Vendee Globe Starts Today, Facts, Video, Discussion

[steamgoat]

My wifes comment after reading these stories, 'If the world ever descends into a nuclear holocaust, these would be the guys to be with !!''

[Polux]

Originally Posted by steamgoat

My wifes comment after reading these stories, 'If the world ever descends into a nuclear holocaust, these would be the guys to be with !!''

Yes, these guys have not only to be top sailors, to be incredibly resilient but also extremely resourceful. Specially for your wife a story that stuck on my memorie as one of the more fantastic of the Vendee Globe, the story of Yves Parlier, 16 years ago on the 2000 Vendee Globe.

Yves was at the time a top sailor as well as a composite engineer that won his first mini Transat at the age of 24, with a boat built by himself having as the most odd characteristic a carbon mast (1987). Since then he won lots of races, was the French solo Offshore champion in 1991 and been 4th on the 1996 Vendee edition and have abandonned the 1996 edition, after having to stop for repairing a rudder, but finished the circumnavigation after that anyway, out of the race.

On the 2000 edition he was decided to do a great vendee and to finish it, no matter what. He started like a bullet and was the first to reach the Austral seas beating the 24 hour solo record on the process. At the middle of the big austral Ocean Desjoyeaux, the only one that managed to win two times the vendee, overtook him. Yves had bad luck stayng two days almost witout wind. A big fight for the lead started then.

Yves was pushing hard for several days on big winds, sailing at over 50º latitude, when at the middle of nowhere he lost his mast.

He knew that he was not going to win the race but he was decided to finish it this time without abandoning, at all costs. He jury rigged and started a slow journey to the almost deserted Stewart Island, on the South of New Zealand.

Refusing any assistance not to be disqualified he decided to make a rig good enough for him to finish is race, meaning half around the world. He start working bit on a moonless night a storm with 60k winds hit him and he finished on a beach with the boat lying on the side.

At the time we all thought that it was a great effort, but that it was sadly ended....... Not Yves!!!!

With the aid of a raft made by him with jerrycans he manages to refloat the boat. The mast was broken in 3 pieces and he successfully joins together two of the parts parts of the carbon mast with a polymerization, using a "oven" made with 25-watt bulbs, a survival blanket and polar clothing.

He manages to put the mast up, recuts the sails to the new mast size and after having made a huge harvest of seaweed (about 400kg) he sets sail again for half a circumnavigation.

He was already eating everything he could find ashore because he knew that the food was not going to last.

He got a big storm on the horn, lost all communication with land (no meteo information) and weakened by the lack of food ( at this time he had only smelling seaweed to eat) it was by shear determination that he brought back his boat home where he arrived about a month after Desjoyeaux that was followed by Ellen Mac Arthur. One of the best Vendees ever.

When he arrived at Sables d'Olonne, still beating two other racers, he was received like an hero and had the biggest reception of the race, bigger than the winner or the huge one given to Ellen.

Those are the men that made sail popular in France and it is due to them that sail solo offshore racing has no difficulty in finding sponsoring to maintain a considerable number of professional racers. French like them.

I am going to utilize this has a draft for a more complete post with photos in my blog. You may look there tomorrow (probably) if you want to see them.

[Polux]

Colman has finally managed to replace and put in position the upper pin that holds the stay in position. He took many hours but it still remain a mystery for me how is that possible alone. He is back on the race.

Meanwhile the Catalan Didac Costa is trying to repair sorting his torn mainsail, the Irishman, Enda O’Coineen, without mast is under tow to Dunedin and Sébastien Destremau is still moored to a buoy on Tasmania (Port Esperance) making repairs.

And both Alan Roura and Romain Attanasio are trying to deal with their rudder problems while racing:

Alan Roura : “The boat has been watertight again now for a few hours. I managed to block the ingress of water coming from around the rudder stock bearings. The electronics are working, but I lost a lot of stuff. But the important thing is I am back racing.

I climbed the mast and got the lazy jacks back in place, so am now sailing at normal speed. The rudder is working well, although I still have a bit of work to do to the rudder head. I am tired after all that hard work though. The Southern Ocean really isn’t an easy place. I’m looking forward to the warmth of the Atlantic.”

