gap to more than 300 miles over the duo of Roland Jourdain and The finish for the leaders was all the more exciting, but PRB
Sébastien Josse, with Mike Golding relegated one and a half days achieved victory for the second time, this time with Vincent Riou,
behind … while the pack lost more than four days. smashing the race record by almost six days! 87d 10h 47’ Jean
Attrition began on entry into the Roaring Forties: the only le Cam was less than seven hours behind and Mike Golding less
option for those chasing from behind was to put their foot down than a day behind him. Unbeleivably after 87 days at sea three
to close the gap and that meant instant success or failure. Alex boats crossed the line within 29 hours of each other.
Thomson was the first to retire in Cape Town and a number of
other problems hit the fleet: Roland Jourdain pushed his machine
2008/09 With each staging of the Vendée Globe, the 60´
so hard her keel failed, forcing him to head for new Zealand;
monohulls have made gains in terms of potential, thanks to a
Hervé Laurent retired with serious rudder problems and Conrad
significant increase in their power: wider in the beam, with more
Humphreys anchored to make unassisted rudder repairs. only
canvas and more ballast, their performance has reached that
Mike Golding managed to catch Sébastien Josse, but then the
of multihulls from fifteen years ago! The only limit is now the
Pacific offered some icy and dangerous challenges. The young
ability of one man or one woman alone to manage this wealth of
skipper hit a growler and broke his bowsprit, which was to punish
power for three months …
him all the way to the finish. In the lead, the duo played a game
This year, on 9th november, once out of the harbour, the
of yo-yo in the rankings throughout their voyages, until Cape Horn.
boats quickly hoisted their mainsail and sailed along the coast
By this time, the fleet was more spread out than ever: as
to the start, three miles offshore. The thirty solo yachtsmen
the leading trio crossed the Doldrums for the second time, Karen
and yachtswomen crossed the 1,200-metre line between the
Leibovici had not completed half of the Pacific crossing! Then
Tenace, a naval deep-sea tug, on the starboard side and a yellow
it was disaster with the keels: after Roland Jourdain stopped in
pyramid buoy on the port side. They sailed out to sea towards
new Zealand, nick Moloney headed to Brazil and Mike Golding
Cape Finisterre, marking the exit from the Bay of Biscay … n
finished in Les Sables without his ballast.
The winner Vincent Riou never had a moment’s rest with
To find out what happened next visit
www.vendeeglobe.org/en
Jean Le Cam in particular being particularly threatening: less than
if you would like to own an Open 60, Bach Yachting have one for sale,
seven hours separated them after 87 days of racing! 2004 winner
featured on the front cover of this magazine. Telephone them on
Vincent Riou 87 days, 10 hours 47 minutes.
+31 (0)20-6257032 or email
info@bachyachting.nl or see their advert.
DeCeMbeR 2008 YACHTWORLD.COM 31
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