Vendee Globe Starts Today, Facts, Video, Discussion

[Pelagic]

Anyone know what kind of life raft they choose for a solo sailor?

[DumnMad]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Anyone know what kind of life raft they choose for a solo sailor?

I think Thomas has a Helicopter.

[Polux]

And I think he is going to make it

This were the situations on the last hours:

"“The boat is continuing to open up.” Thomas Ruyant told the Race Director, Jacques Caraës, who receives the boat’s position every six minutes and is closely monitoring the situation, that he is now unable to bail out the water entering the boat (at least one of the two pumps is no longer working) and this led him to close the watertight compartment between the sail locker and the inside of the boat.

Theoretically, if she doesn’t break up, the boat should not sink with this compartment closed. But she is advancing at 5 knots with her bow down into the water, and the stern of the 60-foot boat is so far above the sea that it is hard draining the water when waves come over the deck. The situation is therefore very tense, “...
News - Coastguards on their way to Thomas Ruyant - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

In fact the conditions during the night were much worse than what the previsions showed. I saw about 35k winds and he got over 50K gusting almost 60K!!!!

I can imagine what a night that was, with a boat making water and opening up, pumps working all night, all night controlling the situation. What a stressful night and what a pair of balls this young man has.

But he has managed to get inside the protection of the South coast and the conditions are much better now even if the state of the boat should be terrible because he is making less that 4k speed.

I think that it is time for him to abandon the race a thing that he officially has not done yet to be able to receive the help that is going his way. He is at less than 50nm from the port and two of the best New Zealander sailors made a point in going personally to give some help, among them Stuart McLachlan the captain of Camper in the Volvo Ocean Race.

They will come in a coast guard boat and will bring a powerful pump, diesel and equipment to reinforce the boat structure. They will go aboard to help a certainly exhausted Thomas Ruyant. If they were French they would also bring a bottle of champagne LOL.

They are expected to arrive there about one hour from this moment.

[Davidhoy]

Things are looking up for Thomas. The NZ Coast Guard are now alongside and he is getting all the assistance he needs, and is hopeful about saving the boat. Much respect for him working so hard to save his boat, most would have abandoned such a badly damaged vessel a long time ago.

News - Thomas Ruyant -"Everything has been made secure" - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Davidhoy

Things are looking up for Thomas. The NZ Coast Guard are now alongside and he is getting all the assistance he needs, and is hopeful about saving the boat. Much respect for him working so hard to save his boat, most would have abandoned such a badly damaged vessel a long time ago.

News - Thomas Ruyant -"Everything has been made secure" - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Yes, a great human exploit. I have heard similar stories on the mini racing class and he was still racing there 9 years ago (we won that Transat in 2009). Stories of poor professional sailors with a low budget that know that if they lose the boat probably they will not will be able to race again on that class, due to the impossibility of finding a sponsor that will cover a new boat or even an used one in good conditions. That's why they risk more than top professionals that know they will have a new boat.

Maybe this will help him to find a better budget for the next Vendee:

His words (translated):

"I have two New Zealanders on board my boat. We are installing a motor pump to try to empty the front compartment. I have 8 knots of wind and a flat sea. I think I can say that I am going to save Le Souffle du Nord and that we will succeed in bringing it home.

Since the passage of the southern tip of New Zealand, everything is secure, I think. We are sheltered. The boat is currently inclined to the bow but we are taking care of that.

A few hours ago, I thought that the story of my proud sailboat, with the great hummingbird, was over. I could not make way in 45 knots of wind. I was inside with the finger on the button of the beacon for evacuation. I thought I was definitely losing Le Souffle du Nord.

The boat was broached severely every two minutes. My sailboat was uncontrollable with a rudder system destroyed. The rig was completely lose and I had no runners. Everything was held by a thread!

After this bad time and after having passed this famous cap (sailing under its protection), I realized that I was going to make it. I had a moment of truly happiness with an incredibly beautiful sunset along the New Zealand's coasts."
Actualités - Thomas Ruyant : "tout est sécurisé, je pense" - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Chapeau also to those two NZ sailors that come to the help of a colleague in trouble.

[Polux]

More bad news for another sailor on the Vendee, this time for the one that was in 3rd, Paul Meilhat that has a crack on the keel ram. Terrible news for someone that was making a great race.

