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DeepFrz · 08-11-2016, 18:54

Thanks Barnie; I think there must have been some technical glitch at the time I asked the question and I have been able to view the videos since then.

DDabs · 10-11-2016, 01:19

The Open 60 - probably the most bitchin', badass monohull type to have ever been designed. At least in my opinion. What a freight train.

DeepFrz · 10-11-2016, 07:09

Didac Costa has finally restarted his journey.

Polux · 10-11-2016, 08:20

Finally, I was feeling very sorry for him. All those sacrifices and preparation to fulfill a dream that ended almost before having started!!!!

"A dyed in the wool Catalan, Didac Costa from Barcelona, has something in common with another Vendée Globe hero, the British sailor, Mike Golding. He is a professional fireman. Working out of the Cerdanola del Vallès fire station, in the suburbs of Barcelona, he explains that his job has some similarities with solo sailing: “You have to know how to work as part of a team, you don’t get much sleep… and you have to remain calm, whatever happens”. Well summed up.

Didac Costa began his sailing career on the family cruiser with his parents. They used to sail up and down the Spanish coast and down to the Balearics, which gave the youngster a taste for offshore voyages.

During his adolescence, he developed a passion for solo sailing. So quite naturally after a few years sailing dinghies, he moved to the Mini class, racing on those powerful 20 foot boats that are so well known in France. He finished on the podium in several Mediterranean races, before preparing for the big Atlantic crossing. In the end, he finished 19th in the series boats in the 2011 Mini Transat 2011 between la Rochelle and Bahia (Brazil). This enriching experience encouraged him to go even further “on more powerful boats, which are faster and more extreme – IMOCAs.”....

He..has already completed one race around the world. That was in the 2014-2015 Barcelona World Race in which he raced with Aleix Gelabert (another Mini racer from Barcelona). Aboard the venerable One Planet One Ocean & Pharmaton, they even made it to fourth place with a boat that fans of the Vendée Globe will remember, as she was none other than the former Kingfisher aboard which Ellen MacArthur finished in second place in 2001."
Didac COSTA - Vendée Globe 2016-2017
Cheers to him an I hope he will make it.

DeepFrz · 10-11-2016, 17:46

What courage to leave so far behind, with no chance to making the podium but just sailing for the love of it and to meet the challenge.

Pelagic · 11-11-2016, 14:55

Really enjoying following the Race on their App., but having trouble downloading their HD videos..... Any alternative?

Polux · 11-11-2016, 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Really enjoying following the Race on their App., but having trouble downloading their HD videos..... Any alternative?

Click on the video where it says dailymotion. On the dailymotion site, on the video click on the HD sign and change for the resolution you want.

Pelagic · 11-11-2016, 15:18

Trying to educate myself on these new (to me) horizontal foil designs ...and the pros/cons of the suitability for this solo race.

I am assuming the main benefit is that they provide some lift with less turbulence, thus maintaining higher acceleration speeds longer in wind lifts?

If so, does the autopilot anticipate and react quick enough to benefit from this, or does it mean more manual helming for the solo sailor to get this advantage?

Watching the 2 front runners, really impressed by the canny tactics of PBR with the vertical foils and note that his speed usually beats BP VIII at night.

He seems to be more talkative and active in mind games, suggesting that the leader is on the helm a lot and struggling with management

Will this be a key factor of physical attrition if you are tempted to manually helm with new foils?

Also, opinions on how the will perform in the Roaring 40's?

Look forward to being educated on this.

DeepFrz · 11-11-2016, 20:08

From accounts that I've read the foils make the boat more difficult to handle. I think how they hold up in a race of this magnitude is still a big question and the reason so many sailors have decided to stay with the vertical dagger boards. Although some of the dagger boards are not really vertical.

DeepFrz · 12-11-2016, 07:12

Alex Thomson made 476.9 nautical miles in 24 hrs. this past day. An average of 19.9 knots.

DeepFrz · 12-11-2016, 13:24

It looks like Alex Thomson has taken the lead back but that does seem to have happened very suddenly. I know he was travelling fast but according to the updates he was still about 20 miles behind at last report. Suddenly he is over 20 miles ahead. Maybe someone forgot an update?

Polux · 12-11-2016, 13:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

It looks like Alex Thomson has taken the lead back but that does seem to have happened very suddenly. I know he was travelling fast but according to the updates he was still about 20 miles behind at last report. Suddenly he is over 20 miles ahead. Maybe someone forgot an update?

If you are using this tracker, on the bottom go to the red Button and bring it back and will see what happened.
Vendée Globe 2016-2017
In fact it can have happened two things, Armel passed too close to the Island, lost wind and had to sail west looking for more wind or Armel is positioning himself better regarding the low winds ahead (more probably) and in that case the ones that played right were Riou and Josse that were already on a better position.

Alex passed between the relatively narrow channel between two Islands and that had give him more wind pressure and we went like a rocket but he have to change direction now and go west otherwise it will stay in weaker winds.

For me the winners in strategy on this play were Josse an Riou that recovered a lot to Armel. Alex won even more but just to lose it all on the next hours, if I am right.

DeepFrz · 12-11-2016, 14:14

By backing up and playing forward I saw that the "Distance to first" hadn't been changing as Alex gained on Armel. Because of the lateral separation it wasn't all that obvious.