Virbac-Paprec 3 tappar kölen

Det är inte slut på dramatiken i Vendee Globe.

At 2345hrs UTC, while sailing in the third position of the Vendée Globe, about 500 miles northwest of the Cape Verde islands, Jean-Pierre Dick called his team to inform them that his boat, Virbac-Paprec 3, had lost its whole keel at 2245hrs UTC. The skipper from Nice has stabilised the situation. The boat has full ballasts and Dick is sailing at 8 knots towards the Azores.

Jean-Pierre Dick told the race office by satellite phone:
“I was sailing on starboard tack under mainsail with one reef and the solent (sail), in 20 knots of wind. I was inside when the wind increased suddenly. I went out to adjust the sails. At that moment, I heard a loud bang.

Virbac-Paprec 3 went to the luff and was pushed on its side. I eased the mainsail sheet and solent sheet. I furled it (the solent). I went to the end of the boom and eased the running backstay. I went downwind smoothly and the boat slowly went back into the right position. I filled all the ballasts to stabilise the boat.

I am heading to the Azores at 8 knots with two reefs in the mainsail and with a staysail. The situation is stabilised and I think that there is no risk of capsizing. My dream of a podium finish in the Vendée Globe has suddenly sunk.”

25 Comments

Pelle Pedersen
Jan 22, 2013 @ 15:27
Han gör fortfarande 11-12 knop… Utan köl!!!
Reply
Lasse Bergkvist
Jan 22, 2013 @ 15:59
Japp ! Och han är fransman! De verkar ha kommit underfund med något vad gäller shorthanded som vi här uppe i våra isbelagda vikar har missat! Vi lägger ner kölen på Atlantens botten, länsar ett tag och fyller barlasttankarna och sedan kör vi igen – självklart singlehanded! Om nu Frankrike har ett Bragdguld så kanske det kan tillfalla honom, Mr Jean-Pierre! Ska följa honom ända in i kaklet – han ger inte tappt direkt!
Reply
Pelle Pedersen
Jan 22, 2013 @ 16:13
Håller han Alex T bakom sig ända in i mål är det en superbragd!
Som du säger Lasse; fyll tankarna och blås på!
Reply
Raketen
Jan 22, 2013 @ 16:47
Stenhård kille!!
Reply
Peter Gustafsson
Jan 22, 2013 @ 17:31
Despite losing his keel with 2,000 miles to the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne, Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) has not abandoned and is working out what to do next. “The competitor and the sailor do not agree,” Dick said. “Should I continue in a degraded state or abandon and go and hide in the Azores.”
Dick described what happened on Vendee Globe TV: “It happened a little before midnight,” he said. “There were already noises in the boat, rather strong and quite screeching. I thought it was the sound of keel jack but in fact the head of keel was already damaged. All of a sudden there was a popping noise. Fortunately, I was between the outside and inside, there were several squalls and then there was a new squall happening. The boat was lying on its side in a second I realised that the keel had broken. I was able to quickly get to the mainsail winch to ease the mainsail a little. The boat began to luff and went down quickly on the water. There was certainly a moment of doubt about the boat, luckily it did not flip over. After a few minutes I was able to ease the solent (sail) and furl it. The boat was safe enough to put in more ballast and take a risk and further reduce the canvas.
“It is a shame to lose the keel at this stage of the race. About the outcome, I do not know yet, we’ll see what will happen if I continue running or not. Currently, I am still in the race, I did not give up. The mast is there, as are the sails, the boat floats and I took a little advice from a specialist in the field, called Marco (Guillemot). I called him and he gave me some tips. For now I have a lot of ballast filled in my boat and I think I’m in good conditions. The boat is safe enough not to capsize if there is gust of wind. It is always impressive is true but the boat always moves between 11 and 12 knots. We are going at least to the Azores at first.”
Marc Guillemot rewrote the rulebook and received a hero’s welcome at the finish after losing his keel with 1,000 miles to go. But like Dick, Roland Jourdain, was further from home, headed to the Azores and retired after losing his keel whilst clear in second place in the last edition in 2008-09.
Dick was still making good speed in the third place and continuing on his normal route in 16-18 northeasterlies, 200 miles ahead of Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss). But the challenge will come if he is faced with bigger winds and particularly rougher, cross seas, that he could face, especially in the Bay of Biscay.
The loss of Virbac-Paprec’s keel sparked shock and worry among the fleet and debate about the durability of these IMOCA Open 60 boats. It is not a new debate, but as each generation becomes faster and more powerful and at the same time seeks to pare down the weight, safety is ever more of an issue.
