Foncia leads around Cape Horn

Michel Desjoyeux aboard Foncia (pictured above) is expected to round Cape Horn between Sunday and Monday, leading the Vendee Globe solo race. He continues to set a blistering pace, with his closest challenger, Roland Jourdain more than 80 nautical miles behind him.

We received news this weekend of another retirement. Jonny Malbon on Artemis has been forced to abandon the race because of a series of problems with his mainsail. He has also been wrestling with a malfunctioning rudder, damaged earlier in a collision with a whale. We're sorry to hear about Jonny's misfortune. We wish him well. His on-shore support team cheered on Derek Hatfield earlier in the race and I'm sure the Canadian was very grateful, as we were, watching from the safety of terra firma.  Jonny now is making way towards the South Island of New Zealand for repairs.

Hatfield, meanwhile, arrived in Hobart, Tasmania, after a slow journey from the windy southern latitudes.  His team will assess the damage on Spirit of Canada and decide how to proceed for the return home.  Derek has a lot of fans in Canada and everyone is glad to see him safely into port after his earlier capsizing.

(Photo courtesy of the race organizers at www.vendeeglobe.org/en)
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An update from the South Atlantic: message from Spirit of Canada

Here's another dispatch from Derek Hatfield. He writes:

"Great sailing for the last 24 hours, a personal best in mileage at around 368 miles. Knock on wood (carbon), the weather forecast is still showing the possibility of cutting the corner on the St. Helena High and making some miles on the leaders. I'm watching this very closely as I don't want to get caught in the high pressure system that is coming, it will be brutally windless in this area for a few days on the weekend.

The temperature is still very warm and daytime it's shorts and t-shirt and night time a fleece. I can feel the coolness in the air as I head south and it won't be long until the full layers of long underwear and fleece are required. Of course, on deck, it's foul weather gear all the time due to the spray and waves breaking over the boat.

Top speed last night was 22 knots with sustained surfs on 18 knots for long periods of time, it was fantastic sailing. Today I've had to back off a gear from the genoa to the solent as the wind is getting up to high 20's. The boat is on the very edge of control and I felt it better to save the genoa to fight another day, given that it's the only one I have on board.

Word from back in Canada is that the government is in a bit of turmoil and the economy is at scary levels. I'm sure more than one of our sponsors are feeling the pinch of the recession. Hang in there and never give up on your goals. I feel a little guilty that I'm out here away from all of these woes but maybe some of you following the race can at least find it a motivating diversion from the financial situation.

Take care, Derek."

Race leaders In the Doldrums...while Hatfield worries about battery power

The leaders in the round-the-world race are wallowing in the Doldrums around the equator tonight, but they're optimistic that the breeze is returning. They hope they'll emerge relatively soon, within a day or two.

This is a photo of Loick Peyron, the race leader.  Notice the flat water behind him.Very slight breezes for the leading competitors today.

(Photo is courtesy of www.vendeeglobe.org and the Gitana team.)

Meanwhile, here's the latest from Derek Hatfield. He sent this dispatch today:

Hello from Algimouss Spirit of Canada

Position: 30 31.142 N X 19 26.222 W

I have been attempting to deal with a battery/charging problem for the past day so I may have suffered a little bit in the standings on the fleet. This problem was caused by the storm just after the start in the Bay of Biscay and it was not detected when we returned to the start line. I am more or less back up to speed now but watching the batteries very closely as I have not been able to solve the problem. I will continue to work on a solution.

Otherwise everything is good on board. The sailing is fantastic and the weather nice. More soon

Take Care

Derek

Getting ready for a round-the-world race

In less than two weeks, I will be updating you on an exciting event. It's a single-handed, round-the-world yacht race known as the Vendée Globe.

Just to qualify is a gruelling matter, and this year 30 skippers are ready to challenge themselves to the limits of endurance. The race begins in France and the sailors will follow the old Clipper Route around the globe. They will sail south in the Atlantic Ocean, round the tip of Africa and then continue East below Australia, out into the vast emptiness of the Pacific Ocean and then round Cape Horn at the tip of South America before heading north in the Atlantic again to return to France.

Weather and fatigue are going to be treacherous. In previous editions, storms have scrambled the field, damaged boats and killed competitors. Everyone hopes for none of these things and for good, fast sailing instead. The winner of the last race (2004-5), Vincent Riou of France, finished in 87 days, 10 hours and 47 minutes.

I hope to follow one boat in particular: The Algimouss Spirit of Canada. It will be skippered by Derek Hatfield, a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The boat was prepared in Port Credit, Ontario, not far from where I live.

Hatfield updates his sponsors by posting regular items on the team's website. Here's his latest update:

"As the countdown to the start of the 6th edition of the Vendee Globe clicks away, the Spirit of Canada team continues to carry out final modifications and preparations to make sure that the boat is ready. As you can imagine, one missed detail will result in a performance issue and in a worse case scenario, create a disastrous situation where I might have to stop, leading to disqualification. So, check… check…. check each small component and then check it again and then have someone else check it. The race village is now open and in full swing. Attendance is staggering with the first Sunday seeing 68,000 people on the pontoon. I haven't heard the numbers but this past weekend was even busier and I wouldn't be surprised if over 100,000 people walked past Spirit of Canada. It's impossible for the skippers to walk down the dock as they are swamped with people wanting autographs. It's absolutely unbelievable to have so much attention."

Hatfield reports the boat has passed its safety inspection and can now be loaded with the 84 food bags he will need for the event. The race begins November 9th.

For more information see the race website: Vendée Globe

The Spirit of Canada home page is here.

Photos on this page show Algimouss Spirit of Canada + Derek Hatfield. They are used with permission, courtesy of www.VendéeGlobe.org.
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