Vendée Globe - stormy weather, but there’s no-one around

Once more, Météo France has issued an Orange Alert - this time for Bordeaux and all points north. By now, Les Sables d’Olonne is probably already enduring the forecast gusts of 140 Km/h - only a little less than Bordeaux had during the previous one.
Once more, the nearest competitors (Sam Davies and Marc Guillemot) are [...]

Volvo Ocean Race - boat breaking time

One indication of how rough it was out there is the fact that the only video clip that contains actual video rather than voice plus a few stills is the one Rick Deppe made when Puma’s boom broke.
Several reports reference sledgehammers, but the most graphic is from Gustav Morin, media crew member on Ericsson 3:
You’re [...]

Biscay Storm - record winds around Bordeaux

The Red Alert was correct. And yet late last night the ordinary forecasts for Bordeaux and Biarritz were still talking about 50Km/hour gusts.
Around 8:00 this morning, an all-time record gust of 159Km/hour was recorded at Cap Ferret, just south of Bordeaux, and even mainline trains stayed put in Bordeaux station. About 500,000 homes in Aquitaine [...]

Stormy Brittany

Introducing a video of Brittany lighthouses during the Feb 2008 storm