“A fabricated keel has the life span of oneVendée Globe, period,” Mike Golding (Gamesa) told Vendee Globe TV. “If it makes the finish it is a design success, if it breaks it is a design failure. Unfortunately we have seen far too many design failures with fabricated steel keels. I championed several years ago changing the rule when I was president of the (IMOCA) technical committee, I tried to change the rule to have forged steel keels, which is pretty much the only way of guaranteeing, well not guaranteeing, but reducing keel fatigue failures like this. Unfortunately the votes missed by 3 or 4 votes out of a hundred people, as a result we have still got the fabricated forged and carbon variations. For me I chose to switch to a carbon keel, so I’m on a carbon keel, theoretically if the carbon keel is good, it is good for the life of the boat, theoretically [laughs].”
Golding knows more than most about finishing a Vendée Globe without a keel, having become the first man to do it, in the 2004-05 edition, when he lost his keel with 50 miles to go to the finish line but still managed to finish third. But he did not sound optimistic for the chances of Dick’s more long range position. “In 2005 I was 50 miles from the finish, my immediate reaction when I lost the keel was that this is the end of it, you cannot sail the boat,” he said. “But quite quickly I worked out that with ballast I could sail the boat, and even though it was upwind to the finish, in fact it was nearer 90 miles by the time I sailed it, because I had to tack upwind to get to Les Sables d’Olonne, the boat will sail. But I think the real problem is it is quite different being close to the finish like that, and in the position where Jean-Pierre is, he is a long way out and a long way from the finish and the reality is the boat is not very safe without the keel.
“I think everyone will be looking down in their keel pits and making sure everything is the way, or at least looks the way it should be. The trouble with these fabricated steel failures is there is pretty much no warning, you don’t really see anything, you don’t hear anything, you don’t feel anything, and then right at the end it tends to fail, it tends to release, it bends massively before it breaks. Probably Jean-Pierre mentioned in his report he felt a gust of wind and he went out and checked the sails, the reality is I recall exactly the same experience, in hindsight I don’t think the wind increased at all, there was no gust, the keel was bending and then the bang is when it finally releases. So what happened to JP [Jean-Pierre] sounds extremely similar to what happened to me, I ended up quite confused about why the boat was heeling so much when the keel was seemingly in the right position.”
The skipper with most to gain from Dick’s loss, Alex Thomson, who should move up into third place in the next two days, expressed his sympathy and shock. He also called for changes to the IMOCA class. “I am shocked and gutted at the news that JP Dick has lost his keel,” Thomson wrote. “JP has sailed an awesome race and does not deserve this to happen to him. He has worked so hard and maintained his 3rd position despite having to climb the mast countless times. I am thankful that it has happened here and not in the south although JP will have to go through some significant weather to get to the Azores, potentially up to 40 knots on the 26th.
“I never thought we would see a keel failure on this race. IMOCA has of course a history with keel failures but I really thought all those problems were behind us. It will be interesting to review the failures of Virbac and Safran (Marc Guillemot’s boat which lost it’s titanium keel on the first night of this edition), both penned from the same designer (Verdier-VPLP) to see exactly why these failures have happened.
“When I joined the class in 2003, I was a little surprised that I had to change the keel on my first boat because it had exceeded its mileage of 80,000 miles. Since then people have been building keels that last only one round the world race to save a few kilos of weight. I came from the world that a keel lasted for the life of the boat and that is where we need to get to. In 2009 IMOCA brought in some regulations to make keels safer but it obviously has not been enough.
“Enough is enough, the keels need to be made of solid steel and last the life of the boat, before someone gets hurt.”
Reply
johnny
Jan 22, 2013 @ 20:39
Hur är mätreglen…. IMOCA. Får man droppa bulben Mäter båten in då ?
Men lyckas han segla sig hem är det en bragd…
Reply
- Pelle Lindell
  Jan 22, 2013 @ 22:42
  Båten klarar garanterat inte stabilitetskraven i klassregeln utan köl men det verkar ju vara kutym att man får fullfölja med tappad köl.
  Reply
Pelle Pedersen
Jan 23, 2013 @ 08:03
