Armel Tripon … “It’s a hell of voyage”
On L’Occitane en Provence, Tripon is climbing up the South Atlantic in increasingly lighter conditions. For the first time in a long time, he has enjoyed a starry sky and pleasant temperatures in the cockpit. The job list today? Managing the boat, sailing well, some DIY and the strategy.
Different Lives, Different Oceans
Skippers of the 14 IMOCAs in the South Atlantic now reap the benefits of clearer, bluer skies, sun warming their skin in the sun and their bodies recover during short restoring naps. The next group to reach Cape Horn and the release into the Atlantic have less than 700 nautical miles to go, among them Switzerland’s Alan Roura and Briton Pip Hare. But for them in the South Pacific, conditions are freezing and uncomfortable. Now stretching of the latitude of Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil where Yannick Bestaven leads by 320 miles to near Tasmania where Sébastien Destremau the back marker is, the fleet spans 7,126 miles …
Stephane Le Diraison, having a real tough Pacific
Stephane Le Diraison, Time for Oceans, “
“This is a real Pacific we are having, one that does not carry its name well, it is quite harsh for the six boats among which I am sailing. I have had three reefs in my main sail for a week and for the past 48 hours have had my storm sail up. Yesterday I think I got the worst of it with winds reaching 60 knots and waves with troughs of six to eight meters.
An unruly, unrelenting Pacific, Bestaven’s lead evaporating in the Atlantic
The Pacific is proving particularly unrelenting for the Vendée Globe racers still racing eastwards towards Cape Horn. There might be the odd pause for a few hours before the next low pressure system kicks them along the course towards deliverance, and the big left turn out of the Southern Ocean and into the more sheltered waters of the Atlantic.
The next wagon train of IMOCA 60s presently routing their approach to the Horn is led by Alan Roura, with Arnaud Boissières and Briton Pip Hare all close behind. These three musketeers should pass between Sunday night and Monday lunchtime.
Additional keel ram damage for Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) who has abandoned her Vendée Globe
The Franco-German skipper Isabelle Joschke has been forced to abandon her Vendée Globe on the 62nd day of racing after a further failure of the keel canting system on board her de ella IMOCA MACSF.
Joschke was lying racing in 11th place racing in difficult conditions, in 30-35 knots of wind in the South Atlantic some 1100 miles east of the Argentinian coast.
Brutal Blow For Joschke, Bestaven Looks To New Breeze
Since it was announced last night that Isabelle Joschke has abandoned she has been nursing her de ella MACSF and its damaged keel carefully to get out of the windy low pressure system as quickly as possible, helped by Race Direction and the Vendée Globe ‘s meteo consultant Christian Dumard.
At the front of the fleet Yannick Bestaven’s lead has shrunk but gradually he is getting back into new wind pressure whilst the chasing duo’s speeds have been more erratic as they close to the same light winds anticyclonic ridge that has slowed the leader.
Charlie Dalin this morning, ‘It is good to finally express the potential of my boat’
In second place and having closed more miles on leader Yannick Bestaven, Charlie Dalin is pleased to have enjoyed 24 hours or more of good speeds.
“The wind went to bed with the sun, after a beautiful fast day yesterday. The sea was smoother and the angle was good: I finally expressed the potential of the boat, it was nice to finally make speeds more worthy of my boat. But the wind has died down this evening, we are somewhat under the influence of a small bubble which should move during the day as it shifts to the east. I have wind this morning which is not expected, it allows me to go to 11 knots at a good angle, which is good news.
Miranda Merron ‘nobody is immune from a technical failure’
Miranda Merron’s message this morning, “I am so sorry for Isa Joschke / MASCF who was sailing such a superb race and showing great tenacity. As she said, it’s the harsh law of the Vendée Globe.
A reminder yet again that nobody is immune from a technical failure that cannot be fixed at sea. “
