Vendee 2020

[MicHughV]

Right now the lead boats are all more or less grouped together, meaning they all have more or less the same wind and sea conditions.
But, once they separate a bit, one boat might have wind and another not so much...it will be a tactical game as much as anything, so whether you have a foiler or not...tactical advantages may rule...

Breakage can occur at anytime...Charal, a pre-race favorite, is already out of the game..but who knows....if he can turn around in time.....could give it a go....

Once they round the Cape of Good Hope it will become more of a downwind ride and I expect the foilers to pull away at this point.

Again, as happened in the last race....Alex lost a foil....arguable a reason he did not get first....so keeping the boat together is also a factor....

I'll wait till the first boat rounds Cape Horn to lay my bets..

[bil56]

"they all train from their base in Lorient (?)"
not only, also from Brest ou La Foret Fouesnant, etc..
but it is really mainly from Brittany that boats and sailors come.
europeans or others, come and enjoy Britanny !

[MicHughV]

it's been a number of years now....but I spent some time in Britanny...and the rest of France for that matter...no question, the French know their foods and wine...seem to recall eating lamb there as well...
I know all these boats have pre-packaged meals.....Alex, being British, probably has cucumber sandwiches and tea...the French entrants are probable chowing down on some brie, followed by a chilled sauvignon blanc.....it might be a race, but the French are unlikely to forego their Foie Gras for a hotdog on a bun...

[JimJohnston]

Followers of Alex Thomson might like to check his team website: https://www.alexthomsonracing.com/th...atest-updates/

And wind conditions and forecasts can be seen at https://www.windguru.cz/map/?lat=48....0000002&zoom=5

enjoy

[Northernguy59]

Alex is running approximately 102 NM ahead of the second place boat.

Hopefully all that food and wine will slow the French sailors down !

Dale

[MicHughV]

I can see a new add coming up......just heard that one French boat slowed down to let another French boat boat draw alongside him to declare an emergency...Imoco headquarters translated the exchange of words to english...and informs us that the conversation went like this...." please pass the grey poupon, I can't find my grey poupon...merci!"....

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I know all these boats have pre-packaged meals.....Alex, being British, probably has cucumber sandwiches and tea...the French entrants are probable chowing down on some brie, followed by a chilled sauvignon blanc.....it might be a race, but the French are unlikely to forego their Foie Gras for a hotdog on a bun...

Not IMOCA / Vendee but Ultime class - a 100ft foiling offshore trimaran.
Gitana Team who are on standby for an attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy record.

Franck Cammas insists on having real olive oil onboard!

Gitana : écurie de course au large fondée par le Baron Benjamin de Rothschild (in english too)

"Provisioning: a compromise between pleasure and performance":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QngUFlis74

[skenn_ie]

Vendee foilers ?

[MicHughV]

I remember doing a race to Bermuda. There were four of us on my boat and I set up a pretty normal watch schedule. Cooking would be done by any off-watch crew willing to smear peanut butter on a sandwich or something along those lines.
Not so one crew member, our first day out, was off course crossing the Gulf Stream, in a norther no less. Despite our disbelieving eyes, he managed to set up the charcoal grill next to the cockpit of my center cockpit boat, got it lit, and proceed to cook us all a stellar meal. To this day, I can see him huddled over that grill, using his body as a shield from the wind and spray.
His efforts were beyond human comprehension, as cold and wet as we were, he served us all a piping hot meal, which was delicious, and then washed all the dishes afterwards.
By unanimous vote, we elected to make him our permanent onboard chef and re-arranged our watch schedule for three people.
For the next nine days or so, he was a machine, morning, noon and night, he was preparing something, regular meals...snacks....drinks....you name it...
It was well worth our modified watch rotation.....'jes sayin'....

[hscrugby]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I remember doing a race to Bermuda. There were four of us on my boat and I set up a pretty normal watch schedule. Cooking would be done by any off-watch crew willing to smear peanut butter on a sandwich or something along those lines.
Not so one crew member, our first day out, was off course crossing the Gulf Stream, in a norther no less. Despite our disbelieving eyes, he managed to set up the charcoal grill next to the cockpit of my center cockpit boat, got it lit, and proceed to cook us all a stellar meal. To this day, I can see him huddled over that grill, using his body as a shield from the wind and spray.
His efforts were beyond human comprehension, as cold and wet as we were, he served us all a piping hot meal, which was delicious, and then washed all the dishes afterwards.
By unanimous vote, we elected to make him our permanent onboard chef and re-arranged our watch schedule for three people.
For the next nine days or so, he was a machine, morning, noon and night, he was preparing something, regular meals...snacks....drinks....you name it...
It was well worth our modified watch rotation.....'jes sayin'....

Sounds like he should add that on his business cards.

[ausnp84]

Originally Posted by jmh2002

Not IMOCA / Vendee but Ultime class - a 100ft foiling offshore trimaran.
Gitana Team who are on standby for an attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy record.

Very much looking forward to both potential Jules Verne attempts!!

Back to the Vendee, still close between the top three with nice downwind conditions ahead. Roll on the next week’s racing.

N

[MicHughV]

Jean Le Cam is gonna give Alex a run for his money....those foilers don't really enjoy that big advantage until they get to the southern oceans...and Jean is a savvy racer....hard core to the bone....this will likely go back and forth into next week....
Crossing the doldrums quickly and where is gonna be key......

Ah, The Jules Verne, another spectacular event....take my hat of to those boys.....would love to spend a day on one of those boats....just one day....

[barnakiel]

Now past Theta we will see a match between JLC and Alex. They are in similar weather and the wind will veer over next 3-4 days. It will be possible to see some 'same to same' folier / non-foiler comparison.



The others are behind and in lighter air. This may become the case of the two rich getting richer up to the point when they arrive at the ITCZ.


ITCZ is always a bit of rulette - it can be very dynamic or not, and it is only very poorly modeled by the forecasts.


Fun watching. Too bad I could not join the virtual race ;-(


b.

[loneshark64]

Agree it has been fun to watch and brilliant gutsy sailing. Le Cam is putting on a show. So is AT. He is ahead in a boat not optimized for these conditions. The data on his website shows just how huge an effort it has been. He is backing it up. Seems to me though that this next bit with the slow wind will be interesting as the leaders try to sneak across and not get stuck. And sleep a bit. I was skeptical of AT this time given some of the challenges, the weird boat, and the strong field. But with him in front now and Charal and Tripon basically out of it my money is clearly on HUGO BOSS pulling away when the foiling conditions begin.

[loneshark64]

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