Fortfarande är han med i matchen; går tre knop långsammare än Alex men han har mindre vind också… Nu ser det ut som om dom tar “genvägen” söder om Azorerna.
F-N! Så här spännande har det aldrig varit!
Reply
Peter Gustafsson
Jan 23, 2013 @ 11:47
En snackis är vad Alex borde göra?
Gasa mot mål som om inget hade hänt. Eller vara stand-by om något händer med JP (vilket hade gjort honom till hjälte i Frankrike). 3:e platsen är ju “säker” i vilket fall.
Reply
- Pelle Pedersen
  Jan 23, 2013 @ 11:49
  Bra tanke; gasa ifatt och lotsa honom i mål!
  Reply
Peter Gustafsson
Jan 24, 2013 @ 07:55
http://joecoopersailing.com/vendee-globe-alexs-dilemma/
Reply
Peter Gustafsson
Jan 25, 2013 @ 21:05
A Noble Gesture
Alex Thomson holds back to wait for Jean Pierre Dick’s decision
Today, we recieved this message from Alex Thomson,
““I am back into real North Atlantic conditions again and the wind is colder and the sea state has started to get pretty rough again. Over the last few days I have been worried about JP Dick and him sailing without his keel and even though my optimum route takes me more North and West of my current course and back to Les Sables fast and direct, this morning when I experienced the conditions I decided to change course to stay with JP until I know that he is happy with the boat and he has made his decision about what he will do regarding stopping or continuing.
Tonight and tomorrow morning a front will pass over myself and JP with some strong breeze and I will stick around him to make sure there is someone close by if something was to happen to him. JP is a great sailor and I am confident in his ability to sail safely to wherever he chooses but I know that if I was in his position I would like to have someone watching my back through the strong winds that are coming.
He has not asked me to assist in any way, but I really feel that I cannot sail off and leave him until I know that he is confident and has confirmed what his intentions are. It is simple for me really, if he has a problem I will try and help him and once he has got through the worst of the weather safely and happy with the boat tonight, and if he then decides to continue with the race safely, then I will adjust my course and continue with mine. What I don’t want is to be too far away from him if he has an issue with the coming strong winds and before he knows if he is fully capable of continuing.”
This is a noble gesture from a man who has faced the icy peril of the ocean and survived. A man who has been rescued himself. It has not been requested by the race office and so he will not be compensated for any ground lost. The gap between Hugo Boss and the 5th place boat Jean Le Cam is significant enough for him to sacrifice the miles but make no mistake it is a sacrifice. This noble gesture could also sacrifice the potential to be the first British person to sail solo around the world in under 80 days but in this instance Thomson clearly has put Jean Pierre Dick’s safety first.
Reply
Lars M
Jan 25, 2013 @ 22:35
Bra gjort av Thomson och vilken otroligt häftig segling Vendee Globe är. 76 dagar och dom är snart i mål efter ett varv runt jorden ensamma i enskrovsbåtar ! Helt grymt !
Reply
kim
Feb 1, 2013 @ 15:32
Har Vibrac Paprec har ankrat upp.
Tracking:
http://tracking2012.vendeeglobe.org/en/
Artikel:
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/article/11895/the-battle-continues-on.html
Reply
Lasse Bergkvist
Feb 1, 2013 @ 23:58
Ja, helt fantastiskt! Han väntar på ett väderfönster så att han kan köra sista biten = ett Gotland Runt, utan köl i en 60fotare – ensam!!! In i mål. Hoppas han kommer in i mål – Bragdguldet är då hans!
Reply
- Raketen
  Feb 2, 2013 @ 00:46
  +1!!
  Reply
- kim
  Feb 3, 2013 @ 13:15
  Då var han igång mot mål igen.
  Det kan bli tight mot de som jagar utifrån.
  – Segla Biscaya mitt i vintern?
  – Nej tack.
  -Ensam i 60-fotare?
  – Är du galen??
  – Utan köl då?
  – Jag har inte en uns franskt blod i mina ådror!!
  Reply
  - Gerhard
    Feb 3, 2013 @ 17:18
    +10000000
    Reply
  - Jeppe
    Feb 4, 2013 @ 13:59
    Mäktigt att han verkar fixa det! 41 nm kvar…
    Reply
  - Kåre
    Feb 4, 2013 @ 15:16
    Han sätter nytt rekord för båtar utan köl med 86 dygn men Safran får behålla bästa placering utan köl, 3:a i förra Vendee globe :)
    Reply
    - Robban
      Feb 4, 2013 @ 15:26
      Det verkar som om köl helt klart är överskattat!
      Reply
    - Sam V
      Feb 4, 2013 @ 17:12
      Fantastiskt! Borde väl vara dags för entypskölar nu?
      Reply
    - kim
      Feb 4, 2013 @ 18:03
      Jolleklass i nästa VG kanske?
      Reply
    - Erik Barkefors
      Feb 4, 2013 @ 18:14
      Nja, Idec II har fortfarande solorekordet utan köl och det under hela varvet runt ;-)
      Reply
      - Gerhard
        Feb 4, 2013 @ 19:04
        Gillas det om man har stödhjul?

Virbac-Paprec 3 tappar kölen

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