Vendee Globe Starts Today, Facts, Video, Discussion

[Polux]

Some interesting news on the race:

Alex has been winning miles on Armel and probably will continue to win on the next yours since he has more wind. He is know at about 100nm and going faster. Probably he will gain some miles on the next hours before Armel wins some also, before both reach the medium to strong winds ahead.

They convinced Armel to finally make a long speech An interesting comparison with last Vendee where Armel was on the role of Alex racing in 2nd, chasing the first (Gabart):

“It’s been a complicated race for me and the weather has been tricky to deal with but you just have to make do with the conditions you’ve got. It’s going to be complicated all the way and it’s not a straight line finish into Les Sables so we’re going to have to cover more ground in some varied conditions.

It’s going to be tight between me and Alex and we have a battle on our hands so it’ll be important to hang on in there, dig deep and push as hard as we can.

It hasn’t been easy negotiating the calm conditions, added to which they weren’t necessarily predicted in the grib files, but that’s how it goes.

The breeze became more stable over the course of the day so I did manage to get some rest, but it’s important to be vigilant in terms of boat speed, trimming and so on in a bid to make headway north.

This current situation is nothing like it was 4 years ago. For starters, there weren’t any real opportunities to play catch-up back then, while this time the hunter has been favored, really since Cape Horn, with a difficult negotiation of the St Helena High and the Doldrums and now this light patch. I don’t feel that I’ve ever had more favorable conditions so I’ve just got to grit my teeth and focus on the finish.

I do feel a little bit anxious about it. I have 5 very complicated days ahead of me and I wish it was a more relaxing scenario. I simply have to concentrate on the weather and making headway towards the objective step by step, and make sure I’m in front. I’m going to continue to mark Alex, though lately it’s been tricky to do that.

The wind is due to kick back in tomorrow at which point it’ll be all about reading the weather and tactics right. My boat’s in good shape but I’ve no idea whether I have an advantage over Alex in terms of my experience of close-contact racing. Time will tell"..”

For experience on close contact racing he is referring modestly to be a top Figaro racer, with what all that means in close contact sailing experience.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

The rivalry I was speaking about between England and France goes back hundreds of years and the British certainly came out on top but it remains to this day. There is no denying the skills and tenacity of the French single hander, they are in a league of their own. ....

Certainly not in what regards sailing and sailors. I don't know if you know but there is an Academy, sponsored by Artemis that helps young British solo racers to compete and learn on the French Figaro solo series.
Artemis Offshore Academy

Some of the best new offshore British talents passed by that school and competed on the Figaro and what they learned as solo sailors allows them to crew, still very young top racing classes, that is the case with Sam Goodchild that with less than 30 will be Trimmer/bowman on on of the top VOR on the next race.

And if you look at the only girl's team that in crewed top sail racing ever beat all men teams (on one of the races of the VOR) you will be looking to a team with plenty of solo racers, including the Skipper.

Regarding that, I mean that if one is a top offshore solo sailor, he will be very quickly a top offshore crewed sail racer, as good or better than the best. this article on seahorse magazine is very interesting regarding that:

"Three years ago the French Volvo 70 was not considered by the establishment’ as a serious contender for overall victory in the Volvo Ocean Race, and the first leg to Cape Town didn’t do anything to help as Franck Cammas’s Groupama came last of the finishers by quite a large margin.

Things changed quickly from then on, however, and over the following legs the team started performing, collecting points, winning legs and ultimately Groupama won the race. A quick look at their crew roster didn’t show up any ‘big international star names’ but a closer look revealed not only an impressive number of shorthanded offshore sailors, but specifically no fewer than six veteran Figaro skippers."
https://www.seahorsemagazine.com/11-...fshore-academy

Unfortunately British Public is not interested in solo offshore sailing (or saling?) and not even the great race Alex Thompson is making was enough to raise a considerable interest. The young British sailors that are helped on the Artemis academy are unable to continue learning and racing on the Figaro since without the support of the Artemis academy they are unable to raise sponsoring, even if that is not an expensive season and the needed money is not much, if compared with other sports.

Little boat, great speeds, great sailors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDSOV_Bw_S4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAg9GupFCtM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrD2ocojZ9M

[robert sailor]

Polux the rivalry I was talking about that goes back hundreds of years is the French Navy and the British Navy...no one was racing hundreds of years ago. The British Navy was in its day the most powerful Navy in the world and the French Navy, meh, not so much.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

Polux the rivalry I was talking about that goes back hundreds of years is the French Navy and the British Navy...no one was racing hundreds of years ago. ....