Romain Attanasio (Famille Mary-Étamine du Lys): “I’m a bit annoyed, because I can’t get my gennaker up. I’m on the port tack in a 20-25 NW’ly wind, but on the worse rudder of the two. It is not so easy to control the boat on this tack, as only half the rudder is there and it doesn’t have a good shape. I have a reef in the mainsail, but got knocked down twice.

I don’t have enough rudder for the autopilot to steer properly. Normally I should be at twenty knots and here I am at fifteen. But at least it’s not as cold now. I have also had problems with my wind instruments. A power problem I think, but I’m going to have to wait for calmer conditions to do anything about it.”
News - Back in the game - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Regarding the race for the win things remain the same, Armel is going away from Alex, making more 2.5k while Alex is going away from Beyou, making more 8k speed.

But things will not remain like that because it was not the South Atlantic that had an unusual meteorological situation with a huge high pressure, the North Atlantic too, being the Açores high much lower than usual and they have still to pass the doldrums.

In some days Armel will start to lose to Alex and Alex to Beyou and they will get much closer, starting on the doldrums (Saturday) and the way they sort out all these delicate passages will determine the winner even if Armel will have a starting advantage over the other two.

[Steadman Uhlich]

POLUX,
I have learned so much about the Vendee Globe race from your detailed and very interesting posts. Thanks again!

Today, I learned something directly from Alex Thomson as he answered some questions. Here is what I posted on my facebook page about this along with a link to the video where Alex answers:

This excellent Vendee Globe solo sailor Alex Thomson answers questions posed by his fans as he is completing his solo sail around the world (nonstop). Questions included:
Do you do laundry?
Do you take showers?
Do you do your own weather routing?
How often do you speak with your wife?

One of his answers is: "A bit pongy!"
I chuckled at this one too. I also like these video QA sessions. Very informative. I learned today about the "no weather router" rule. That is cool. Makes the competition even better, since the solo sailor must choose his own route to match the weather, instead of following the course set by some other professional weather expert.

https://www.facebook.com/AlexThomson...1807795166599/

[toddedger]

Pongy ! I think these guys need some Mother Dirt Probiotic Spray. Would make a great sponsor.

https://shop.motherdirt.com/product/ao-mist-2/

[Polux]

Alex is closing rapidly on Armel, now that the highway of trade winds is come to an end for him. He is entering the St Helena high pressure center that this year ia abnormally large as it have been those high centers pressures on the high latitudes of the Southern Ocean.

Beyou is also already gaining over Armel and the fastest now is Alex, that is 12k faster than Armel. Before he to enters the high pressure zone Alex would be gaining many miles over Armel, for sure more than a hundred and probably less than two hundred.

This year the doldrums are particularly difficult and instead of being only a localized high pressure zone they are several, one big and other smaller extending to the North.

It is worth to read fully this interesting comment, made by a weather man regarding the situation. I will quote just a bit:

"REASONS TO FEEL DOWN IN THE DOLDRUMS:
With the leader just a hundred miles from the Equator, the Doldrums are looking complicated, as they are stretching out northwards towards the Cape Verde Islands. Due to a low-pressure system over the Canaries, which will move in and out until it fades away late next week, the trade winds are being pushed back to French Guiana.

The trade winds are therefore shut off between the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands, and pushed right across to French Guiana. This weather pattern is set to remain in place for several days, and is expected to worsen with the Doldrums expanding.

These weak trade winds are northerly or NE’ly in the middle of the Atlantic forcing the frontrunners to go along the edge of the Doldrums which are developing from the Cape Verdes to Fernando da Noronha. They are having to sail towards the East to pass the Canaries, as there is no opening via the Azores. It looks like being a long hard climb back up for the two leaders with the gap narrowing and widening depending on the moods of the Doldrums."
News - Reasons to feel down in the Doldrums - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Lots of routing options to take regarding this very weak and unstable winds. Routing is the name of the game again and for several days.

[Pelagic]

Thanks Polux,
If the Met analysis suggests that the Doldrums will expand...... that theoretically should still favor Armel to get thru the quickest

It will be a fascinating few days to study closely

[Polux]

Last update:

Armel keeps losing miles but now the diference of speed is just 2.7K and will be smaller on the next hours. Anyway since the last post the diference between the two diminished about 60k, a lot.

