Vendee Globe Starts Today, Facts, Video, Discussion

[Polux]

Finally Alex have some time to take a rest and eventually a nap before they fall into the next storm, 15 hours away.
https://gis.ee/vg/

They passed the last one without losing too much time or slowing too much keeping on racing. It seems that for them slowing down is sailing at 16K

It seems that they had some time to write or say something regarding the conditions to the race committee:

Armel:
"It just never stops! Right now, conditions have eased a little: there’s just 30-35 knots… But we’ve had a fair bit of breeze in this active low pressure system, with up to 55 knots of wind and the seas have deteriorated considerably. That said, the boat’s making headway as it should, without suffering. Since I passed in front of Campbell, the wind has begun to ease and conditions aren’t as terrible."

It’s complicated now because we’re coming up on the new system quickly, but it’s going to be tough to pass under the incoming low pressure system that’s rolling down from New Zealand. It’s not an easy strategy… The coming hours aren’t going to be simple: I’ll feel calmer on Tuesday morning once I’m clear of it! After that, we’ll have to deal with an area of high pressure because it’s blocking our way. "
News - West Meets East, Recovery Time - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Alex:
"The British skipper reported to his team today that he is fair shape, physically and mentally, but was very much looking forward to quieter weather.
“Alex is still crawling around the boat. It is impossible to move around at all. He is pretty tired as you would expect. But he seems to be OK.” Ross Daniel, the Alex Thomson Racing Technical Director confirmed this afternoon."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-jXD0C5tSA

Meanwhile, Rich Wilson, the American skipper reported to have been in "submarine mode" and doing sometimes over 30k.

Rich Wilson (USA) Great American IV: “... I have had a couple of episodes recently. Once I had a front came through with two reefs in the main and the fractional gennaker up and suddenly we had 48kts of wind, and suddenly the boat just took off like a submarine. You can’t imagine how much water there was over the boat. And we hit a speed of over 30kts. Fortunately I got the gennaker rolled up without damage. That was a close call not just for that sail, but who knows what else might have broken? I never, ever want to see that kind of speed again. Those kind of high speeds bring high risk. .Three days ago I had 40 knots of breeze and the boat was powering along at over 30 knots! It’s not reasonable as the risk of breakage is higher at these speeds.”."
News - Double Sunday But No Rest - Vendée Globe 2016-2017
News - Vendee Live: the fleet happy to be at sea, despite some issues... - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

[Polux]

For the ones that are following this race and that like solo racing and circumnavigations I would like to point them to another great achievement that is taking place at the same time:

The attempt to break the absolute circumnavigation sail record, by Thomas Coville on a much bigger trimaran, a maxi racer. He had done the same as these guys have being done on the Vendee, battling with heavy seas, overtook them, turned recently the Horn (with flat waters, what a luck) and is on the easiest part of the record, going home, to France, from the South African coasts.

He has a huge advance over the previous record (about 1600nm) and if all goes well, he is going to break the previous record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSr6qtH4kiM

If things can be easier on what regards bad whether on a 100ft boat, taming it alone does not look simpler or easier to me and there are very few sailors that are able to do that. Chapeau to Coville

You can follow the record attempt here:
Tableau de bord - Sodebo - Tour Du Monde 2016

This is the boat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br9dRlsrLQI

[Polux]

A correction: the giant trimaran of Coville never overtook the Vendee Globe boats. Coville sailed out on the same day several hours earlier

[Bleemus]

Colville left from Brest which is farther north. He did have to pass them.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Bleemus

Colville left from Brest which is farther north. He did have to pass them.

Yes, of course, what I mean is that it did not pass the Vendee Globe on the Southern Ocean, but on the Atlantic at an early stage, of the Vendee.

[Polux]

Some interesting stuff is going on regarding the two on the lead. It seems Alex has outplayed Armel in what regards routing on the next hours and will be gaining some miles.

They have a high pressure zone with little wind ahead before getting a low and lots of wind again. It seems that Alex, more to the North will have a way of getting wind all the time while to the south not only the pressure will be less as Armel can pass a zone with little wind. To avoid that he was to go North.

On the last 4 hours Alex is going almost 4k faster than Armel and that's huge.

It is possible to see it here:
https://gis.ee/vg/

They made some interesting comments on the Vendee site about that:

"The disturbed weather system off New Zealand is dropping down so quickly towards the Antarctic that Armel Le Cléac’h has had to rejig his gameplan. He’s now set to pass to the North of this low pressure centre and will lose the bulk of his lead over Alex Thomson.....the low pressure system rolling down from New Zealand has ultimately managed to outsprint the leader, who will no longer be able to slip ahead of it and steal a march on the Briton.

