One of the things I've been following over the past few months has been the Vendee Globe around the world single handed yacht race.
30 sailors started and the first 3 are now back in. They're not quite beating Jules Verne's time of 80 days, the winner Michel Desjoyeaux achieved a record time of 84 days, 3 hours, 9 minutes travelling a total of 28303.2 nautical miles.
Valentines day yesterday was special in particular for one of the people involved in this race - our girl Sam Davies finished at 41 minutes past midnight on the 14th. Sam's been the sailor I've been most interested in seeing info from over the past 3 months of the race, there's always heaps of personality bursting through the news coming from the pink Roxy boat. Lots of grins, laughs and inspiration from how Sam's tackled the special challenges of this race.
Not quite sure if Sam will get a 3rd place, as there's still a little bit of time left for Marc Guillemot to maybe sneak in ahead. When Yann Eliès broke his leg on Generali in the Southern Ocean, Sam Davies and Marc Guillemot both received some credit time for going to the aid of the stricken sailor. Sam got 50 hours less credit (went less out of the way), so there's still chance for Marc Guillemot to finish ahead.
It's been an eventful race, with a lot of the boats suffering dismasting and other critical damage. Three boats lost their keels (the heavy thing sticking out the bottom that balances the mast to keep them upright). One of those capsized, with the rescue leading to another boat retiring due to losing its mast. The second retired at the Azores (so close to finishing!) The third boat to lose its keel is Marc Guillemot's Safran and it's a huge credit to his skill as a sailor that he's been able to nurse his boat home with that loss of stability.
The other Brit skippers are coming in hard too - Dee Caffari's had a tough race as well, as she's had to take great care with the mainsail on her boat.
I'm going to miss keeping up with the Vendee Globe, looking forward to the next one coming around in 4 years so I can follow the adventures of my (second? ;-) favourite British sailor :-)
Here's a link to the page where you can read more about this great race.
Currently watching the West Indies vs England Test Match coming from the old Antigua Recreation Ground. The original 2nd Test got cancelled due to the ground not being up to the job. They moved it to the old international ground in Antigua and it's looking like a good decision so far. Even with an almost total lack of prepartion, it's looking like a very good pitch. England are batting and doing extremely well, looking to put a huge total on the board. There's been a few signs of the pitch misbehaving so far (odd balls keeping low) but it's promising to be a decent game.
I've long been fascinated by the strength of character needed to take on an around-the-world trip in a sailboat. I know I'd never have anywhere near the courage that these intrepid adventurers have, which makes my appreciation of them that much more profound.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the link to the race. I now have a new daily read!
Popped by from Tanya's today. Hope your weekend's been a relaxing one so far.
It's one of my daily reads too :-) Will soon need to find another for the 3.5 years until the next one :-)
ReplyDeleteNot sure why - but the Volvo round the world Ocean race doesn't hold my interest the same way. Maybe the Vendee single handed race is a lot more intimate with the skippers.
Today's cricket has been more relaxing than yesterday's rugby :-) We had 16 Welsh vs 15 English in the rugby, definite change of result caused by frustrating referee.
Visiting because NetChick sent me..
ReplyDeleteDorothy from grammology
grammology.com
Hey Pete - hope you've been enjoying your few days away and looking forward to seeing you and ck tomorrow night.
ReplyDeleteI've not been following the race, except what's been on the news. But it is encouraging to know that the characters are still showing through the hardship.
cq
Fascinating! I was not familiar with this race...I cannot imagine what it takes to actually do this Race! The strength and skill and fortitude....My My! I went to the link and saw that there are 30 people involved...or were. But their Bios don't seem to be available.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing about this---I am going to tell my brother o take a look at the link. He is a Sailor. In fact he may know about it already.
Yey :-) Me back. Not caught up yet but getting there :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah - there's two major round the world races - the Vendee and the Volvo. The Volvo's a little different - it's run over a series of legs with boats that have full crews. I think there's a bit of "stick together as a team" aspect in the Volvo which means you get a bit shielded from the personalities involved ...
It's good to know that with all the carnage at the start (big storm in the Bay of Biscay !) and the various broken bits of sailor and boat in this race, they've all come through ok. I think the fella with the broken leg was at the finish line to welcome Sam Davies back in.
Next one in 3 years 9 months time :-)