Vendée Globe

Sad news today that Jérémie Beyou, skipper of Delta Dore, is unable to repair the damage to his spreaders and has officially retired from the Vendée Globe, but business as usual for the rest of the fleet as they pass the Tropic of Capricorn

Delta Dore reached the Brazilian port of Recife early this morning, and Beyou indentified five separate problems with his rig, including broken titanium spreader attachments that he cannot repair unaided.

Jérémie Beyou said today: "The sea really did its work on the rigging, which had already been damaged.  It would seem impossible to see her sailing again quickly and safely. The hardest part was when I discovered the damage three days ago: being forced to retire in a contest where I was doing well breaks my heart."

But for the rest of the skippers it’s business as usual on Day 17 of the Vendée Globe, with most of the fleet enduring wet, noisy and slamming conditions as they continue their route south in an easterly breeze.
Besides coping with the bone-shaking impact as the boats repeatedly launch off waves and land in the troughs, responding quickly to the ever-changeable conditions is vital to staying on the pace.
Variable winds have been reported right across the fleet, with leader Loick Peyron experiencing very irregular winds of 14-17 knots, while sixth-placed Mike Golding yesterday discovered a patch of light airs which saw Ecover 3 park up briefly. However, a good day today saw Golding close up on fifth placed Riou, now just 11.4 miles ahead. Sam Davies also reported she had been sailing in everything from 6 knots to 32-knot squalls over the past 24 hours, with constant sail changes part of the daily routine for all.
First placed Loïck Peyron has extended away again since yesterday evening, now 18.3 miles from Seb Josse (BT) in second, while the rest of the leading bunch — Jean-Pierre Dick, Armel Le Cleac’h and Vincent Riou remain within 60 miles of the front-runner.
Dominque Wavre (Temenos II) has overtaken British skipper Brian Thomson on this afternoon’s 1500hr (GMT) rankings, going into 11th place as the pair thread their way through the islands of Trindad and St Martin Vaz. Safran’s storming run continues, eating up over 300 miles in 24 hours for 10th-placed Marc Guillemot.
However, many skippers are less concerned about their position relative to other boats, and more concerned about their position relative to the large high pressure system still blocking their way to the south-east. The changeable conditions and gusty squalls are courtesy of the same front which will then offer up light winds to the leading half of the fleet as they enter the high — possibly allowing the chasing pack to close up on their advantage.
Sylvain Mondon from Météo France explained this morning that the high-pressure area centred off Uruguay is in the process of collapsing as it moves eastwards, but another high further south will be replacing it this weekend.  The leaders can expect to slow down over Thursday and Friday, before finally getting the chance to hoist the spinnakers and head downwind this weekend in moderate north-easterlies. But it is likely to be the chasing pack who are likely to accelerate first, possibly to within 100 miles of the leaders — incredibly, we could yet see the race virtually restarting as the first 15 or so boats leave the Atlantic.

From this morning’s radio broadcasts:

Mike Golding, Ecover (GBR): We’re just charging south, to what end I don’t know because I’ve got a feeling that when we get there we’re all going to stop!
I do believe now that the boats behind as far back as 300, 400 miles have really got a genuine opportunity to catch up with the lead group and we could well see the race effectively restarting in the South Atlantic.
The reality is that the part of the course where we’re rounding the high is currently showing as being very light but the difference between very light and zero in terms of boat speed between zero knots and 10 is massive so if a boat can just find a little bit of breeze they’re going to get away.

Sam Davies, Roxy (GBR): The wind’s quite unstable, in the last 24 hours we’ve had everything from 6 knots of wind to 32 knots in the last squall. It’s quite a full time job on deck to trim the sails and change the sails, to keep the boat going as fast as possible.
I thought Last night I’d gone quite fast and when I looked at the position reports I was quite proud of my average speed being nearly 14 knots, then I looked at Mich and his average was 17.6 knots and there’s just no way I can compete with that, it’s just amazing!

Jonny Malbon, Artemis II (GBR): Having a good day! I’ve just been winding the boat up and now we’re hacking along and taking some miles out of Unai which is great. It’s amazing the difference between now and a few days ago when I was just wallowing in every sense of the word.
It was pretty horrible [without the Fleet 77 working], it’s amazing how isolated you feel with three days with no weather and no emails. It’s the first time I’ve felt lonely actually since I’ve been out here without that contact.

Tropic of Capricorn: Located by 23° 26' 22' ' South, this is the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon — which only happens on the December 21 solstice.

 

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