I guess that in what regards sailing war was substituted by racing on modern times. I was referring to that. They keep battling and there is still a rivalry between French racers and British racers, but now a wealthy one

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by Polux

I guess that in what regards sailing war was substituted by racing on modern times. I was referring to that. They keep battling and there is still a rivalry between French racers and British racers, but now a wealthy one

Agreed

[Juho]

Could it be a possible surprise strategy to take the main turn towards east some 100-200 nm earlier than recommended by Windity? (https://gis.ee/vg/) Cast your fate to the wind? (music by Vince Guaraldi)

[Pelagic]

I think at this stage Alex has little choice but to chase Armel and hope he finds enough wind to pass and then cover at close quarters as they approach the finish.

Armel will be unlucky, if he does not Win and despite being a Brit, I am cheering for him.

[meatservo]

Despite being a Brit? I am British by birth and I resemble that remark...


Go Alex!


meatservo

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Juho

Could it be a possible surprise strategy to take the main turn towards east some 100-200 nm earlier than recommended by Windity? (https://gis.ee/vg/) Cast your fate to the wind? (music by Vince Guaraldi)

No, I don't think so. Approaching France more directly would mean to have wind on the nose all the time.

Regarding the race, Alex and Armel have maintained about the same speed on the last 4 hours and they are going now at about the same speed. The distance between them seem to have stabilized around the 100nm but in 10 hours Armel is going to reach higher winds and for 4 hours it should be considerably faster than Alex and then both would went at full speed.

That strong wind more to west, from where Alex seems plan to pass, seems stronger each time I look at it. A small forecast error and it will be too strong. Alex have showed a great performance on strong winds and his boat seems to perform better than the one of Armel on those conditions and he will be on the good foil.

It is going to be interesting to see if Alex can go faster than Armel on those conditions. I have little doubt that would be the case if they were following the same course (on the stronger winds) but Armel seems to have chosen to sail on less heavy winds and I am not sure if the stronger winds with heavier seas will compensate regarding Armel's option.

One thing is for sure, the risk of damaging the boat or the sails is bigger for Alex. Anyway I really appreciate his effort, taking all the risks to manage to gain miles over Armel.

As I said before, Alex Thompson, losing or winning this race has already attained a new level in what regards his sailing status and is now without any doubt one of best top solo sailors and winning or losing I have no doubt that a huge crowd will be cheering him at arrival....and that crowd would be composed almost all by French.

[meatservo]

Polux,
I think you keep mixing up Armel and Alex with respect to your postings...


meatservo

[Polux]

Originally Posted by meatservo

Polux,
I think you keep mixing up Armel and Alex with respect to your postings...


meatservo

Only on one paragraph. Now it was corrected, thanks.

[meatservo]

All good, truly appreciate your observations! Keep us informed...



meatservo

[Juho]

Originally Posted by Polux

Regarding the race, Alex and Armel have maintained about the same speed on the last 4 hours and they are going now at about the same speed. The distance between them seem to have stabilized around the 100nm but in 10 hours Armel is going to reach higher winds and for 4 hours it should be considerably faster than Alex and then both would went at full speed.

If Alex follows Armel all the way, it looks more and more probable that he will be 100 nm behind also at the finish line. Is Alex happy with that? Probably not. Maybe he should select a different route than the leader. Less luck needed on the shorter route to the right of Armel (if Armel picks the proposed route). Is 5% chance of winning and 95% probability of being 100 nm behind better than 8% chance of winning and 93% probability of being 200 nm behind?

[Polux]

Interesting development: Armel used those miles he could have won if he had continued to sail on the same course (due to have reached stronger winds before Alex) to move West and to put yourself on the same course as Alex.

Now if Alex passes he had to pass due to better sailing skills or a better endurance and not because he had a better routing. it seems Armel prefer it that way than winning some extra miles. Off course, Alex can even go more to the west and to stronger winds but I doubt Armel will follow him there.

Even so I don't know if it was a good option since Alex's boat had proved that can be faster on stronger winds. Right now both go at full speed with Armel doing 20.9K and Alex 23.1k. This chase at high speed can end badly with one of them breaking the boat, the sails or the rig and in this case Armel risks more because he is ahead anyway.

On the last 15 hours Alex was able to win 15nm to Alex and nine of those were on the last 4 hours. Difficult to understand what is going on since according to the forecast Armel hit stronger winds before Alex and should have won time, not lost. Maybe he took a opportunity to sleep a bit before entering the stronger winds? Or the forecast, as usual, is not accurate?

