Reports 6, 7 December
The race ended for the Basque, Unaï Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia) on 7th December after his starboard rudder broke. He was to be the sixth competitor to be forced out of the race. Steve is now 18th out of 24.
7 December - Learning the Southern Ocean.
Audio Clip courtesy Trigone/VendeeGlobe
7 December - Newswire report - Learning the Southern Ocean.
Steve White, GBR, (Toe in the Water): " I am a Southern Ocean 'virgin' yes, and I have been thinking a lot about that. And when you read what people write about being down here, about them being conservative and what sails they have had up I think 'wow that really is conservative, what are they doing?' and now I am down here it is unlike anywhere else I have ever been. The swell is relentless, driving swell which is very, very much in charge, and it does things to the boat handling if you slow down and it drives your boat speed up and up and up. You just have to keep a handle on it, because anything that does go wrong could go very, very wrong. Hence the reason I am not really getting into bed very much, I am just always on standby ready to go on deck to reduce sail, and also to make sure that whatever is going through has gone before you put more sail up."
"The thing that is nerve racking is drawing that balance between preserving the boat and racing, that is the nerve racking thing."
"If you had said before the start that I would be in 18th - or whatever it is - and such and such would have been ahead and so and so behind - I would probably have been quite happy, but the thing with human nature is once you are in a position is you want to do better, and I have been stuck in 18th since Bernard overtook me and you get a bit itchy and want to start to overtake people and that is when it gets dangerous. We will get a bit nearer to the end and then push."
