Vendée Globe, gara ad eliminazione

[singlepic=736,250,170,,left] Vendée Globe – Les Sables d’Olonne – Condizioni meteo al limite dell’umana sopportazione stanno decimando la flotta protagonista della Vendée Globe. Nonostante un lieve miglioramento della situazione, sono stati in tanti gli skipper che hanno dovuto fare i conti con disalberamenti, danni strutturali e avarie di vario genere.
Mentre Jean-Pierre Dick su Paprec-Virbac 2 e Roland Jourdain su Veolia Environment guidano il gruppo appaiati dopo essere usciti dalla depressione, dalla Direzione Gara giungono notizie relative al disalberamento dello scafo di Marc Thiercelinm e del cedimento strutturale che ha interessato Hugo Boss. L’imbarcazione di Alex Thomson, danneggiatasi prima del via in seguito alla collisione con un peschereccio, presenta una lunga crepa nella fiancata, dalla quale entra acqua. Il solitario inglese si dice sicuro di riuscire a raggiungere il porto di partenza, dove valuterà il da farsi.
Brutte notizie anche per Bernard Stamm. Per effettuare le riparazioni su Cheminées Poujoulat, finito senza bompresso a causa di una collisione con un mecantile, sarà necessario rimuovere l’albero.
Infine, una buona notizia: Michel Desjoyeaux è tornato in acqua dopo aver risolto i problemi all’impianto elettrico che gli impedivano di ricaricare le batterie.

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VENDEE GLOBE, STRUCTURAL DAMAGES, DISMASTS AND BIG BATTLE
[singlepic=735,250,170,,left][Vendée Globe Press Release] All the 30 Vendée Globe skippers were expecting an extremely tough opening 24-48 hours of racing, and that is what they got with eight boats now having returned or on their way back to port since the start in Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday.
Those who rode it out the under fifty-knot gusts and six metre high waves with lashing rain, have made their tacks as the cold front passed over and the conditions have eased to give faster reaching conditions.  However, even if the wind suddenly veered by 90° and eased off in just a few minutes, that has not changed the sea state much.  They have not only tacked to head south-westwards, but have also had to hoist more sail, which has required a lot of physical effort. 
Jean-Pierre Dick on Paprec-Virbac 2 and Roland Jourdain on Veolia Environnement seem both to have timed this well after continuing westwards for as long as possible and they now lie in first and second, with 1.1 miles of difference between them. Loïck Peyron, leader yesterday evening on Gitana 80, chose to tack first and is now to leewards of the fleet, inshore, closer to the coast of Spain.
Sailing at more than 15 knots in the 25-knot NW’ly, the leaders will benefit from a sea that will begin to calm and a wind veering to a favourable northerly and easing off a little. 
Mike Golding on Ecover 3 has gained two places overnight and is up to tenth, 41.4 miles behind leader Dick, and he has Dee Caffari on sistership Aviva, slightly offshore and to leeward, calculated to be about 12 miles behind him. Brian Thompson on Bahrain Team Pindar is up from 17^th on yesterday evening’s report to 14^th and is on a more southerly heading than Golding and Caffari, mirroring Peyron’s move to stay closer to Finisterre, Sam Davies on Roxy made one place to 15^th. 
Despite his last minute, rushed preparations Steve White on Toe in the Water appears to have ridden out the worst of it in good shape and lies 17^th, 87.4 miles behind the leader Paprec-Virbac 2.

Alex Thomson’s Hugo Boss forced to return
British skipper Thomson informed the race office that his Open 60 was taking in water but the pumps were controlling the situation. At 20.00 GMT he was positioned at 46°07’48N and 08°18’46W, about 290 miles from Port Olona and was making a reduced speed of about 7 knots.
Alex Thomson’s Hugo Boss team issued this statement: “After 32 hours of horrendous Biscay conditions in the Vendee Globe race, Alex Thomson is returning to Les Sables d’Olonne following the discovery of a structural problem onboard Hugo Boss.  A crack has appeared on the port side hull, the opposite side to the recent repair.
At 19.45 GMT Alex Thomson turned Hugo Boss around to head back to Les Sables d’Olonne. Thomson is in no imminent danger; the boat is taking on water, but at a manageable rate. On arrival in Les Sables D’Olonne the damage will be assessed. He is currently approximately 290 miles from the port.
Hugo Boss will be the eighth yacht to return to Les Sables D’Olonne since the race start on Sunday afternoon. The Vendee Globe rules only allow the competing yachts to return to Les Sables D’Olonne to carry out repairs using outside assistance and restart the race within a 10 day window of Sunday 9th November.”

Michel Desjoyeaux back on track
At 05.30GMT, Michel Desjoyeaux left the harbour in Les Sables d’Olonne: he is expected to set sail again imminently and restart the race to the south of the Nouck Buoy. Foncia has around 360 miles to sail to catch up the leaders, as they approach Cape Finisterre: “Foncia set out again this morning at around 5.40 after a pit stop worthy of Ferrari.  It’s as if she was brand new.  Many thanks to the support team and everyone at Nanni Diesel.  The sea is still very rough, although the wind has eased off and gone around to the WNW.”

Marc Thiercelin dismast his monohull
The race press office has informed the race directors that Marc Thiercelin’s monohull was dismasted at 7.30 this morning at 44°15 North and 8°43 West. The competitor stressed that the damage was extensive and it would be impossible to set out again. He is unable to say for the moment which port he will be heading for.

Bernard Stamm forced to remove the mast of Cheminées Poujoulat
Following the collision two days ago with a cargo vessel, repairs on Bernard Stamm’s Cheminées Poujoulat are set to continue. After identifying the cargo ship involved in the collision, marks were noticed on the rig, where it brushed against the stern of the vessel. This afternoon at around 13.00, the boat will have her mast removed in order to deal with these scrapes and give the mast a thorough inspection. This work requires the sails and rigging to be removed, which given the extent of the work, means that the Swiss sailor will not be setting sail again before Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, Thierry Dubois and his team continue their work in replacing the bowsprit. These jobs are therefore going on at the same time, making it difficult to estimate a precise start time for Cheminées Poujoulat.

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