Vendée Globe

While all the designers and skippers agree that the record set by Vincent Riou in 2004 (87d 10 h 47’ 55’’) looks set to fall in this sixth Vendée Globe, how long will it take the leaders to cover each of the four major stages of the non-stop voyage, as they attempt to sail the 24,000-mile course faster than it ever has been sailed before?

As the fleet will be facing a huge low-pressure area on Sunday evening, with fronts producing winds of more than 40 knots, heavy seas and south-westerly headwinds, the thirty solo sailors will not be able to hit the accelerator pedal until Monday evening. This may well ruin their chances of reaching the Equator in under ten and a half days (an average speed of 12.5 knots), the record time established by Jean Le Cam in 2004. The trade winds will be blowing after Madeira, but they do not look very strong and therefore will not be much help in clawing back the hours before the Doldrums. After that it is difficult to yet forecast what weather the fleet will find in the southern hemisphere.
The four key records currently set over the three oceans (including the Atlantic in both directions) are:


• Voyage down the Atlantic (Les Sables-Cape of Good Hope: around 6900 miles): Vincent Riou in 24d 07h 20', averaging 11.7 knots


• Crossing the Indian Ocean (Cape of Good Hope-Cape Leeuwin: around 4900 miles): Mike Golding in 14d 21h 30' averaging 13.7 knots


• Crossing the Pacific (Cape Leeuwin-Cape Horn: around 5000 miles): Mike Golding in 16d 06h averaging 12.8 knots


• Climb back up the Atlantic (Cape Horn-Les Sables: around 7000 miles): Vincent Riou in 30d 01h 40’ averaging 9.7 knots

These 23,800 theoretical miles were covered at more than 11.3 knots by the record-breaking Riou in 2004, but competitors will have to average 12.4 knots for the record to fall below eighty days.  That extra knot is quite a challenge in this round the world voyage, as it is so highly weather dependent… The biggest opportunity for gaining time is in the South Atlantic — in both directions.

As for the 24-hour distance record, held by Alex Thomson since 2003 with 468.7 miles, it is likely to fall and we could get close to the mythical 500-mile a day barrier for a 60-foot monohull.  In the Vendée Globe, the greatest distance covered in 24 hours was set by Roland Jourdain in 2004 when he sailed 439 miles.

DBo.

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