Vendee Globe Update

AND THEY'RE OFF!!

On 9 November, Dee and her Open 60 yacht, Aviva, blasted across the start line of what is considered to be one of the ultimate tests of endurance – the Vendée Globe race. Despite the challenging weather conditions and heavy seas, Dee produced the best start yet of her Aviva Ocean Racing campaign.

click here to view the Vendée Globe race video

The fleet of 30 boats headed straight out into brutal Bay of Biscay conditions and the solo skippers faced winds gusting up to 50 knots during the first 48 hours at sea; The drama of this 27,000 mile race quickly unfolded, forcing 9 yachts to return to port as the intense weather conditions caused damage to boats.

Sadly, there were three de-mastings which meant that Yannick Bestaven’s Aquarelle.com, Kito de Pavent’s Group Bel and Marc Thiercelin's DCNS all retired from the race. Alex Thomson, one of the seven British skippers competing, was also a casualty of the early stages of the race when his Open 60, Hugo Boss, started to take on water due to a crack in the hull.

Reflecting on the start, UKSA graduate Dee said:
'The start of my first Vendée Globe was amazing: Aviva and I were in the right place at the right time on the gun and I found myself alongside the previous editions race winner, Vincent Riou. We all knew the weather we were heading into was going to give a punishing first 48 hours of the race. The front came through as predicted and Aviva and I came out relatively unscathed, which is more than could be said for some of the other competitors. I was so sad for the skippers that were forced to retire from the race.’

Loïck Peyron on Gitana Eighty is still holding onto the lead and is some 23.7 miles ahead of Seb Josse on BT. Jean Le Cam on VM Matériaux suffered with an autopilot problem and has dropped back to 8th place. Leading the Brits is Mike Golding, on Ecover 3 who has made gains to secure 6th place - his best position in the race so far.

At 1000hrs today, Dee and Aviva were lying in 16th place, 54.8 miles behind Michel Desjoyeaux on Foncia.