An interesting couple of days on Bahrain Team Pindar, as I head towards The Doldrums. The temperature at dawn in the cabin is 33 degrees. Outside its cloudy, grey and humid, but there is a good breeze of 12 knots to propel us southwards.

Tactically I have been trying maybe too hard to gain some advantage (by going into the Verdes) when all I have to do is bide my time. Without the use of the A3 I am bound to be slower at times here, but once we are in reaching conditions then I will be on the pace. I have tried to set up to be one of the more western boats so that it can be a faster doldrum crossing for me. It has been a penalty to get west and the reason for my drop down the rankings. I could have gybed south much earlier and retained my place in the listings, so lets hope that west pays as it often does in the doldrums. I would rather lose a few hours and be a bit too far west than be too far east and possibly lose days, as others have in the past. That’s the theory anyway, though it does not look so pretty at the moment. Sorry all you Bahrain Team Pindar fans, but I will be back!

Yesterday was an interesting day for wildlife, as I was followed by a group of 3 pilot whales, one of whom decided to be a dolphin and play up near the bow and cruise all around the boat as we travelled at 12 knots. The pilot whale looked about 5 metres long, and must have weighed a few tons, so I was happy that his swimming skills kept him away from the keel. After 5 minutes he got called back by his family that were cruising in my wake.

Then later in the day as I was steering, just on the starboard bow a big whale appeared on the surface. He was not moving forward, he was resting on the ocean, and I slid past him, perhaps 3 metres in front of his head. He was at least 10 metres long, and I don’t think he even noticed me till I was past him.
Not sure what type of whale, I had no time to grab the camera as I needed to steer to make sure I got past him safely for both of us.  I have a book on whales and dolphins on board but the closest in my book was a gray whale, which are not in the Atlantic, they were fished out a long time ago. Maybe a baby sperm whale? The skin colour seemed a little green. I should Earthwatch to find out. Next time I will try to get a picture for you!

So still on the big spinnaker and full main, plenty of gybing manoeuvres. This morning before dawn I took the spinnaker down during a routine gybe and went head to wind to let the boat go backwards to clear something that I could hear was wrapped around the keel or the propeller. Seems quieter now, and I can check now that it is light outside with the endoscope to see if the underwater appendages are clear.. The endoscope is a little device I put through the hull, rather like a miniature periscope that is 7mm in diameter. It has a wide angle view and you can see from the bow to the stern and to the bottom of the keel.

Very good for looking at dolphins as well, if you get the chance!

Anyway, back  to the big mess of Cuben Fibre in the forepeak, the A3.

That’s it for now.

Brian

Day 8 of the Vendée Globe and we are just 18 miles from Sao Nicolau island, the most central island of the Cape Verdes.

I will be passing just a couple of miles to windward of the island and then heading off more downwind towards the rest of the island chain to the south, gybing before those islands, and getting some distance in to the west to approach the doldrums.Sao Nicolau is 1300 meters high and I did not want to go to leeward of it.  Fogo, an island up ahead is 2829 metres, literally a volcano coming up from the seabed far below.

This will be the second bit of land I will have seen since leaving Les Sables d’Olonne. Madeira was the previous one. I was not expecting to see any land till Cape Horn so it’s an unexpected bonus, though I will have to be alert to small fishing boats tonight.Its quite hazy today so I can just make out the peak of the mountain at 15 miles out.

I was not expecting to take this route through the islands, but the weather reports from both the European and US models were showing very light winds to the west of the archipelago for when I got there.
Going west would be the route that I would normally want to take. It seems unnatural to come up 20 degrees in a downwind leg, so I hope both the weather forecasts are correct and I get more wind and a windshift towards to NE tonight and tomorrow morning. This windshift will allow me to make up any downwind miles that I have lost to avoid the light air and the islands.Lets hope it works, although at present the winds are dropping rather than increasing, that’s not in the plan…..

