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Journal de Bord - Dominique Wavre

Vendée Globe 2012-2013 / 59th day / 7th

Tuesday 08 January 2013

Ranking: 7th
DTF: 7320.6 nm
Position: 55°53'59''S 76°35'14''O
Speed: 12.9 kts

Weather forecast: South west 15 to 20 knots, gusting 35 knots. Decreasing to 5 to 10 knots. Rough seas. Rain and squalls.

On the menu: Porridge with strawberries, pork with chorizo and stuffed tomatoes, followed by chocolate mousse. Chicken Tikka, followed by strawberry flavoured rice pudding.

Summary:

Approaching Cape Horn

Dominique is currently approaching Cape Horn and weather conditions are manageable which means that he and Mirabaud should soon be heading North after five weeks in the Southern Ocean. 

“I got through the Southern Ocean stage OK, but I don’t feel in a position to give any sort of analysis at the moment,” said Dominique. “I am completely focussed on how the situation evolves and on the private race that I am having with my closest competitors. My biggest issue right now is how to fix my gennaker so that I can race at full potential for the rest of the race.”

Since yesterday, the wind has dropped and Dominique is missing this key sail, which is still piled in the forepeak waiting to be fixed. “The weather conditions up until now were so bad that there was no way that I could have dealt with it. I need flat calm to get to it, undo all the knots and repair what needs repairing.”

The timing of his final manoeuvres before Cape Horn are crucial as they will not only determine his approach around the Cape, but also his entry point into the Atlantic which will influence the next stage of the race.

Copyright photo : © Dominique Wavre/Mirabaud

Cape Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile and is located on the small Hornos Island. Francis Drake discovered the cape in 1578 on board Golden Hind, but it owes its name to the Dutchman Van Schouten who rounded it in 1616. He named it Horn after his hometown.

At 600 metres, Cape Horn towers over the ocean, but the dark, jagged rocks – the result of erosion from pounding waves and massive westerly gales – are hard for sailors to spot as they sail past.

Cape Horn’s discovery was a result of economic pressure.  By 1520, Magellan had already discovered the Straits that are named after him, but Spanish/Portuguese dominance was coming head to head with a new ambitious maritime power: the Dutch.

With such stakes at play, the contenders needed a ship that could withstand the extreme conditions and which could also sail upwind. By the time such a ship was crafted, staggering numbers of men had been lost at sea: four attempts at rounding, four entire crews lost.


It happened at the Horn:

  • The Montcalm, a French flagged ship from Nantes, battled wind and tide to round the Cape for two months before the conditions got the better of the captain and he altered course to run before the weather. He rounded the Cape of Good Hope and south Australia before at last reaching his final destination: San Francisco.
     
  • Up until the 18th century, sailors navigated using a mariner’s astrolabe, which was an inclinometer used to determine the latitude of a ship at sea by measuring the sun's noon altitude (declination) or the meridian altitude of a star of known declination. With this information the captain of a ship could sail due west or due east depending on his mission with a margin of error of approximately 100 nautical miles.
     
  • Magellan was the first to discover the Patagonians, the indigenous people of the Tierra del Fuego. In his logbook, he described them as “naked ugly giants with enormous women”. He added: “they became angry when put in irons”.

Copyright photo : © DR

Video


» For more movies, visit www.dominiquewavre.com/en/gallery/videos/

Ranking

08/01/2013 - 09:00 GMT :

1 MACIF - François Gabart 0.0 nm
2 Banque Populaire - Armel Le Cléac'h +65.0 nm
3 Virbac Paprec 3 - Jean-Pierre Dick +411.0 nm
4 Hugo Boss - Alex Thomson +577.9 nm
5 Synerciel - Jean Le Cam +1668.1 nm
...
7 Mirabaud - Dominique Wavre +1975.3 nm

 
Mirabaud & Cie Banquiers Privés
29, boulevard Georges-Favon
1204 Genève
T: +41 58 816 22 22
F: +41 58 816 28 16
 

 
MaxComm Communication
Bernard Schopfer
T: +41 22 735 55 30
M: +41 79 332 11 76
bernard.schopfer@maxcomm.ch
 

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