He turned the boat to the wind and is trying to block the keel on a central position. A crack on the ram does not mean he has to given up. It is possible that he can continue sailing with the keel blocked, like if the boat didn't have a canting keel, but the losses in speed have nothing to do with the ones of having a broken foil and he will certainly be overtaken by the 3 or 4 that are behind him.

Like Thomas Ruyant, this was certainly one of the sailors that was making a fantastic race and that did not deserve this kind of luck.

Meanwhile Armel, on the changing systems has been winning always over over Alex that is now probably out of any hope to catch him, unless Armel a big problem. We will arrive to the horn practically two days after Armel.

More storms on the way, this time for the ones that sail on the tail. They are all sailing a bit North to avoid the worst of it. Louis Burton can also have problems (or not) as well as Armel on the horn, but regarding the last two, only a possibility, depending how the systems evolve.

Stephane Le diraison has a new rig

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3IDyDEPxkg

and Eric Bellion goes fast with a big smile on his face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF_Ux1ssQ4M

[DeepFrz]

I wouldn't count Alex Thompson out just yet.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

I wouldn't count Alex Thompson out just yet.

I don't count him out. If something happens to Alex he will be the most probable winner and on this race anything can happen.

[Polux]

Interesting NZ videos of Thomas Ruyant and his boat, now safely at the Bluff's port.

'I don't know how it is possible that my boat is there today' | Stuff.co.nz

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-...need-sleep-eat





Paul Meilhat has successfully managed to block his keel on the central position, that without the ram and with the keel swinging to one side to the other should be a lot more difficult than what it seems since he took some hours to do it but he seems not to be racing, with the boat still going North.

Fabrice Amedeo has a big hole on his mainsail and is trying to repair it and the ones on the tail of the race are going North (as I said on a previous post) trying to avoid a storm. On the words of Sébastien Destremau (TechnoFirst-faceOcean):

“I have been going a long way north over the past 24 hours. Romain (Attanasio) and I took the right decision to get out of there, s they are forecasting 50-60 knot winds around the Kerguelens. It’s not worth taking unnecessary risks. It’s quite rough here with 30-35 knots of wind."

On the head of the race and for the first time in several days Alex won some miles over Armel and both are going very fast averaging over 400nm a day, 447 for Alex.

The other one that is going also very fast is Jean-Pierre Dick that made 466nm on the last 24 hours. He left behind the two that had accompanied him for a long time (Le Cam and Yann Elies) and won some miles over Beyou.

On the tail of the race, Didac Costa, the one that sailed 4 days after all the others, continues chasing and winning miles on Pieter and his brand new boat and is not far now. Great race for Didac Costa. Surprisingly Romain Attanasio, that stopped for repairing the rudders seems not able to gain on him.

Attanasio has one of the oldest if not the oldest boat on the race but it is a much more experienced sailor. That only shows how well costa is sailing his boat.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Anyone know what kind of life raft they choose for a solo sailor?

They have two life rafts, one that can be deployed from the water (you can see that on photo above, on Thomas boat) and other one inside on an easily accessibly place. They have to comply with SOLAS liferaft demands.

[Polux]

Paul Meilhat abandoned the race. He says that racing the boat with the keel blocked will make too much pressure on the system that maintains the keel in place. He has to sail the boat slow not over 12k but neither under 8k, to maintain the stress at minimum levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjyV-mTEgEc

He is going North to escape to bad weather and he says he don't know if he is going to New Zealand or to the Polynesian Islands. NZ is closer but there is a lot of bad weather on the way on that direction.

Others have been experiencing very bad conditions and I find this discretion by Nandor Fa (63 year's old) incredible. I would like to have his stamina LOL:

“I’m just over my most difficult night in the race so far. A 40-knot gust knocked over the boat. I jumped to furl up the reacher, with which we’ve been progressing perfectly until that moment. I was still winching the sheet when another sudden gust hit us and made the boat gybe. I was in hell.

A huge wave swamped us from the back which came into the cabin as of the doors was open - luckily just one. By the time I was finished with the whole chaos. I furled the J2 and sat down on the beanbag. Just a few minutes later I was alarmed by a loud noise and the boat being knocked over.

Afterwards I crawled into the cabin, soaking wet, trying to change my sodden clothes. Then I sat next to the galley to eat something. As I was sitting there, the boat suddenly stopped in a wave and my flying in the boat was stopped by the chart table, having my ear smashed. My ear was throbbing like it was hanging off, just like back in the days when I was a wrestler. This was all I could take. I screamed out, swearing and cursing like a madman, I was so angry. But I pulled myself together. I ate something, hauled myself on to the beanbag and passed out.”