The two weather models are wildly divergent on what will happen after the islands. The US model shows 25 knots of wind and the European one 5 knots! Something in between would be fine by me. The doldrums still look messy, and I am sure all the skippers are looking at the satellite pictures, quickscat data and gribs, and still looking at their tea leaves as well.

Last night we finally got moving fast again after 36 hours in light winds,  it was great to feel the boat heel over and the spray start to fly from the bow. It was uncannily smooth sailing as the seas have been so calm for so long, like being on a lake.

The boat worked really well, the only issue was that I could not make any water, which was a little worrying for a while, as I had very little left! In this situation the best option was to fix the watermaker, the second is to use the hand held desalinator, and the third is to raid to 20 litres of emergency water. Fortunately I found that there was no feed water coming into the inlet to the sea, so I used a spare hose leading into a ballast tank to feed the watermaker with its salt water.

Still working on fixing the inlet, which comes off the propeller leg.

So, time for some chilli con carne followed by an Eat Natural bar, and lots of water, as its starting to get hot and humid on board Bahrain Team Pindar..Cape Verdes, here we are!

Brian and George

Here’s the first picture of George on the Vendee Globe and a message from Brian Thomson:

“Here is a little update on our favourite bear..

He has been working hard and is now keeping lookout for fishing boats as we approach the Cape Verdes islands..On his off watch he recovers with a few paws of honey to keep him going.

He is a trusted crewmate and a pleasure to have on board Bahrain Team Pindar for the Vendee Globe Race.

Hugs from George

Brian”

Brian and George are now approaching the Cape Verde Islands in 11th place and are currently travelling 4 knots faster than 10th paced Beyou Jeremie onboard Delta Dore who has a 70nm advantage.

The start of Vendée Globe has seen an eventful first five days, which saw nine Open 60’s return to port, four of these ending in retirement. Brian Thompson, onboard Bahrain Team Pindar, has made a solid start and currently lies in 12th position as he sails past the Canaries towards the doldrums. Loick Peyron (Gitana Eighty) is currently leading the fleet by 24 nautical miles

The first two days of racing were a ‘baptism of fire’ for the boats, when they faced a storm in the Bay of Biscay on night two, during which winds reached up to 50 knots and waves were as high as 7 metres. The weather caused havoc within the fleet, including three dismastings.

Following its storm survival exercise, Bahrain Team Pindar’s progress was further hindered by something wrapped around the keel causing drag. The boat struggled for speed as a result with the wind having dropped to 15 – 20 knots. Once the issue was resolved however Brian began to gain a few places in fairly well established trade winds, as the fleet headed down the Portuguese coast towards the doldrums.

In better conditions and recharged with sleep and food, Brian climbed two places overnight on Wednesday, overtaking fellow British skippers Sam Davies (Roxy) and Dee Caffari (Aviva), and on Thursday Bahrain Team Pindar was in sight of Mike Golding’s Ecover.

On Friday morning, damage to the A3 sail, which needs repairing, has slowed progress again, resulting in speeds of 12-13 knots in north-easterly winds of 15-20 knots. Brian is confident that he will be able to repair the sail over the next few days.

Speaking from the boat at the end of the first week, Brian said, ‘ It has been a full - on first week, the damage caused to the sail this morning is very frustrating but it is reparable which is a relief. I hope to spend the next day or two repairing the sail, as well as settling into a more established routine and getting some more sleep. Today I have experienced some beautiful sailing conditions, with bright blue seas and sunny clear skies, the solar panels are finally getting some use!’

Blue Sheets: We’ve not heard from Offshore George yet but the shore crew promise pictures shortly once things onboard have settled down.

Here’s the first post from Brian Thompson - Bahrain Team Pindar:

“All well on Bahrain Team Pindar, after a long 36 hours in the Biscay storm that saw so much carnage through the fleet.

