Round the World Solo
Francis Joyon and IDEC grind to a halt off Uruguay

Thursday, 03 January 2008

This morning IDEC is of the Uruguay capital, Montevideo. Francis Joyon did well yesterday evening, in maintaining a heading of due north for 20 hours and, at 0500 UTC this morning, IDEC was at 37 ° South, 29 ° West.

Now, as Francis Joyon forecast yesterday, the confrontation with weak winds has started and IDEC is going slower than at any other point in this circumnavigation. Francis has to undertake some complex navigation, to get through the anticyclone, which is blocking the route to the easterly winds.

His advance on Ellen MacArthur’s record has suffered a bit, due to this, but is still over 3300 miles, with just one quarter of the route left to cover.

BYM News


Barcelona World Race: Day 54 round up
Thursday, 03 January 2008

There is good news from the pit lane in Wellington where Temenos II had stopped to assess the damage to their keel. This was a problem that skipper Dominique Wavre feared could put his boat out of the Barcelona World Race, but on Wednesday night, word came that the experts had looked at the keel and pronounced it ready to go.

In a statement, the team said: "The (damaged area) was sanded and then examined with magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound by the keel constructor. This examination didn't reveal any damage or any serious cracks. The metal is rusted but the corrosion remains superficial. As a result there is no deep attack on the metal. They have already begun the repair."

It's the best possible result for Dominique and co-skipper Michèle Paret, who said, "It's a very great relief for us. We are really very happy to be able to continue the race."

And Temenos II will be able to re-join the race with its third place position more or less intact as on Wednesday evening, fourth-placed Mutua Madrileña announced it would make a 'tactical stop' to resolve some issues and tune-up their boat ahead of the second Southern Ocean leg.

"It has all been decided at the last moment that finally we have to make a stop; we have too many little things to fix," said skipper Javier Sansó this morning on the video conference just after pulling alongside the dock in Wellington. "This stop is strategic, as our mission is to finish the race well in good condition. It was a hard decision to make because we are in a good position now."

Meanwhile, out on the race course, Paprec-Virbac 2 has finally escaped from the 'minefield' of ice it had been racing through for the past several days. The team reported sighting nine icebergs before passing through the ice safety gate overnight. Today, the race leaders are further north and in warmer, presumably iceberg-free waters.

"For a while it certainly felt like sailing through a minefield," said co-skipper Damian Foxall today. "We just dealt with it by being as observant as we could. Sailing in very manageable sailing conditions, with fairly clear skies and flat water makes it easy to see things coming. There was one period with fog but that was a couple of days ago. I don't think you become blasé but once you see one, it's easy to the see the next one, but we're pretty happy to be north at the moment."

Behind them Hugo Boss remains much further north as both boats position themselves to take up the next big Southern Ocean depression which they should be able to ride much of the way to Cape Horn. Over the past 24 hours, Hugo Boss has sailed faster than the leader, but gained just 10 miles as their northerly route entails sailing a greater distance to get to Cape Horn.

So again, the star over the past day has been Educación sin Fronteras, who have gained nearly 60 miles on the leaders. And with both Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña at the dock in Wellington, Educación sin Fronteras can expect to be back in the thick of things when they approach Cook Strait in the next 36 hours.

Day 54 - January 3, 14:00 GMT - Position report with distance to leader

1. PAPREC-VIRBAC 2 - Jean Pierre DICK / Damian FOXALL - 0

2. HUGO BOSS - Alex THOMSON / Andrew CAPE - 836

3. TEMENOS II - Dominique Wavre / Michele PARET- 2419

4. MUTUA MADRILENA - Javier SANSO / Pachi RIVERO - 2419

5. EDUCACION SIN FRONTERAS - Servane ESCOFFIER / Albert BARGUES - 2889



Abandoned - VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT - Roland JOURDAIN / Jean Luc NELIAS

Abandoned - ESTRELLA DAMM - Guillermo ALTADILL / JONATHAN MCKEE

Abandoned - DELTA DORE - Jérémie BEYOU / Sidney GAVIGNET

Abandoned - PRB - Vincent Riou / Sebastien JOSSE

In Quotes - Damian Foxall - Paprec-Virbac 2: "The upside of the conditions we've been sailing is that we've had a really good chance to look after ourselves and the boat. We've repaired a lot of stuff and got the boat back to 100% almost as if we'd had a pit-stop. We're happy to confront what comes next."

