13 December (Day 38): BANQUE


POPILAIRE VIII has had a better time than HUGO BOSS in the low pressure system and now has a lead of about 175 miles. 14 December (Day 39): With a storm


threatening several of the racers back in the pack JP Dick sailed ST MICHEL-VIRBAC through the Bass Strait and was traveling at 16 knots, but this is 400 miles north of the rhumb line. The two leaders were sailing right on


the edge of the Exclusion Zone and BAN- QUE POPILAIRE VIII now had a lead of over 200 miles on HUGO BOSS. HUGO BOSS was hoping that the wind would change so he could change tacks and use his


only foil. It was predicted that the front two would reach Cape Horn at Christmas. 15 December (Day 40): Conditions


were not the best as there was little gain for any of the racers. BANQUE POPILAIRE VIII now had a nearly 300 mile lead over HUGO BOSS. 16 December (Day 41): BANQUE


POPILAIRE VIII lead is now 360 miles over HUGO BOSS and feels that he will make Cape Horn on 22 December. As for American Rich Wilson, who is place, he was experiencing 40 knots


in 17th


of wind behind the low the worst conditions for any of the racers. 17 December (Day 42): Twelve racers


have now passed Cape Leeuwin. BANQUE POPILAIRE VIII was riding the back of the low and HUGO BOSS was still in the low and dropping further back. 18 December (Day 43): COMPAGNIE


DU LIT / VILLE DE BOULOGNE-BILL- ANCOURT (Stephane Le Diraison) which was in 10th


place has been dismasted. The


rig was cut away and he has set a jury rig and is heading for Melbourne, Australia. The following day he announced that he was withdrawing from the race. LE SOUFFLE DU NORD POUR LE


PROJET IMAGINE (Thomas Ruyant) has stuck an unidentifi ed object causing struc- tural damage near the bow and to the star- board rudder. He was surveying the damage and making plans to sail up to New Zealand. New Zealand offi cials have been contacted incase the situation worsens.


NEED TO MOVE YOUR BOAT? CALL YORK'S BOAT TRANSPORTATION


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31