As a result, Armel Le Cléac’h put in a gybe this Sunday morning to get around to the north of the obstacle created by the eye of this system, giving Alex Thomson the chance to cross his trajectory and reduce some of his deficit."

News - Another world... analysis and reactions - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

[Davidhoy]

Polux, thanks for all the updates! Much appreciated.

[Steadman Uhlich]

POLUX,

Thanks again for the updates, the embedded videos, and your comments and analysis too. Much appreciated!

This is an exciting race.

And, I also appreciate what you wrote and included about Thomas Coville too. Please continue with posting info about him in this thread too. While not the same race, it is concurrent and also very interesting.

[Polux]

Thanks Steady Hand, I make this for fun and for the pleasure of sharing a race that I love with others.

I have been doing this on forums since a long time not only regarding this race but regarding very interesting Transats, with very few people interested. This year it seems different and I am quite satisfied with it.

After all solo sail oceanic racing can only become better if there are more people interested in them and how can we expect sail race to be a big sport and interest others if not even sailors are interested by it? How can Americans expect to have top sail solo racers if there is not a public interest that allows sponsors for them?

Back on the race, as I had previewed on last post, Alex won big on Armel and reduced for less than half the distance and then lost a bit again. But the distance between them is nothing regarding the distance to the finish.

It seems to me the Alex, after losing is in a position fot continuing to win on the next hours. He has taken a more risky approach, looking for stronger winds on the North, but one that if all goes well will allow it faster speeds. Anyway the race continuous to be great with the two first entering a new low, not to say stormy weather, in a different way. Look at the meteo:
https://gis.ee/vg/

It seems that Alex is almost stopped and he seems to have plenty wind. I hope all is well with him and his boat.

Armel has little wind and goes slowly till it passes the light winds and enter the depression.

Edit: It seems there is not a problem with Alex's boat, just that he had been on the center of a low where there are no wind and have lost a lot to Armel:

"A l'avant, Alex Thomson sort tout juste du centre d'une autre dépression, où il n'y a pas de vent. Il y a laissé un joli paquet de milles au bénéfice d'Armel Le Cléac'h."
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/fr/actual...uite-pour-dick

You can see Alex talking about it, just 24 minutes ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mPxPIe2JGY

It should be terrible losing time this way!!!

Well, chapeau to Armel, that seemed to be losing in routing to Alex while it seems that he was just looking at a longer term.

[Pelagic]

Thanks Polux.
With your expert analysis and the Vende App, I am checking in every few hours on their almost real time progress.

One question,
why are the French so accomplished and so supportive of this very reclusive sport.
Was it the writings of Bernard Moitessier and other French solo sailors that inspired the nation?

[steamgoat]

Love the quote from Enda O C oineen, ''This is so hard. So that I can never,ever do something like this again,I will sign a legal binding document and give it to somebody in trust so they can stop me from ever, ever, ever again doing something like this.''
He's still got a looonnng way to go !!

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

....
One question,
why are the French so accomplished and so supportive of this very reclusive sport.
Was it the writings of Bernard Moitessier and other French solo sailors that inspired the nation?

Yes, that is linked to Moitessier and Tabarly mostly. Both caught not only the attention of the French sailors but the attention of a great part of the French population.

In fact it was Tabarly that called my attention for solo races. He, like Moitissier was bigger than life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annota...&v=vU1oFP9VYbQ

Having a lot of public interest means that Sponsoring is a good investment in what regards publicity returns. That had supported many solo races and soon allowed the number of professional racers to increase exponentially and when you have not millionaire racing, just because they have the money for it, but a big number of poor very good professionals highly motivated, obviously the level of the sailors rise exponentially too.

This has been going on at more than 20 years and because there is no country like France in what regards solo racing public interest, meaning Sponsoring and publicity returns, if someone want to become a top sail sailor have to go to France to learn on the smaller classes (mini, Class40, Figaro, Multi 50) sailing with the best to slowly tryng to improve to their level.

But for that they have to be professionals and that means having a sponsor and most of the sponsors are in France and naturally prefer to sponsor French sailors. That is why in what regards America and Australia the publicity of these races and having the public liking them is so important.

Far away the 2nd place in public interest on solo racing is UK, through the big accomplishment of Ellen Mac Arthur, that I believe it was, at least on the beginning, more popular in France than in UK, Mike Golding and now Alex Thompson.

Regarding French solo races there are some that rise almost the same interest as the Vendee Globe, two transats, La route du Rhum, the mini Transat and La Solitaire du Figaro. Also very popular is an Amateur solo or duo Transat race (true professionals are excluded) for small performance cruisers, the Transquadra.

