Sam Davies: "I think I hit my Vendée Globe version of the “wall”"

The British sailor, who left with the firm intention of completing her circumnavigation of the world out of the race, has just passed the antimeridian. These last few days were hectic since they had to face many problems.
"I’m not a runner, but I’ve heard that in marathon there is a moment that is called “hitting the wall” or something like that.... anyway, over the last 2 days I think I hit my Vendée Globe version of the “wall”.
It started with a gremlin switching off the wind information that my autopilot was using - obviously whilst I was asleep, it was pitch dark and blowing 30 knots! The resulting “pirouette” was high tariff, requiring a bit of work to get back on track, but luckily without damage. I also managed to find the fault and correct it in my electronics so all good there!
The next event was discovering that my keel ram boot had slipped off.... and the area surrounding it was flooded .... so had to tack the boat to get it out of the water, pump out and resecure the ram boot back on.
Whilst in the keel zone, I did my routine check and discovered that the ram head (the part that attached to the keel) is unscrewing from the ram... this is impossible to re-tighten at sea, so the solution was to create a system to block it and prevent it from unscrewing further. Some grinding, glueing and laminating later the ram was secured. Luckily, by coincidence I was in a zone with very little wind.
The ram now has more play in it than usual, and so my keel is a bit “noisy” which was a bit worrying, so I also carried out a lot of checks to make sure the noise is only coming from the keel bearings moving and no other problem. All good!
Writing this, It seems so simple to fix these few problems, but out here, alone, with the accumulated fatigue and stress from sailing halfway round the world (and also already breaking the keel area once!) this episode has totally exhausted me. It just felt like every time I had fixed one issue another one sprang up. The ones I wrote here were also coupled with a heap of smaller issues, plus cutting myself whilst working (only a minor cut!).... Thank goodness, I am not alone and I have the amazing support and encouragement from my shore team who have been working night and day to find the solutions to the problems and help me fix everything the best I can out here.
Now all is secure, I am reassured that my ram should survive the rest of the way, and I am able to rest a bit to recover. Luckily the weather is being kind to me and the conditions are OK. I have a couple of days respite before the next depression!
Oh - and the good news is that I was so busy I passed one of my “milestones” without realising - I am now in Longitude West as I have passed the Antimeridian or “international date line” and so I have gained a day!! or lost one... depending on which way you look at it!
I really am on my way home now!
Sam xx"
Teams infos
Log from Sam Davies: Cape Horn conditions
Hello, I’m writing this from my bunk where I am wedged in whilst my freeze dried dinner is rehydrating.
•••2021 Two-Boat Racing Schedule Unveiled by 11th Hour Racing Team
NEWPORT, Rhode Island (January 21, 2021) - 11th Hour Racing Team has unveiled the schedule for 2021 revealing the Team anticipates entering two boats into the 2021 IMOCA offshore sailing calendar of races, in the build-u…
•••Championship ranking
01 | ![]() | Boris HERRMANN
SEAEXPLORER - YACHT CLUB DE MONACO | 236 pts | |
02 | ![]() | Fabrice AMEDEO
NEWREST - ART & FENÊTRES | 217 pts | |
