Vendée Globe, news of the day
For the first time in the ‘great south’, Vendée Globe leader Charlie Dalin is setting a good pace aboard the Apivia. His advantage this Saturday morning is over 320 nautical miles and his route shows it with the added advantage of passing well the length of the Cape of Good Hope south of the adverse current and seas created by the Agulhas Current. He is in good shape, but there are still more than 18,000 miles of running, the route was slightly extended with the decision to raise the Antarctic Exclusion Zone north of the Crozet Islands.
British skipper Alex Thomson, who is leading the race to the southern hemisphere, has reported further damage to HUGO BOSS. Last night he told his team that his starboard rudder is compromised and therefore he has been braked overnight, doing around 11-12 kts, racing with the active port rudder, not ideal for controlling his boat in 25kts of wind. , while discussing options with his team. . HUGO BOSS has dropped to 13th in the morning position report.
After amputating most of his port foil, runner-up Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) has largely kept pace with leader Dalin, who can focus on maintaining good high average speeds in the gloomy Southern Ocean.
While Jean Le Cam’s route to the north of the platoon makes the veteran fight back as well, in relation to the gang of ships moving fast south, Yannick Bestaven (Maître CoQ IV) and Kevin Escoffier (PRB) alone they are setting the pace. four miles apart, side by side, averaging 18-19 knots, as Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) in seventh and Sébastien Simon (ARKEA PAPREC) in eighth, which are only three miles away away in the water.
Charlie Dalin
“The climate change feels pretty brutal even if it was pretty gradual.”
“The navigation conditions force me a bit to move away from the Antarctic Exclusion Zone (AAZ): my route is a little different from that of the pursuits because I am forced to sail towards the northeast while I speak. A lot of time at the table of Letters to adjust my route in the best way because in the next few days we are going to be quite windy: we have to find the best course. The sea was quite rough last night but now it is starting to calm me down a bit, although only a little. I am currently sailing at 22-23 knots NW
The sky is uniformly gray, but the nights are short, which makes up for it very well. The AEZ has moved a little further north down the race direction, eliminating some tactical possibilities with the strong wind coming. I will continue north, but will go back down after the front pass. The direction of the wind is slightly dictating the trajectory. I suppose it will take about a month to tour Antarctica.
Maître CoQ IV
The Maître CoQ IV pattern has the rhythm of a Swiss watch approaching the roaring 40’s.
Yannick Bestaven is discovering these Southern Oceans in very favorable conditions with a powerful low pressure system behind him and a nearly full moon to light the way.
“It’s going fast because we have a breeze! There are 25-26 knots of NW wind. I’m doing solid speeds together with Kevin (Escoffier), who is upwind and trying to adjust the sails. To the best of my ability … It has been building since the beginning of the last one and now we have established winds for the last three to four hours. We should pass the length of the Cape of Good Hope on Monday night if all goes well, then a gybe around 35 ° South (to go back southeast after the front passes), which I reckon will be Sunday mid afternoon. The sea is not very rough yet and although it is a bit rough I am doing well under a small gennaker and mainsail with a reef. They have a beautiful moon that illuminates everything! It is quite beautiful … It is a beautiful start to the day, quite magical despite not trying to “screw up”.
I’m quite happy with my position and managed to get to the south as planned yesterday. I have returned to the PRB and thanks to the slightly lighter conditions I was able to sail with Boris (Herrmann), which was very motivating. You really tune the boat correctly then because you always sail better against someone.
I’m not the fastest sailor in the group of four, maybe because I don’t have such big foils. We should have a month of this;
I am like a big boy discovering the Southern Ocean!
There are albatrosses and many other birds that I do not know, and it is not so cold yet. That will come with the southerly winds coming from Antarctica … “
