Vendee Globe - the Real Race

[DeepFrz]

I think one of the true hero's of the race is Alessandro Di Benedetto. He is sailing the oldest boat, the only boat without a canting keel and yet he is setting a pace that would have been unheard of 12 or 16 yrs ago. The leaders look like they could smash the record by as much as a week and yet the compression from first to last is also (so far) a record short distance. Amazing.

[DeepFrz]

It looks like the leaders are into their last week before the finish line. They are expecting the winner to cross next Sun.

Here is a link to a neat highlight video. Alessandro is up the mast and filming.
Day 72 highlights - Vidéo Dailymotion

[DeepFrz]

Alessandro had to make another trip up the mast (second in two days) and then in an accidental gibe he broke a rib. The main sheet hit him in the face and knocked him down. He also lost another head sail in the gibe.

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Alessandro had to make another trip up the mast (second in two days) and then in an accidental gibe he broke a rib. The main sheet hit him in the face and knocked him down. He also lost another head sail in the gibe.

Oh no! He's down two headsails now. Broken rib will affect his ability to sleep. He is an incredibly tough sailor, but this is starting to get worrying. Little doubt he'll be DFL, but we all want him to finish safely!

[mbianka]

Going to miss checking in on these guys once the race is finished. Still amazed at the speeds they move at. Hopefully soon they will have live streaming video in the future so one can watch the activity on board at anytime and not just a highlight file. Feel bad for Allesandro a broken rib on a bouncing boat can not be too much fun.

[DeepFrz]

From the Vendee Globe web site:

Contacted by phone this morning, Alessandro tries to recover and rest. Already very tired by his two mast climbs – he hasn’t slept for 48 hours - Alessandro has kept up his morale despite the pain and the fatigue.

That says a lot for the man.

[DeepFrz]

Oh, oh, another casualty.

At 23.45hrs UTC, while sailing in the third position of the Vendée Globe, about 500 miles northwest of the Cape Verde islands, Jean-Pierre Dick called his team to inform them that his boat, Virbac-Paprec 3, had lost its whole keel at 22.45hrs UTC. The skipper from Nice has stabilised the situation. The boat has full ballasts and Dick is sailing at 8 knots towards the Azores.

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Oh, oh, another casualty.

Ouch! A week from home! He was the one who hit what he thought was some wood that took a bite out of his rudder? Must have dinged his keel too on the way by.

[DeepFrz]

The last one to hit a UFO was Tanguy de Lamotte on Initiatives Coeur and he damaged his rudder. I don't recall Jean Pierre Dick hitting anything. But what a disappointment it must be for JPD.

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

The last one to hit a UFO was Tanguy de Lamotte on Initiatives Coeur and he damaged his rudder. I don't recall Jean Pierre Dick hitting anything. But what a disappointment it must be for JPD.

Oops, you're right. Sorry.

Just read his account. Can't believe the chaos he dealt with. He's now heading to the Azores at a nice, leasurly 8 knots!!! What a freaking boat.

[DeepFrz]

Can you imagine racing these 60 ft boats at speeds up to 31-32 knots? And they have been in some remarkable seas with winds up to 50 kn. It does look like the keels are a weak link though. And they have had a lot of problems with the hydro generators which are not really a part of the boat but are so important because of the low volume of fuel they carry.

[kjames]

I just read about JPD's misfortune. Very sad after getting so close to the finish. Must be devastating.

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Can you imagine racing these 60 ft boats at speeds up to 31-32 knots? And they have been in some remarkable seas with winds up to 50 kn. It does look like the keels are a weak link though. And they have had a lot of problems with the hydro generators which are not really a part of the boat but are so important because of the low volume of fuel they carry.

IMO solar panels and conventional wind turbines would seem to be the better choice for power over the damage prone water turbines. I love it when moving along and my wind turbine is making fuel for my electric propulsion system at the same time and I'm going nowhere near the speeds these guys are going:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: HAPPY AT THE HELM!
Hell even a 47 lb Honda 2000 generator would operate for four plus hours on one gallon of gas in pinch. Plus the fan exhaust cooling the inverter module makes a great hand warmer and dryer too!

[barnakiel]

I think the keel technology is pretty much under control by now. Except Safran's ;-)

Their Watt&Sea turbines gave headache to more than one boat. Just read thru captain's (b)logs on VG site and you find that it was not only for Stamm.

The point is probably solar panels do not deliver enough juice while there may be some other factor to the windgens that stops many skippers from using one.

b.

[DeepFrz]

The factor for the windgens is that they would be battered by water coming over the top of the boat plus they are adding windage and weight aloft.

The solar panels on Acciona have provided the bulk of the power needed however there are times...

I’m now using the hydro-generators more than ever, since for a few days it has been cloudy with rain, and the hydro-generators are taking on the main charge and working as usual.

Also from Acciona:

Today has been a day of celebration for ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered. At 22H GMT and 25 minutes on January 21, we crossed our own trail from the descent down south, which means ACCIONA 100%EcoPowered has now circumnavigated the world with eco-efficient energy and is the first to have achieved this without stopping.

It is a huge milestone in offshore sailing and also in the use of eco-efficient energy.

I want to take this chance to congratulate Acciona and the whole team…

Those quotes were reversed from the sequence in the original post from Accions.