Alex is confident that he can make a break trough, with some luck:

Alex Thomson (GBR) Hugo Boss: “With these scenarios in the North Atlantic it does create some opportunities. I am running my routing to Les Sables d’Olonne at the moment, but then we are running routes which are looking two weeks ahead. Two weeks in terms of weather forecasting is pure and utter fiction. I am in good shape and the boat is in not bad shape at all. There are one or two problems, the anemometer issue is one thing, but apart from that it is not bad at all.

The Chacal, as they call Armel, as usual says nothing but yesterday they caught him live on an interview with Riou, the one that was making a great race till was forced to abandon and Thomas Coville the one that beat the solo circumnavigation record. As usual Armel does not say much, except that he is in good spirits and sailing as well as he can. The other two says that if Armel does not break anything will win, but the French are always very optimistic.

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

Great race for the incredible Nandor Fa, that is just approaching the Horn:



"Hungarian Vendée Globe skipper Nandor Fa is having the race of his life in the Vendée Globe. The 62-year old wrestler, turned canoeist turned Olympic sailor, who came back to solo ocean racing after a 20 year hiatus to compete in this pinnacle event of shorthanded sailing, is expected to pass Cape Horn on Sunday morning. This Friday afternoon Fa is some 620 miles shy of Cape Horn and his release from what has been a tough Pacific ocean for him and the IMOCA 60 which he designed himself."

[Polux]

And for the lead the war is on again. They are made of steel those two, Armel that remains calm and imperturbable with Alex gaining miles over miles when he stays out of wind, never making a mistake or a bad choice and Alex with a relentless pursuit, never given up!!!!

And now it is one of those times where Armel nerves are being putt on trial: Alex is only at 134nm and winning miles over him fast. Alex is almost 6k faster than him and he has lost over 200nm on the last days.

Hopefully on the next days it will be the opposite but Alex is going to be very close and after that there is even worst in what regards light winds.

Armel is losing time doing less than 8k while crossing a high pressure zone but the Doldrums are still ahead and this year they are BIG. They will sail for several days in very tricky conditions with zones with some wind others with almost none. Nerve breaking conditions, especially for the one that is chased.

A great vendee!!!!
https://gis.ee/vg/

[Polux]

And here you have: the Doldrums fight!!!

Alex after being at just 118nm from Armel, Alex is now at 144nm but closing fast again.

On the last 4 hours Armel made only 12.5 nm, not the average but the total distance in 4 hours!!! while Alex has made 34.5nm. Besides right now Alex is making 8K while Armel is making only 3K!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQxMGa8gp1A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PwtcgyRkwQ

Nerve breaking conditions for Armel!!! Has Alex a chance to overtake Armel? Sure, it is enough an error, a bad judgement on routing by Armel for him to be get stuck on a hole without wind while Alex will be making 3x his speed and with the pressure Alex is managing to put over him, it is easy to make a mistake.

This is what they say about it on the Vendee headquarters:

"The two leaders are on the same route with a separation from N to S of around 150 miles and in terms of speed alone, there is nothing to separate them. There are moments when Armel Le Cléac’h is faster with Alex Thomson still in the Doldrums…..

It is when they approach the tropic of Cancer (23°N) that they may go for different routes to deal with the high, which is settling over the Azores with another cell of high pressure forming south of Newfoundland stretching from the Caribbean to Ireland. It is only when they get close to the Azores high, which is contracting off Spain, or just over 1000 miles ahead that a real upheaval is possible… Calms associated with the Azores high could slow down the leader in this final stretch."
News - Any room for overtaking? - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

As Alex has chosen the same route as Armel to cross the Doldrums (probably the best) only an error by Armel or a problem on the boat will make Alex join him or even overtake him.

But the real challenge and the last opportunity for Alex lay ahead on the Açores high pressure center that can be rounded with different routing options.

Meanwhile Beyou, that is at about 500nm from Alex is closing fast, he is more to the west and his routing will allow him a faster passage on the Doldrums. I wonder why Armel had not done the same since it looked to me that there was more wind there but I guess he chose to cover Alex.