I seem to have come through unscathed with no damage at all, but it was rough, especially yesterday afternoon just before the front came through, and then again after the front and the big windshift from SW to NW. The first part of last night was very hard as I had to reach straight into a head sea caused by the 40 knot SW winds that I had before the front. I reined in the boatspeed to protect her from herself and sailed a course to try to keep the waves at an angle to the bows but it was still like jumping off 4m ramps in your car.

The day before I did 3 accidental tacks, the first in 35 knots of wind, which makes an almighty mess to sort out, as when the wind goes on the wrong side, the sails are aback and all the keel, water ballast and stack is suddenly on the low side. It felt like we were heeled over 80 degrees, and I had to climb up the cockpit to the new runner to wind it on, before easing the main and other runner. Not sure why the tack happened but I just got to the helm a second too late, and once the wind gets on the wrong side, its an unstoppable force and the boat just keeps heeling and heeling till it finds it new horizontal equilibrium, going sideways at 3 knots. At the time I was right alongside either Brit Air or Delta Dore.We had been running alongside each other for several hours in the dark, just a hundred metres apart..

That probably cost at least an hour to get the boat flat again, then bear away, and get prepared to tack and sailing properly again. It’s something fairly unique to sailing canting keel boats singlehhanded, so there is no need to try it at home. The next two accidental tacks did not take so long to retrieve as they were in daytime, and I had some recent practice.

I feel really bad for those who are having to go back especially for Alex who has moved heaven and earth to start the race at all, and he was going really well before he had the hull damage. Hope he can restart.

Out here not delighted with my position in the fleet, but very pleased to see how Bahrain Team Pindar handled the storm and got us through what will be some of the roughest weather of the entire trip. She is a great boat and there is a very long way to go in this VG, and lots of racing to come, so better go on deck now and put up some more sail, now that the wind is coming astern. “

I’m sure that Offshore George will be taking his fair share of shifts on helm (or even just watching the kettle)…

Well, he made it! After a last minute panic to find Offshore George transport to France, a hero in the shape of Tim Newell of Endeavour Quay stepped in and promised to get our RNLI bear to the Vendee start line in time for the race.

Tim whisked George across the channel and into the care of Hannah White who found him a berth onboard Bahrain Team Pindar with Brian Thompson (not Steve White as earlier mentioned).

George has now settled in after a rough first night and is currently off Cape Finisterre with Brian.

We hope to have some pictures of onboard life shortly.

Many thanks to Tim and all at Endeavour Quay as well as Bahrain Team Pindar for all their help and assistance.

References:

Endeavour Quay
Bahrain Team Pindar

As mentioned before, Offshore George is currently in London.  The Vendee Globe Fleet are in Les Sables d’Olonne and there’s only four days until the race starts.

He’s never missed an appointment before and now we have to find a way to get him to France by Saturday.

If he misses the start, there’ll be no way of him joining the non-stop fleet until they arrive back in France some three months later.

Watch this space…

George has had a relaxing time since returning from the record breaking Earthrace and has been staying with the support crew in Chelsea.

It’s now time for him to head back out to sea in the Vendee Globe with skipper Steve White aboard the Spirit of Weymouth.

Steve is unusual in the fact that he does not have a large financial sponsor but has raised the money himself to fund such a large undertaking.  His past history shows him to be a fierce competitor with a win in the 2005 Ostar (50ft category) and a second place in 2002 Transatlantic Challenge.

It’s all hands on deck now to ensure that George reaches France in time for the start!…

For more information on Steve White and The Spirit of Weymouth, visit: www.whiteoceanracing.com

George has done it again and broken another world record!

After his first world speed record with Alex Thomson aboard Hugo Boss in the Barcelona World Race, George has now broken the round the world speed record onboard Earthrace with Pete Bethune and, of course, their mascot Eartha.

We should receive his blog of the fantastic journey shortly once he returns to the UK.

Watch this space for more details.

Offshore George finally got to meet the Earthrace mascot ‘Eartha’ last week as they now help the team prepare for the start of the record attempt this Sunday.

Reports say that they are getting along well…