Dinelli and Sedlacek due to finish Vendee Globe this weekend

by Vendee Globe media on 14 Mar 2009
Raphael Dinelli and Norbert Sedlacek should complete their Vendee Globe solo round the world races this weekend, to bring to an end this record sixth edition of the famous pinnacle event in solo ocean racing.

Dinelli has been making good speed again during Friday afternoon, over eight knots with less than 160 miles to go to. He should finish during mid afternoon and can get into the legendary channel to return to his home port at around 1600hrs local time where he is assured of a huge welcome. Having completed his race using clean energy, using the a wind generator solar panels to power his Fondation Ocean Vital, and becoming the only skipper to complete both this and the last edition of the race. He should finish in 10th place.

And the Austrian skipper Norbert Sedlacek is still anticipating returning Sunday afternoon to the port which has been home to his Nauticsport Kapsch for many months prior to the start on November 9th. Having had to abandon the last race, retiring into Cape Town, prudence has been high on the agenda for Sedlacek but along with Sam Davies and Steve White, Sedlacek said today that he can scarcely remember bad days, and considers that he enjoyed his entire race and all the challenges that it brought him. He cites sailing alongside Dinelli in the Pacific Ocean, within 500 metres and then for a long period only a few miles apart, as one of the high points of the race. Sedlacek faces the arrival of lighter winds again late Saturday and Sunday and so will be doing his best to stick to he preference to arrive during the afternoon, but he will be taking no chances. He had 427 miles to sail this afternoon.

Raphaël Dinelli (Fondation Océan Vital): 'I made it through the shipping lanes during the night and passed Brittany early this morning. Now I can sail calmly down past the Breton islands and then cross the finish on the port tack downwind to avoid having to do any manoeuvres to head for the harbour. I shall be crossing the line at 15h30 (local time) as planned, arriving on the port tack in a 15-knot WNW'ly wind and the weather is going to be fine!

'As I don't have a spinnaker or a gennaker, I shall be going down towards Jard-sur-mer, then coming back up to Les Sables at a decent speed. Les Sables d’Olonne is my backyard, so I want to look good. This is always an emotional moment and I believe the locals will be turn out, like they did four years ago, when there were crowds of people. It's going to be a great moment, not just for me but for the Fondation Ocean Vital team, who has shown that it is possible to sail around the world producing clean energy, using the wind generator and solar panels. I'm where I should be in terms of the rankings. The difference with the boats from the latest generation is the same as four years ago and with 125 days I shall be exactly on target. It's funny to see I'm finishing in the same time as four years ago.'

Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch): 'It was a bit stressful in the night, as there wasn't much wind, but it has returned since then and now I'm sailing at good speed. I hope to be in Les Sables on Sunday, but we shall see. Like Raphaël we are on the edge of a huge high and a huge low and we're going to have to wait to see what happens. You can do nothing. In the light conditions yesterday I tried to use the code zero, but after two hours the leech broke. I had to change back top gennaker one. I have one more gennaker left that I can use to head towards les Sables, when the wind goes to the west. There are still a few light wind areas ahead of me on the way to les Sables, but I hope with the light wind sail that it will be OK. So I'm going to head straight for Les Sables and hope I have some luck. The wind should turn to the west tomorrow and then the north or north east on Sunday, but the problem is the situation keeps changing every day in the forecasts. I'm feeling great, but I think reality will catch me when I see the coast of Brittany. I have had so many adventures over the past four months and so I think I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to do this race.

'Before the race, I was expecting some things to be really hard, but in fact they weren't so bad. But on the other hand I also thought that I'd be able to write on board the boat, but that was not possible, because there are too many things in your head and it is too stressful. I think the big moment will be after the finish, when I can say to myself that I have done it. I have sailed around the world. This will be the top of my career. If I do a second Vendée Globe it will never be the same. I never imagined there would be so much damage to the boats. I thought I would finish about twentieth. If you look at my time and you compare it to 1996, when the boat was built, I would have finished fifth with this time.

'When I have a new boat, the goal will still be to finish first and then see how well I can do. I really missed fresh fruit and the ability to do a workout. To do some gym, to go for a walk or a run for example, but the movements are too heavy. But I can do that when I'm back on land. But I watched videos. The Harry potter collection, some action movies and historic films about Alexander or Julius Caesar. Sometimes I put on a DVD to hide the noise of the boat and to stop hearing the engine or the screaming wind. Then in the calms, I like to put on a comedy to show that I can still laugh a little bit.'

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