Even if they are not professionals they sail like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1X1zi2A5Xs

Duo or solo racing have been increasing in interest everywhere and few years ago the first big news out of France happened on the biggest British classic, the Fastnet, that was won be a duo crew....off course French, father and son.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqnaGgZ-ys

[RKsailsolo]

Echoing sentiment expressed here by Pelagic, Steady, David, and others, I learn so much reading posts by Polux on this forum and his own blog. My sailing aspirations have been expanded via this influence.

[Polux]

Thanks to all for the nice words, but let's back to the race and I will offer you all a translation of a good article on the French magazine "Course au large" (Offshore racing) that makes an analyse from the situation regarding the fight between the two first:

"... Those who thought that Armel Le Cléac'h would just fly away, increasing easely his lead over Alex Thomson were mistaken.

The game is on! Looking at what happened, Armel Le Cléac'h initially imagined that he would be able to pass South of the depression, while Alex Thomson thought he could avoid the worst of it passing North.

Neither of them was right! Armel, fortunately for him, realized rapidly that the depression was moving faster than he, changed strategy, gybing twice to recolocate the boat on a better course and position.

But even so he lost 110Nm to Alex and this morning, he was only 75nm ahead, compared with the nearly 200 that it had 48 hours before.

They are now struggling with light winds from the center of the depression, with hundreds of miles of lateral separation between them. Both were rather slow through the night, sailing on the center of the low pressure area and have now very different winds: Northeast turning north 15 to 20 K for Armel Le Cléac'h, West 5 to 15 maximum K for Alex Thomson.

That means that Armel should win on the next hours over Alex ... But when we look at the simulations for seven days, it is not impossible that we will find them almost side by side in a week, because Hugo Boss will have a bit less way to cover than Banque Populaire VIII. The incredible fight betwenn them, that we follow passionately, is not finnished yet."
Dans le match - Course au Large

Meanwhile a big Storm will catch Le Cam and Jean Pierre Dick in 12 hours. Go 12 hours forward: https://gis.ee/vg/

Jean Pierre Dick is already running away from it going on opposite directions, Jean Pierre North, Le Cam south:


"DICK ROUTES NORTH TOWARDS BASS STRAIT TO AVOID VIOLENT STORM MONDAY 12 DECEMBER 2016, 18H10
As he seeks to take avoiding action to miss the worst of a deep low pressure system which threatens violent storm force winds, in excess of 65kts, and huge seas, Jean-Pierre Dick may become the first sailor in the history of the Vendée Globe to race continuously through the Bass Strait, between Tasmania and Australia."

Dick said today: "I shall be going through the Bass Strait. There are too many uncertainties via the south. In the next few hours, we’re going to have to forget the rankings and try to be reasonable. The safety of the boat and the sailor comes before the race. This is a very powerful low and will last for three days from tomorrow with winds above 45 knots reaching 60 or even 70 at times.

The seas will be huge with waves in excess of ten metres. There’s no way we are going into that as the situation is dangerous.” The skipper of StMichel-Virbac added, “There are two major options. Either we slow down before the low staying close to the exclusion zone, but the risk is that the seas will be very heavy, if the direction of the low changes. Or you go through the Bass Strait, which means more sailing, but less wind and calmer seas.”

Solo skippers placed fifth to seventh, Yann Eliès, Dick and veteran Jean Le Cam are all severely threatened by the depression, but JP Dick’s timing relative to the system is the worst possible.

Eliès is a further 120 miles to the east but is already also racing north east to try to miss the worst of the winds, closest to the centre of the low. And Jean Le Cam (Finistère Mer Vent) has made the decision to route south east, being more than 200 miles further west.
He will take this second option and slow right down as he approaches the Antarctic Exclusion Zone. Close to the centre of the system there are 60kts on the GRIB files which usually means more than 70kts in reality.

If Jean-Pierre Dick’s timing is as unfortunate as it can be, some 500 miles or so to their east, and now racing in the Pacific, third placed Paul Meilhat (SMA) and Jérémie Beyou (Maitre CoQ) will still have to work hard to outrun the system but their luck is in.
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/1...-violent-storm

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Thanks Polux.
With your expert analysis and the Vende App, I am checking in every few hours on their almost real time progress.

One question,
why are the French so accomplished and so supportive of this very reclusive sport.
Was it the writings of Bernard Moitessier and other French solo sailors that inspired the nation?

PELAGIC,
Thanks for asking that question, which I have wondered too.

POLUX,
Thanks for answering that question so well, so clearly, and so meaningfully for me. It is an interesting aspect of a sport that one nation may take it to heart and support it well. Also, thank you for mentioning the other solo and duo races, which are lesser known to most Americans (me included). It is good to learn about them too.