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Wrong-way sailor right for record
BREST, France -- French solo circumnavigator Jean-Luc Van Den Heede has passed the mid-Pacific halfway point of his non-stop westabout round-the-world attempt 13 days ahead of the current record. In his third attempt at the non-stop "wrong way" record, the 57-year-old maths professor and sailing instructor has made good progress since leaving Brest, France on November 3. Van Den Heede, or VDH, as he is known in his native France, is sailing against the prevailing winds and currents in his purpose-built 26-metre (80ft) aluminium monohull Adrien, designed by Gilles Vaton. At the halfway stage, after 57 days at sea Van Den Heede is 13 days ahead of the record time of 151 days, 19 hours and 54 minutes set by fellow French skipper Philippe Monnet in 2000. Over the past few days Van Den Heede faced the worst conditions so far with gusts up to 80 knots, but feels that he has a comfortable lead on Monnet's time. "I set myself a target of being 10 days ahead at the finish line; half way around I have 13 days lead and it's terrific. Adrien is a very sound boat," he said. "She was designed for this challenge and she hasn't disappointed any of my hopes. "I can take the foot off the accelerator when necessary," he added. Van Den Heede will be about 1,000 miles south of fellow solo sailors competing in the Around Alone race when they stopover in Tauranga, New Zealand on January 11. On Christmas Day Van Den Heede exchanged e-mail with the Around Alone leader Bernard Stamm as both solo skippers celebrated alone at sea. The first "wrong-way" record was set in 1970 by Briton Chay Blyth in British Steel in 292 days. In 1994 Mike Golding, also British, reduced the time to 160 days. The solo record for the "right way" around, eastabout, is 93 days set by Michel Desjoyeaux in the 2000 Vendee Globe in an Open 60 monohull. The outright fully crewed non-stop round the world record, again eastabout, is 64 days set by Bruno Peyron in 2002 in the 34m (110ft) catamaran Orange. His first attempt at the non-stop "wrong way" record in 1999 ended when his boat was holed by an unidentified object in the middle of the Southern Pacific Ocean. Van den Heede set out again in a new boat, Adrien, in October 2001 only to be thwarted when his keel began to work loose after rounding Cape Horn.
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