Page 18. MAINE COASTAL NEWS March 2017 American Rich Wilson Finishes Vendee Globe 31 January (Day 87): Louis Burton
now has 600 miles to go to the fi nish and the nearest competitor behind him is 2136 miles back. He now has 25 knots of breeze in the Bay of Biscay and this is forecast to build to 30 or more.
Nandor Fa is still in the clutches of the
anticyclone off the Azores and will suff er with light winds another 24 to 30 hours. 1 February (Day 88): Just 450 miles
off of Rio de Janeiro the duel between Didac Costa and Romain Attanasio, who were just 45 miles apart. They are battling for the 15th and 16th
pressure on Rich Wilson in 14th
position, but they are also putting who has
lost 300 miles to them in the last week. Rich has also lost distance on the 13th
place racer
(Alan Roura). 2 February (Day 89): Arnaud
Yamm Elies' QUEGUINER-LEUCEMI. Photo: Alexis Courcoux Continued from Page 5.
still some close battles taking place. One is between LA MIE CÂLINE (Arnaud Boissières) NEWREST-MATMUT (Fab- rice Amedeo) with just 20 miles between the two off of Brazil. It was also expected that TECHNO-
FIRSTFACEOCEAN (Sébastien Des- tremau) would round Cape Horn over the weekend and when he exist he was asked by the Race Director to lock the door behind him.
Rich Wilson (GREAT AMERICAN
IV) has built a very successful education program (sitesALIVE) who is reach up to one million students from 46 countries each week, Rich added, “It is hard for me. Sure it is. But that is the point of being out here. We know we are not going to be up at the front of the fl eet, so that the reason I am out here. So far I have been very good at delivering on time, answering questions. I know we have 66 countries participating, that makes me so happy. I am going to start crying in a minute. It is very satisfying.” Lauren Zike, who coordinates the program said, “I think that as this race wears on and the days stretch
ahead of Rich, it is the education program which will get Rich through the days, we continue to ask for question from all those kids who are following along, send us more questions and tell us what you are learning about. That really makes a huge impact for Rich. We have the patronage of the French Ministry of Education and all of our program has been distributed throughout France and it has been wonderful to have the French website and so we are able to receive ques- tions in French and respond to them. Rich even responded to one French girl who asked about his asthma, he posted a video for her replying in French. We have a great dialogue with the students.” 29 January (Day 85): TECHNO-
FIRSTFACEOCEAN (Sébastien Des- tremau) rounded Cape Horn in eighteenth position and the last racer on the course. 30 January (Day 86): At 0845 hrs.
UTC FORESIGHT NATURAL ENERGY (Conrad Colman) crossed the equator into the Northern Hemisphere. In 14th
erly trade wind and was going about 9 knots. However Rich is losing miles to 13th Roura (LA FABRIQUE).
, Rich Wilson had found an east- Alan
Boissières crossed the equator last night at 2340 hrs. (Wednesday). He was followed by Fabrice Amedeo who crossed at 0822 hrs. 3 February (Day 90): Nandor Fa
(SPIRIT OF HUNGARY) has had a tough week in the anticyclone off the Azores. He was close to the fi nish and then to hit a wall and be stalled due to a lack of wind has been trying. The forecast for the last three days had promised a reprieve, but none came. However today, the reprieve came and he was doing 12-14 knots with less than 1600 miles to go to the fi nish. He still faces chal- lenges with the weather and the usual ship traffi c.
Alan Roura crossed the equator at 1225
hrs. UTC and this leaves fi ve others to cross. 4 February (Day 91): Nandor Fa was
now experiencing winds around 50 knots as he rides the edge of a low pressure system. 5 February (Day 92): Nandor Fa had
a number of friends already at the fi nish in Les Sables d’Olonne, but he told him to have patience as he was still three days away (just over 900 miles to go). He competed in his fi rst Vendee Globe in 1992-3 and fi nished fi fth and was the fi rst non-French racer to complete the event. He returned for the 1996-7 Vendee Globe with a new 60-footer that he had designed and built. Unfortunate- ly just before the start of the race the boat was dropped by a crane and then in the race he was in a collision with a tanker in the Bay of Biscay. He returned to Les Sables d’Olonne, made repairs, and headed out again. This time he suff ered issues with his electronics and generators and that ended his race. This is his third attempt, again with a 60-footer
designed and built by himself. 6 February (Day 93): Nandor Fa was
now less than 650 miles from the fi nish. Be- hind him was Eric Bellion, 900 miles back. Coleman needs to be cautious and protect his boat and equipment as he heads for the fi nish.
Rich Wilson crossed the equator at
1816 hrs. UTC. He said, “It took quite a while to get here, that’s for sure! Yesterday, we got almost to the line and then got north winds, so we were beating back up to get to the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a little trying and right now it’s very light. The high has moved a little bit and taken the pressure off the trade winds, so the ITCZ has moved a little way north. So we have a little further to go to get to the other side of the Doldrums. It’s a nice day outside. We have started to prepare for the trade winds. I’ve furled up the genoa and put that away. I’m pretty tired, but we’re making progress. The South American coast is very long and we had a couple of episodes when we were completely becalmed and going in circles. It was very discouraging. You work harder in those conditions for just a few miles than you do when you have strong, steady winds. I’m sure it was the same sort of situation for everybody, so it’s hard to get into a regular sleep pattern. I’ve been checking the boat. We have a few things on our checklist we look at every day. Ahead there are some very strong winds. It may moderate by the time we get there, but the winds will still be fairly strong. I hope we don’t have anything like the current winds. I imagine another two weeks. At this point, the goal is to get there safely and not make any mistakes with the boat or yourself, making sure you don’t get hurt or anything like that. I’m looking for my fi rst meal back at the Buff alo Grill, but I don’t know which day.” 7 February (Day 94): The distance
between Didac Costa and Romain Attanasio is now just 12 miles as they both crossed the equator. 8 February (Day 95): SPIRIT OF
HUNGARY (Nandor Fa, 63 years old) crossed the fi nish line at 1054 hrs. UTC in eighth place. His time was 93 days, 22 hours, 52 minutes and 9 seconds. He went 27,850 miles at an average speed of 12.35 knots. He said, “It is over. I have done it. It was successful according to my rules, my hopes. This is such beautiful weather to fi nish, the gods are with me and the people, friends,
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