Sam Davies’ daily log - Anxious hours waiting to hear about capsized King Jean
I think today has been a hard day for everyone out here. One of my fellow race competitors, Jean Le Cam aboard VM Materiaux, became trapped under his boat after losing the bulb of his keel and capsizing. He was completely uncontactable, trapped in a pocket of air with the two escape hatches on the underside of his boat also submerged. His friend and fellow Vendée Globe skipper, Vincent Riou, diverted his course and eventually managed to rescue Jean from the freezing waters off Cape Horn by hauling him on board with a rescue line. However, this also came at a cost as Vincent damaged one of his deck spreaders in the rescue, meaning his mast is now vulnerable.
We had to wait hours and hours for the good news to come through that Jean Le Cam was safe, meaning it was an absolutely agonising night. The worst part was knowing that King Jean was in trouble, but not having any further information on top of that.
During those painful hours, Roxy was flying along at breakneck speed, leaping off the waves scarily fast in the pitch black. All kinds of things were going through my head; I imagined Jean upside down in VM Materiaux, alone in the freezing cold water in the black of night. That then made me imagine what it would be like if Roxy were to be capsized: not only the danger to myself and her structure, but also the mess it would cause. As you can imagine, I didn't sleep at all until I heard Jean was ok.
Thank goodness Jean is safe though. Vincent did an amazing job, even though these last 24 hours must have been terrible for him, and Armel too. I truly hope that PRB's outrigger damage is repairable. I am so sorry for Jean and all the VM Materiaux team for the loss of their boat. I don't know if they will be able to salvage it or not, but I guess down here it is a pretty hard job to do.
Further to the west, Roxy and I have been making good progress on our approach to Cape Horn. However, travelling at such a high speed has meant that even the simplest tasks on board have become very dangerous. Roxy has been flying off the waves and leaping around like a kangaroo! Every cup of tea I have made I have ended up wearing; likewise with my porridge!
The front has finally passed over us and consequently things are calming – and slowing – down. Just before sunset the fog lifted, the clouds cleared and we had an amazing view of the golden sunset over the grey and angry sea residual from the front. The moon is already out which will be a nice help for me later on when I set up the gennaker.
As much as I have loved the sailing here in the Southern Ocean (I can't wait to come back!), what with all that has happened to the fleet down here, I am starting to get impatient to escape back into the Atlantic. I will be extremely happy and relieved once the whole fleet is safely round Cape Horn.
S x
At 1500 UK time, Sam Davies aboard Roxy was in 5th position, 1,860 miles from race leader Michel Desjoyeaux aboard Foncia
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