“At dawn I was awakened by huge silence. I got up to see what’s happened. Every single part of me was in pain. Somehow I got to the companionway door to see that everything was all right, we were sailing in the right direction.

It just seemed too silent and serene after all the drama and noise. After breakfast I saw that the power was too low, so I started the engine. A few minutes later I heard a hissing sound. I already knew what it was: The engine was cooked. I grabbed the tools and started to repair it. It took two hours. After that, the engine has an even sweeter, more beautiful sound than before. So, this is how I entered the Pacific on 20th December at 09:30 UTC.”"
News - Rookies’ regrets, warriors’ wars - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

And it is not only him that tells frightening stories:

Pieter Heerema (NED) No Way Back: “I am completely wasted. I have had three wipe outs. I have had crash tacks, the sails flapping, the boat flat in the water, an enormous mess, an avalanche of stuff through the boat three times, sails flogging. It has been a disaster."

Sebastien Destremau:"We've just capsized like a dinghy. I was standing on the cabin top inside and was absolutely dead certain that we were going over. But after a few seconds, she slowly came back up right. It was like a miracle really,"

This afternoon at 0330hrs UTC and whilst TechnoFirst-faceOcean was sailing in a strong 30 knots of wind with three reefs in the mainsail and the J3, with her skipper inside, a rogue wave put the boat on her side, mast in the water.
News - A scary moment for Sébastien Destremau - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

And not much better to Alex that has nightmares with the boat being capsized. Difficult to separate dreams from the reality sometimes especially when the reality and the dream arte not very different:

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

[Davidhoy]

I wonder why the official Vendee Globe website (and by extension their mobile app) is so slow to update with the kind of information Polux is getting for us. Still no mention on their site of Ruyant's safe arrival in Bluff or of Meilhat's abandoning the race...

-David.

[arsenelupiga]

i see, this is how best time of their lives looks like

watched that french movie about the race and some african refugee climbed the boat. he had the worst time of his life, sailor the best in identical conditions.

You figure !

[transmitterdan]

I think this race is not about the best sailor. It is about who is "lucky" and who is not so lucky. That is not a real competition to me. These sailors, their boats and the routes taken combine into little more than a crap shoot as to whether they survive or not. It seems that some of the sailors are fatigued to the point of making what appear to be obvious mistakes (sitting unrestrained, leaving water tight doors open, etc.).

There is often a short distance between skilled bravery and stupidly risky.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

I think this race is not about the best sailor. It is about who is "lucky" and who is not so lucky. That is not a real competition to me. These sailors, their boats and the routes taken combine into little more than a crap shoot as to whether they survive or not. It seems that some of the sailors are fatigued to the point of making what appear to be obvious mistakes (sitting unrestrained, leaving water tight doors open, etc.).

There is often a short distance between skilled bravery and stupidly risky.

That is not understanding this race or the quality of these sailors. Why do you think there is a distance of about 7000nm between the last and the first? No it is not the boats, one of the last has a sister boat of one that was racing on the first places.

Do you think any of those sailors can win this race? Or even the ones that are on the middle group at about 5000nm of the first?

All the other, that are closer to the lead, are top professional solo sailors and only those have any possibility of winning this race and even among those only the ones that managed to have a top boat.

Why do you think that the one that finished last edition is 2nd is leading the race? Luck? and the one that finished last edition in 3rd is 2th on this one? more luck?

Yes, like in any race involving machines luck is needed, or at least nod having bad luck, but this race cannot be more faraway of the idea you seem to have of it, where any sailor with luck could win it. No, only the very best professional solo sail sailors with a top boat have a chance to win it. They also need luck? Off course.

This race is not only about sailing but about endurance and about the capacity to overcome and solve problems on the sailing boats. Also about routing ability.

The only one that managed to win this race twice used to say that one should be prepared for a new problem everyday. Exhausted sailors make mistakes? Sure then one should be able to cope without reaching the exhausting point. That is one of the things that separate the very good from the others.

No stupidity risk here. These boats have been perfected in what regards safety to a very high level and like all top racers with powerful machines, being them F1 racers, WRC racers, GP motorcycle racers, Dakar racers, all of them are quite obsessive in what regards safety.

That does not mean that they all do not have to take controllable risks while racing. No way of winning other way. That is what racing with machines is all about, that, talent,training and having a good machine.