grafozz
Well-Known Member
has just moved up into 2nd place on the Vendee Globe ! by good judgement and bloody good sailing ! only one more frenchman to go .... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Mike Golden boy
- Thread starter grafozz
- Start date
Racecruiser
Well-Known Member
and the small matter of 15,210 miles to go at the last poll! Bloody brilliant but Temenos 2 has just reported his keel is swinging around out of control which illustrates what can happen; probably plenty of attrition to come yet and let's hope no human cost.
I see from the race tracker that Mike is at 52 degrees south and that is more south than anyone else currently - he's obviously trying to sail the shortest course. I see several boats have seen bergs and growlers even with the ice gates.
Did you see this from Sam Davies - she's just great I reckon!
"The last 24 hours have been really busy. I eventually managed to get a good trim for my Code 0 and managed a few extra miles thanks to that sail, until the wind increased too much. The change to Solent and dropping of the gennaker was really full on – to be on the bow of Roxy as we surfed the big swell at 20 knots was quite impressive. I seemed to be either 6m in the air (as we took off) or under water (as we landed!). It was good exercise, but there is no room for the smallest of errors out here. It seems that Roxy likes it windy. However, Roxy was craving attention yesterday, and in the evening she decided to give me some technical challenges. The first was one of my alternators failing to start up. I have two, plus other ways of charging, but down here with the pilot on high gain settings, we are using quite a lot of electricity and working alternators are imperative. Luckily, after chasing cables I found the loose connection and the repair was an easy one. Obviously, Roxy was not happy that I had fixed her so efficiently, so problem number 2 quickly arrived. I had just changed down to staysail as there was 35-40 knots of wind, and when I went to cant the keel back up...nothing happened! Again, I have a back-up manual pump on my keel system, but it takes all day pumping to move the keel just a tiny way, so that is not really an option. So, in the dark, with my head-torch, volt-meter and tools, I found myself head first in the batteries and keel hydraulics as Roxy hurtled down the huge waves at break-neck speeds! I would have much preferred to be in bed, but in this race, a problem must be fixed immediately to ensure it does not get worse. Luckily, again, I singled out a faulty solenoid and managed to re-cable the system to bypass the defective part. "
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message
I see from the race tracker that Mike is at 52 degrees south and that is more south than anyone else currently - he's obviously trying to sail the shortest course. I see several boats have seen bergs and growlers even with the ice gates.
Did you see this from Sam Davies - she's just great I reckon!
"The last 24 hours have been really busy. I eventually managed to get a good trim for my Code 0 and managed a few extra miles thanks to that sail, until the wind increased too much. The change to Solent and dropping of the gennaker was really full on – to be on the bow of Roxy as we surfed the big swell at 20 knots was quite impressive. I seemed to be either 6m in the air (as we took off) or under water (as we landed!). It was good exercise, but there is no room for the smallest of errors out here. It seems that Roxy likes it windy. However, Roxy was craving attention yesterday, and in the evening she decided to give me some technical challenges. The first was one of my alternators failing to start up. I have two, plus other ways of charging, but down here with the pilot on high gain settings, we are using quite a lot of electricity and working alternators are imperative. Luckily, after chasing cables I found the loose connection and the repair was an easy one. Obviously, Roxy was not happy that I had fixed her so efficiently, so problem number 2 quickly arrived. I had just changed down to staysail as there was 35-40 knots of wind, and when I went to cant the keel back up...nothing happened! Again, I have a back-up manual pump on my keel system, but it takes all day pumping to move the keel just a tiny way, so that is not really an option. So, in the dark, with my head-torch, volt-meter and tools, I found myself head first in the batteries and keel hydraulics as Roxy hurtled down the huge waves at break-neck speeds! I would have much preferred to be in bed, but in this race, a problem must be fixed immediately to ensure it does not get worse. Luckily, again, I singled out a faulty solenoid and managed to re-cable the system to bypass the defective part. "
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message
jjj
Well-Known Member
Yip fantastic new and brilliant sailing!
Allan
Well-Known Member
I'm so glad I not the only one watching! MG has done really well so far, I think it will be between him and MD in the southern ocean. Shame but my money has been on the Frenchman since before the start.
Allan
Allan
jamesjermain
Well-Known Member
And she managed a manicure... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Perry
Well-Known Member
Mike has put his foot down since MD came steaming through the fleet, just hope that nothing breaks - Respect.
Anwen
Well-Known Member
Looks like he will be leading by morning, as JPD has sustained rudder damage and slowed dramatically.