The router show that Alex can gain more miles going more and more to the west and to the stronger winds. I hope Armel has the good sense not to follow him there since the risks of breaking the boat on a mad race are considerable and the 100nm should be enough to arrive first to that ridge near France were they will go for a while upwind in weak winds.

Sure Alex, if he can bring the boat in one piece, will be near him but I believe Armel will not lose more time there and will not let Alex overtake him on a match race to the final.

On the headquarters their main concern is not this battle now, but a big storm on the Horn that will catch 4 sailors: Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Matmut), Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline), Alan Roura (La Fabrique) and Rich Wilson (Great American IV)



"A depression situated to the south-west of the Cape Horn is generating a north-westerly breeze along the Chilean coast. The mountains, which peak at about 4,000 metres on the south-west coast of the South American peninsula, cause the wind to accelerate in this zone.

The katabatic winds can also increase the average wind speed. These are cold and violent winds which come down from the mountains. They go by the name of Williwaws in Patagonia and are dreaded by the sailors who navigate this part of the globe.
For our four skippers, the wind could reach 45 to 50 knots with gusts at more than 60 knots (dark red on the first chart)."
News - Storm forecast over Cape Horn for Sunday 15th January - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline): “I’ve positioned myself to the South, near the AEZ to avoid the strong winds blowing along the Andes cordillera. At around 0200 UTC I put in a gybe in around twenty knots of breeze on port tack in anticipation of the squall forecast over Cape Horn.

It’s still very cold, but the end of the Southern Ocean is in sight. I’ve been playing for time a bit so as not to get hit by the worst of the storm, but I’m gradually committing to it. The sea state has eased a little but we still have cross seas. It’s drizzling and we’re in darkness now. I hope I don’t get 60 knots!

I’ve been right around the boat checking everything. I’ve shifted two sails that were on deck in the cockpit and I’ve put in a third reef. I’ve lashed my mainsail securely to the boom so that there are no pockets of water and I’ve checked down below to ensure there’s nothing loose.

... It’s a strange situation as you’re racing but you’ve slowed up. There’s a mixture of apprehension and excitement. ...

The four of us are keeping in touch, especially Fabrice (Amedeo), who’s my new friend from the Southern Ocean, and Alan (Roura) who’s been becalmed: it’s a bit of a trap to drop too far South. And then we have Rich (Wilson), who is still just as elegant. He even sent us a quote from Bernard Moitessier in English!”

Rich Wilson (Great American IV): “We rocketed through the night in a manner that is not at all my style. Yet there seemed an opening to get to Cape Horn if we went very fast and the wind gave us the chance, so we did. It was shocking and noisy and bouncy and noisy and big seas and the boat ricocheting and noisy and fast, fast, fast. And yet, when all was said and done, our little boat icon on the position reports showed 14.9 knots.

So for the leaders of this race, who routinely would have little boat icons showing 19 knots, or 21 knots, what must that be like on board other than petrifying. It’s the one aspect of this I do not understand: how can those sailors tolerate that stress?

When we do a tack gybe, the first part is to roll up the fractional gennaker. This is a long, hard, grind on the pedestal winch at high speed, or as fast as you can muster. For me, my asthma becomes problematic, not that I have an asthma attack or an anaphylactic episode, but just the fatigue of breathing at a level of 70-80%, when I clearly need 100%.

These boats are monsters to manoeuvre singlehanded. Maybe if the storm delays a little bit it will be better....”

Alan Roura (La Fabrique): “Saturday was pretty cool in the end with a morning in a fairly light wind, but very heavy seas and the wind climbing gradually. Right now, I have 27 knots and I’m all too aware that I’ll end up with 40 like yesterday.

The main concern is not really the wind, it’s the building seas, which are running very, very fast and becoming dangerous. The boat surfs along and then buries into the waves if I’m carrying too much sail area. I think that as a result of La Fabrique having a mast a long way forward, she buries more than the other boats so I have to reduce my mainsail very early in heavy seas.”
News - Squalls at Cape Horn - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

[SV Sea]

Love the Banter but how many boats will decide to commit to the Vendee without running foils in the years to come? Maybe the boats with a limited budget? Looks like a clean sweep to me FOR THE FOILERS!
the closest boat not running them is over 1400 nm's behind! Too bad Alex has only been racing with one foil for over a month! he'd be smoking the field with two!