When Robin Knox-Johnston became the first man to sail solo and nonstop round the world nearly 40 years ago, he embodied the image of the mariner alone amid the elements. His automatic steering gear consisted of a complex series of ropes and pulleys, laid out for the first time on his garage floor. His navigational aids were a pencil, paper and sextant. He spent much of his 313-day voyage clinging to the wheel of Suhaili, his beard growing denser and his clothes ever wetter.

The 30 solo skippers who set off last week on the sixth Vendee Globe were following Knox-Johnston in spirit only. These are jet fighter pilots compared with the Tiger Moth flyers of yesteryear. Although the human qualities of the modern skipper - resilience, patience, courage - are unchanging, the hi-tech nature of the new generation of racing boats makes very different demands.

“It’s a myth that solo skippers spend their time clinging to the wheel now,” says Conrad Humphreys, one of Britain’s most talented solo sailors, who finished seventh in the 2004-5 Vendee. “You could spend as little as 1% of your time steering the boat. If you get on the helm, it’s sometimes hard to pull yourself away, so you don’t do the other things that really need doing. It’s just one discipline: trimming the sails, navigating, cooking, cleaning, managing the boat, sleeping, filming - they are all part of the daily duties. The biggest change between skippers now and 10 years ago is their ability as weather strategists. There’s not a sailor in the top 15 of this Vendee who won’t have a fantastic grasp of meteorology and weather strategy.”

No longer are solo sailors anchored to the wheel. Most of their waking day will be spent at the navigation station, their true office at sea. The sophistication of computer technology and meteorological software has turned them into a cross between John Kettley, Bill Gates and Neil Armstrong. Such mundane tasks as driving the boat can be regarded as distractions when every ounce of energy is required to harness the enormous power of the modern Open 60 racer.

“These boats are physically and mentally demanding,” says Andrew Roberts, of Dee Caffari’s Aviva campaign. “They have to be worked hard and sailed hard. Like Formula One cars, they perform best when they’re pushed to the limit. One knot of difference in the wind speed can equal half a knot of boat speed, so you’ve got to be on it all the time. The way these things are sailed has changed massively over the past decade. The autopilots are remarkably good. They can sail the boat better than most skippers, so the emphasis is on making tactical decisions and maximising the performance of the boat. A boat like Aviva has been specifically designed so that Dee does not have to spend much time on deck.” Humphreys notes another shift in the skipper’s duties: “Four to eight years ago the skipper was a jack of all trades. Now he has a huge team behind him to prepare the boat and he’s much more likely to be doing interviews than tinkering with his boat. Like Lewis Hamilton, he has to be a technically competent sailor but also a good communicator.”

Balancing speed and reliability will be key to the outcome of the Vendee. Nine of the 30 boats were forced to turn back to Les Sables d’Olonne after a vicious storm hit the fleet on the second night of the race. Three were dismasted and eliminated. Alex Thomson, one of the leading British contenders, officially retired after cracks were found in the hull of his boat, Hugo Boss, which had been severely damaged in a collision with a fishing trawler two weeks before the start.

The way the surviving competitors handle their daily tasks and the amount of energy they expend will, says Humphreys, be the decisive factor. “In general the skipper will spend more time on things that require real brainpower, like navigation and tactics. By the end of the race you can do certain things like putting in or taking out a reef in the sail almost without waking up. But making decisions at the nav station requires 100% attention.

“Skippers work to different patterns, both in sailing and sleeping. Some are good at night, when they reckon others won’t be pushing so hard. A lot of changes in position have happened overnight this past week. I was a morning person. I made my tactical decisions between 6am and midday; that was my prime time. I tried not to sleep until the afternoon, and at night I slept in 15-20minute bursts. You always wanted to be up for the position reports and the weather schedules. It was like getting your exam results every four hours.”

By the end of the first week there was a marked division between the French, who have won every edition of the race, and the British, reduced to six by Thomson’s withdrawal. Mike Golding, the highest-placed nonFrench boat, had fallen 100 miles behind the leading pack, led by Seb Josse in the British-built BT and Loick Peyron in Gitana 80. Josse has sacrificed emotional comfort by stripping down the inside of his boat to save weight. “It’s black and empty down there. In the Southern Ocean you’re going to be spending a lot of time shut inside,” says Nick Moloney, his colleague in the team run by Dame Ellen MacArthur. “If he’s leading, that will be enough motivation, but if you’ve fallen away from the pack it can be depressing, and the black won’t help.”

By the time the leaders emerge from the Southern Ocean every skipper will be emotionally close to the edge. And the critical tactical decisions have yet to be made. It is then that the skippers who have managed their time and preserved their energy most efficiently will benefit.

This week the fleet hits the Doldrums, as much of a nightmare as the Southern Ocean. All emotional support will be gratefully accepted. Brian Thompson has his children’s handprints painted on the top of the cockpit of his Bahrain Team Pindar while Caffari has

been kept amused by photographs, discreetly hidden around Aviva, of her shore crew posing nearly naked. Laughter will be another of life’s necessities over the next 80 days.

VENDEE GLOBE HEARTBREAK
FOUR ABANDONED
Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) structural damage
Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) dismasted
Yannick Bestaven (Aquarelle.com) dismasted
Marc Thiercelin (DCNS) dismasted

FIVE OTHERS RETURNED TO LES SABLES D’OLONNE
Dominique Wavre (Temenos II) electrical problems, resumed race
Bernard Stamm (Cheminees Poujoulat) Collision with fishing boat, bowsprit broken, resumed race
Mich Desjoyeaux (Foncia) engine problem, resumed race
Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (Groupe Maisonneuve) damaged deck panel
Derek Hatfield (Spirit of Canada) electrical problems