Story from BYM News

Photo by Chris Cameron


Cruisers WantedMuch of the content posted on this site has been racing oriented. But I know there are lots of shorthanded cruisers out there. We'd like to hear about your travels. Modifications you have made to your boat and systems to make it easier to sail shorthanded. And, of course, your trials and tribulations --- those experiences and lessons we all learn so much from. Please submit an article.


A little late for Christmas - But definitely a nice stocking stuffer - even if it is late!

This is the year of the of the "Made in America" Production Mini. We are wishing Jeff Dingle and crew many orders. Check them out at m65usa.com


More West Coast Action!!
2008 Three Bridge Fiasco is Saturday, January 26.

More info here Singlehanded Sailing Society (SSS) SanFrancisco


The year is getting kicked off on the West Coast

Check out our friends at the Pacific Singlehanded Sailing Association. Here is a link to their site PSSA


Interesting Little Race

The boats are little - 6.5 meter (21 feet) Mini-Transat boats, but the race is big 24,000 miles - Around the World!!!

It was scheduled for an April 2008 start, but has now been pushed to 2010 or 2011. There were (are) 16 entrants so far - 4 from the US.

We will be watching with interest. Check it out for yourself at The Race 6.5


Annapolis 30

When will it materialize? Could be a nice shorthanded boat.


Orca Class40 by Humphreys

The new “Class 40” has grown since its inception in 2005 to become one of the fastest growing offshore racing classes in the world. Its success is mainly attributed to the Class 40 prime objective, which is to promote affordable and manageable offshore yachts that can be sailed shorthanded or fully crewed and in events ranging from club racing to the trans-oceanic classics such as the Route du Rhum and Transat races. While materials permitted within these boats are strictly controlled in order to restrict costs, these are still high performance sailing yachts capable of speeds, particularly downwind, that far exceed what you would normally expect from a forty footer. The design work on the Orca yachts is entrusted to Humphreys Yacht Design, a company which consistently strikes the right note between experience, innovation, style, and performance. The design of the Orca40 has developed from an extensive research and development programme that began in March 2007. Performance optimisation has been based heavily on meteorological profiles for the transoceanic classics, such as the Route du Rhum, where HYD have worked closely with Jure Jerman from the Slovenian Met Office. Ergonomics studies have also been undertaken by top offshore sailors Phil Sharp and Kristian Hajnsek and a full scale, heeling cockpit mock-up was built to refine certain areas of the design, such as the cockpit layout. Vacuum-infused epoxy PVC sandwich laminates with integral secondary structure in a monocoque arrangement is a leading edge “3D infusion” process developed for Orca yachts by Ocean Tec Company. This construction approach produces significant weight savings as well as better mechanical properties, thus making the boats lighter, stiffer and safer. Although the Orca Class40 is a “full on race boat”, the very features that enhance her shorthanded capability give her a strong cruising capability, enriching both her afterlife value and general usability. Orca Yachts will make sound sense to any potential customer who has a hankering for speed and style as well as comfort, safety, and reliability. Orcas are built in Epoxy glass PVC sandwich “3D infused” laminate from production moulds. The Orca40 comes in three versions: basic racer, Class40 optimized racer and a fully equipped cruiser version. The prototype will be launched in March 2008. For more information, please contact: info@oceantec-marine.com www.orca-yachts.com


Something to make winter go by faster
January 31 - February 3, 2008



Visit the GLSS Booth at Strictly Sail Chicago

This will be the 13th Strictly Sail Show in Chicago - stop by the GLSS booth where you'll find members ready to answer any questions you may have about solo sailing, as well as the Society. We hope to see you there!

Click here to visit the GLSS Website


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