03 | ![]() | Jérémie BEYOU
CHARAL | 212 pts | |
04 | ![]() | Samantha DAVIES
INITIATIVES-CŒUR | 208 pts | |
05 | ![]() | Paul MEILHAT | 206 pts | |
06 | ![]() | Kevin ESCOFFIER
PRB | 195 pts | |
07 | ![]() | Yann ELIES | 192 pts | |
07 | ![]() | Charlie DALIN
APIVIA | 192 pts | |
09 | ![]() | Yannick BESTAVEN
MAITRE COQ IV | 187 pts | |
10 | ![]() | Thomas RUYANT
LINKEDOUT | 180 pts | |
11 | ![]() | Vincent RIOU | 157 pts | |
12 | ![]() | Clarisse CRÉMER
BANQUE POPULAIRE X | 150 pts | |
13 | ![]() | Arnaud BOISSIÈRES
LA MIE CÂLINE - ARTISANS ARTIPÔLE | 149 pts | |
14 | ![]() | Damien SEGUIN
GROUPE APICIL | 147 pts | |
15 | ![]() | Giancarlo PEDOTE
PRYSMIAN GROUP | 144 pts | |
16 | ![]() | Nicolas LUNVEN | 131 pts | |
17 | ![]() | Christopher PRATT | 128 pts | |
18 | ![]() | Stéphane LE DIRAISON
TIME FOR OCEANS | 127 pts | |
18 | ![]() | Sébastien SIMON
ARKÉA PAPREC | 127 pts | |
20 | ![]() | Maxime SOREL
V AND B - MAYENNE | 123 pts | |
21 | ![]() | Armel LE CLEAC'H | 114 pts | |
21 | ![]() | Manuel COUSIN
GROUPE SÉTIN | 114 pts | |
23 | ![]() | Alan ROURA
LA FABRIQUE | 111 pts | |
23 | ![]() | Eric PERON | 111 pts | |
25 | ![]() | Louis BURTON
BUREAU VALLÉE 2 | 105 pts | |
26 | ![]() | Pascal BIDEGORRY | 100 pts | |
26 | ![]() | Charlie ENRIGHT
11TH HOUR RACING | 100 pts | |
28 | ![]() | Davy BEAUDART | 97 pts | |
29 | ![]() | Antoine KOCH | 96 pts | |
30 | ![]() | Romain ATTANASIO
PURE - BEST WESTERN® | 92 pts | |
31 | ![]() | Roland JOURDAIN | 91 pts | |
32 | ![]() | Will HARRIS | 86 pts | |
33 | ![]() | Alex THOMSON
HUGO BOSS | 80 pts | |
34 | ![]() | Jean LE CAM
YES WE CAM ! | 68 pts | |
34 | ![]() | Nicolas TROUSSEL
CORUM L'EPARGNE | 68 pts | |
36 | ![]() | Yoann RICHOMME | 65 pts | |
37 | ![]() | Anthony MARCHAND | 64 pts | |
38 | ![]() | Ari HUUSELA
STARK | 60 pts | |
38 | ![]() | Isabelle JOSCHKE
MACSF | 60 pts | |
38 | ![]() | Miranda MERRON
CAMPAGNE DE FRANCE | 60 pts | |
38 | ![]() | Sébastien MARSSET | 60 pts | |
42 | ![]() | Guillaume LE BREC | 56 pts | |
42 | ![]() | Erik NIGON
COMPAGNIE DU LIT / JILITI | 56 pts | |
44 | ![]() | Alexia BARRIER
TSE - 4MYPLANET | 54 pts | |
45 | ![]() | François GUIFFANT | 49 pts | |
46 | ![]() | Xavier MACAIRE | 48 pts | |
47 | ![]() | Sébastien AUDIGANE | 47 pts | |
48 | ![]() | Benjamin DUTREUX
OMIA - WATER FAMILY | 44 pts | |
48 | ![]() | Thomas CARDRIN | 44 pts | |
48 | ![]() | Kojiro SHIRAISHI
DMG MORI GLOBAL ONE | 44 pts | |
51 | ![]() | Gildas MORVAN | 42 pts | |
52 | ![]() | Clément GIRAUD
L'ENVOL | 40 pts | |
53 | ![]() | Pip HARE
MEDALLIA | 38 pts | |
54 | ![]() | Halvard MABIRE | 34 pts | |
55 | ![]() | Joan MULLOY | 32 pts | |
56 | ![]() | Endt YSBRAND | 24 pts | |
57 | ![]() | Gwénolé GAHINET | 18 pts | |
58 | ![]() | Michael FERGUSON | 16 pts | |
58 | ![]() | Alain GAUTIER | 16 pts | |
60 | ![]() | Tolga Ekrem PAMIR | 12 pts | |
61 | ![]() | Stan MASLARD | 10 pts | |
62 | ![]() | Paul LARSEN | 8 pts | |
63 | ![]() | Hiroshi KITADA | 7 pts | |
64 | ![]() | Pierre CASIRAGHI | 6 pts | |
65 | ![]() |
Denis VAN WEYNBERGH
EYESEA.BE | 5 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Armel TRIPON | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Arthur HUBERT | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Richard TOLKIEN | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Rune AASBERG | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Morgan LAGRAVIERE | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Neal MCDONALD | 4 pts | |
72 | ![]() | Lionel REGNIER | 3 pts | |
73 | ![]() | Pierre QUIROGA | 2 pts | |
... |