In 3 or 4 days it is possible that the distance between them, meaning Alex to Armel and Beyou to ALex will not be very different....before that routing decision regarding the last big obstacle to the victory...of one of them.
https://gis.ee/vg/

[Pelagic]

Thanks Polux....fascinating stuff.
I am still wondering if Verde Island choices will come much into play?

[Polux]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Thanks Polux....fascinating stuff.
I am still wondering if Verde Island choices will come much into play?

I guess that luck plays also a role but the general opinion is that if they make the same route, meaning if Alex follows Armel, he would never be able to overtake him. We are talking about two of the best solo sailors around with a very similar high performance.

Normally in ordinary racing regatta it is not like this and a better sailor can make a difference. On this case it is like F1 riders: the best ares so good and so equal in performance that if they have similar cars that if one has a considerable advantage another will not be able to catch him.

Probably on this case Alex was not able to chose another course because he knew that Armel had chosen already the best routing or alternatively Armel saw to where Alex was pointing as intended course and simply went the same way blocking him. Not sure what was the case.

That can be different regarding the Açores High pressure. According to the organization it will be big and possibly it can be rounded by one side or another. If they chose different courses one can be better than the other.

I believe Armel, more than to chose one or another, independently of thinking it better or worse is going to try to make sure he is following the same as Alex, preventing him that way overtaking him due to a best routing option or luck with the weather.

A very good comment by Mike Golding the more famous British Vendee Globe racer, even if Alex is close to match that popularity:

According to four-time Vendée Globe competitor Mike Golding, there's a chance for Beyou to reduce the deficit even further in the coming days. Golding, the first sailor ever to finish three editions of the race, said an uncertain forecast for the North Atlantic could also benefit Jean-Pierre Dick, Jean Le Cam and Yann Eliès in fourth, fifth and sixth, around 500 miles behind Beyou.

“Normally as you get out of the Doldrums you get into a steady and building north-easterly flow but that's been disrupted by a depression to the north,..The band of light winds that the Doldrums generally represents is much wider and less distinct than normal and that's bad news for Armel.

Potentially Jérémie could close the gap up. Even the guys behind – Jean Pierre, Jean and Yann - have an opportunity, because the weather forecast for the North Atlantic is so disturbed and unpredictable.”

Although currently trailing Le Cléac'h by 143nm, the advantage is with Thomson as the pair prepare to pick their way through the complicated weather thrown at them by the North Atlantic. “It's certainly a stressful time for Armel and Alex, but probably more so for Armel,” he added.

“He's been in the lead so long but he's watched that very substantial lead evaporate to almost nothing. Now with a weather forecast like this ahead of them he's going to be in a very difficult situation. The course ahead looks blotchy – there are pockets of wind and pockets of no wind. What's more it's going to be all on starboard, the tack where Alex can use his foil, and we know that his boat is quick in the nominal, low speed foiling conditions.

The ball is very much in Alex's court – he's behind and can watch what happens to Armel. Armel has his work cut out but he's done a fantastic job hanging on to the lead this far and I don't expect him to give it up easily. It makes for a very interesting last 10 days for the frontrunners.”
News - Beyou capitalises on leaders' woes as Fa nears fifth Cape Horn rounding - Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Great race ahead anyway. This one is going to be almost till the finish line. I cannot imagine how tired are those two, trying to get always the extra mile. Armel not so much, he was already thin, but Alex looks a lot more "elegant" now. He visibly lost a lot of weight.

Only 126nm separates them and Alex continues to win over Armel going faster by many miles!!!! The race is on

[toddedger]

I think Alex would be happy to get in the same weather on the same route and try to track him down with boat speed. As good as Armel is he could easily find a parking lot and watch Alex fly right by. It's always better to be lucky than good. After all these miles at lease their luck won't be determined by some zebra like has been happening lately in most America sports.

[meatservo]

What does that mean?

A REF!!! Got it...

meatservo

[admiralslater]

Just checked the web site Armel making 6-7 at about 1 degree ,Alex 10-12 at 44 degrees . the distance is down to 98 miles . What a race . I am a multihull guy but these boats are outstanding.