Vendee Globe - Enjoyable miles on board Gamesa

by Emily Caroe on 19 Nov 2012 In the Vendee Globe, there have been enjoyable miles in steady trade wind conditions for Mike Golding who this morning is in a close, intense race with Jean Le Cam on SynerCiel. All this is adding to hopes that Golding might get the chance to catch back some miles on the leading pack on the entry to the Doldrums, all of which is contributing to an upbeat, positive mood aboard Gamesa this Sunday morning. Golding is eighth, with just four miles of distance to the leader separating Golding with Dominique Wavre on Mirabaud and Jean Le Cam.

'It’s been nice and steady pushing the boat hard under spinnaker and the boat is going well. It is warm, a bit humid but we have 18-22kts of wind and it is fast sailing.

'I have had the chance to catch up on some of the main chores, so I have cleaned out the bilges, there was some water up front which I have dried up. And I am trying to get my head round how to optimise the hydrogenerators a bit better. They are probably giving me only about half the power output they should, they are not as efficient as they should be. The problem I think is the blades are not pitching well enough, so that needs sorting. I am certainly running the engine less (to generate power) but the solar panels are doing a good job.

'I am looking ahead to the entry to the doldrums which looks like it is about a day and a half away, but we are flying down there at good speeds. I might get the chance to get some miles back there.

'I am a bit uncomfortable at the gap there is to the group. It is a bit nerve racking. I’d like to get back with them but I am not going to worry about it at this stage. I am good alongside Jean at the moment, but I kind of feel I’d like to be forward a bit.

'I think it is hard to match the speeds that are coming out of the new boats and Alex is very good at piling on the miles in a drag race like this so I am not surprised he is up there. But then there is just so far to go and we all know that a lot will happen. I am not going to get panicked.

'I have finished the oranges and I have three apples left. I have a couple of packs of bacon left that I need to probably use. The bread is starting to get a bit crumbly. So the main meal of the day is freeze dried now. To be honest it tastes OK but the thing to do is just not be influenced by what it says on the packet. Don’t believe what it is and just enjoy it for what it tastes like rather than what it should Vendee Globe website