After a very uncomfortable night in big swells with not much balance for the boat, Conrad was able this morning to assess the situation. If the mainsail and mast have been detached to avoid damaging the boat, the head sails and the boom have been saved but with damage to the latest. Even though the sea state doesn't allow him right now to work on putting a jury rig in place, Conrad and his team are working hard on solutions to fix the boom and how to best proceed. The boom ha

At 23.00 French time this Friday the 10th February, Conrad Colman called his team to inform them that Imoca Foresight Natural Energy dismasted. The skipper is unharmed, and was calm during the call. He freed the rigging (mast and mainsail) and he managed to save the boom. Conrad was sailing upwind in a NE wind of 30-35 knots under the J3 and 3 reefs in the mainsail when the boat dismasted. His location is less than 300 nm from the coast of Portugal. All of the Kiwi skipper’s

Catching the train! After a few tough days sailing North really fast on choppy seas, Conrad has entered a transition phase in the weather system. The calmer conditions are allowing him to rest and check everything on the boat before heading to the finish line. The « train » to Vendée will arrive very soon, with a very active low pressure system that will carry Foresight Natural Energy close to the French coast. The end of the race remains uncertain with a meteo forecast that

Quand on pense aux îles de l'Atlantique, la première vision qui nous vient est souvent celle des plages de sable blanc des Caraïbes. On oublie souvent les îles du Cap Vert, des Canaries, de Madère et des Açores. Ces archipels ont marqué ma progression vers le Sud, pour le pire ou pour le meilleur, je me rappelle le "trou" sans vent en Novembre à côté de Madère! Maintenant c'est un véritable plaisir que de les laisser derrière moi en remontant vers la maison. J'ai passé la lat

When we think about island archipelagos in the Atlantic the first vision that springs to mind is probably the white sands of the Windward Islands that demarcate the Caribbean. In fact the islands of rum punch and reggae music are accompanied on the eastern edge of the Atlantic by the Cape Verdes, Canaries, Madiera and finally the Azores. These island chains marked, and sometimes stalled, my progress southwards in November (remember the wind hole around Madiera!). Now I'm ex

It's hard to type because my fingers keep flying off the keyboard. I am still close reaching my way up the Atlantic and am making great progress, even out performing (my admittedly reduced) performance polars and routing. With sometimes 30 knots last night I touched 18 knots of boatspeed but for the most part bounced my way northwards with sickening bangs at 15-16kts. I enjoyed even less sleep than usual. One exciting moment occured when the autopilot short circuited when

2 étapes importantes Après 85 jours de course, les bateaux et les skippers commencent à être fatigués. Avec l’arrivée de 3 bateaux de plus aux Sables d’Olonne, rester concentrer devient encore plus difficile. Conrad est repassé sur sa trace de l’aller vendredi, marquant la réalisation de son 3e tour du monde! Aujourd’hui, à 8.42 UTC il a franchi à nouveau l’Equateur. L’entrée dans l’Atlantique Nord est une belle étape de franchie. Avec 87% de la course déjà réalisés, ça sent

2 important milestones After 85 days of racing, boats and skippers are starting to be tired. With the arrival of 3 more boats in Les Sables d’Olonne, it’s a mind game to stay focused. Conrad passed over his outward track on Friday, closing the loop on his third circumnavigation. Now today at 08.42 UTC at 30 deg 35W he crossed the Equator. Entering the North Atlantic is for sure an important milestone. With 87% of the race now completed, home feels just around the corner and

Finalement, le vent a tourné et augmenté en intensité et mon J3 (petite voile d'avant) est adaptée aux conditions actuelles. Depuis hier, j'avance bien vers le Nord avec de bonnes vitesses et j'ai pu laisser dans mon sillage Salvador de Bahia et Recife (pointe du Brésil). Je vous parle de Salvador parce que, quand j'ai commencé la course en solitaire en 2009, j'ai participé à la Mini Transat. Une traversée de l'Atlantique en 2 étapes à partir de la Rochelle vers Salvador dans

Finally the winds have turned and strengthened so that my problematically unballanced sail setup of the small jib (I had to furl the Code 0 but it will reappear shortly) and full main can be used to full effect. Since yesterday I have been charging up the coast with great speed and as such the milestones of Salvador de Bahia and Recife (the corner of Brazil) have fallen in my wake. I refer to Salvador as a milestone because when I started solo sailing in 2009 I capped the s