Francois Gabart wins the Vendee Globe!

1. An Impressive win... Francois Gabart arrives in France earlier today. Please go to VendeeGlobe.com for further updates.

   From the Virtual Regatta page and from Vendee Globe.....

   
   

   

Vendee Globe & Virtual Regatta is nearly over

With over 66 days following the Vendee Globe 2012-13 and participating in the Virtual Regatta I have a new appreciation for the life of a solo sailor. Of the 20 boats that started, only 12 are still in the race. The current leader is MACIF skippered by Francois Gabart with about 3800 miles until he reaches the finish. At his current rate of speed, and depending on the weather,  he might arrive in France in the next 10 days!! In second place today is Banque Populaire helmed by Armel Le Cleac'h and Jean Pierre Dick is working hard to maintain third place on Virbac Paprec 3.

When I started on the virtual race, I was late and my starting position was 224,249 but over the next few weeks an additional 200,000 sailors joined, so during that first week I was definitely in the middle of the fleet. I managed to work my way up quickly and got to about 150,000th, but then was penalized for something - I never learned what it was - and was put back to 200,000th place. Maledicion!

Steadily over the past month I have inched my way up, and during a day when I couldn't get online, I missed a critical gate and had to go back to round that mark. That cost me some miles and time. Then I faced a critical problem of not having internet service and my boat was at the mercy of the winds in the Southern Ocean, but my son agreed to take the helm (via internet) when I could not and kept the boat on course - actually he did an excellent job and gained a lot of speed for the boat. So technically I suppose I should be disqualified, but there was really only one skipper on the boat at a time, so perhaps not.

Since then I've been sticking as close to the rhumb line (for non-sailors that is the imaginary line of the shortest distance between two points) and today I am 136,520th out of 463,019 boats which I believe puts me in the top 33%. I have 7338 miles to go to the finish, so I am at least a week behind the top finishers, it would seem. But I have passed through all the gates, documented them all, and I know some boats will be disqualified if they cannot document clearing the gates. That might move me up some, but hardly enough for any winnings. Sigh.

Upper left shows wind speed and direction, lower left shows the sail in
use and the red line is my track with the red boat being "BirdWoman."

In any event, at this moment "BirdWoman" (the name of my 12 meter boat) is within 18 hours of rounding the last cape, on South America, and due to start heading north toward France.

Why am I doing this when clearly I won't be a top finisher? Partly it was to see if I could overcome the odds and finish well, partly it was because I love sailing and the challenge by itself and finally it is because it is a virtual game and I've never played one before.

Sombrita doesn't mind sleeping on a patterned cover.

Ultimo prefers to sleep on things that are all one color.

Meanwhile the two cats are curled up, sleeping and dreaming kitty-dreams with no idea they are sailing anywhere, much less on a virtual ocean thousands of miles south of their comfy nap spots.

Do you suppose their sleeping choices have anything to do with the color of their fur coats?

My Virtual Life

I have a life. I actually have two of them... there is my 'real' life and there is my 'virtual' life. In one I get up, make breakfast, go for a walk and - depending on what country I am in - speak in either English or Spanish to those I meet along the way.

In my virtual life I am on a 60-ft. sailboat in the Vendee Globe solo race passing the Cape of Good Hope, sailing under a spinnaker today and preparing for a heavy wind and seas as I approach the Indian Ocean. But, I am only one of over 392,792 virtual sailors doing this and have barely inched forward in the fleet.

For some folks I guess their two lives get blurred and they lose track of where they are. I hear about people who get too involved in a game and take it too seriously. My problem has probably been more the reverse; I used to get too involved in my real life and take it too seriously.

Life is a serious business, though. If you don't stay current with paying bills, the consequences are unpleasant. And if you don't have a way to bring in income to pay those bills, then it is no laughing matter and not a game of any kind. Some time ago I joined up with a virtual company and have acquired several thousands of virtual dollars which were supposed to somehow get used to buy things...  I am still not sure what 'things' these might be, but so far this virtual resource hasn't served any real purpose.

A real life view of Discovery Bay (WA) after some intense weather this week.

I am thinking this blending of virtual and real lives could be beneficial to people who are struggling. Why couldn't I make donations from my virtual account to some service or cause to be used for someone's else's electric bill? Is that any different from passing the hat in real life and not knowing where those funds end up? Isn't that what bankers are doing all the time? Moving funds around in virtual accounts? Just thinking out loud... wondering whether there will come a time when virtual and real lines become so blurred we may wake up and find water splashing over the gunwales and getting our beds wet.