The fifth-placed French sailor was today powering
east at more than 20 knots, riding on a fast-moving depression 500
nautical miles south of South Africa and 700nm behind the leading pair
of Alex Thomson and Armel Le Cléac'h. Without the capability to look at what weather systems lie down the
track for his Maître CoQ IMOCA 60 yacht, Beyou said he was having to
glean whatever he could from safety reports from the Vendée Globe Race
Management.
But he is effectively just having to deal with whatever the wind gods
throw at him while trying to stay in touch with fourth-placed Paul
Meilhat, whose SMA is just two miles ahead. Thankfully Beyou has plenty of experience of ocean racing without
weather information – he is a three-time winner of the Solitaire du
Figaro, a solo race where any weather info is banned.
“Right now I’m simply operating on a day to day basis,” the
40-year-old from Morbihan in Brittany said. “I can’t really follow
what’s going on ahead as I’m still lacking weather information due to a
broken fleet satellite. I am getting some information in the safety reports sent out by Race
Management and I’m able to download the odd weather file with the Sat
C. Essentially, it’s difficult to form a real game plan for more than 24
or 36 hours down the track so I’m making headway by observing the
conditions around me and correcting my course accordingly. It’s not great but it reminds of a Solitaire du Figaro, where you’re not allowed weather information. I’m spending a lot of time at the chart table but, needless to say,
it’s not super efficient because just recently I was expecting 20 knots
and ended up in gusts of 30 knots. It’s a handicap to say the least.”
The battle for first place took yet another twist today when Armel Le
Cléac'h moved ahead of Alex Thomson for the second time in two days. The pair have been split by just a handful of miles since passing the Cape of Good Hope in record time two days ago. At the 1400 UTC position report the pair were neck and neck, but Le
Cléac'h's Banque Populaire had the tiniest of advantages over Thomson's
Hugo Boss. Dutch skipper Pieter Heerema has broken from the large group of boats
languishing in the mid South Atlantic in the clutches of the St Helena
High.
The No Way Back skipper is aiming to skirt round the bottom of the
high pressure, a move that has already rewarded him with better breeze
but uncomfortable conditions for racing. “I should be more or less into the high pressure, but the wind is
surprisingly strong,” the 65-year-old reported today. “It's been around
18 knots and it just went up to 20 knots. The waves are huge and I've been bashing into them for more than 24
hours. It's not pleasant, but I think in the long term it'll be better
to go along the sides of the high instead of the middle of it.”
Initiatives Coeur skipper Tanguy De Lamotte, who turned back to Les
Sables d'Olonne with mast damage 10 days into the race, is due to reach
the Vendée Globe home port tomorrow, but not before he gets one last
thrashing from the elements in his home waters of the Bay of Biscay. “I’m leapfrogging off the waves in Biscay, while the others are making headway in the Southern Ocean,” he said.
We’re heeled right over, slamming through the waves so I will be
happy to get to my destination, even though I’ll have to resign myself
to officially retiring from the race just before my team climbs aboard.
I’ll be the first to make it back to Les Sables, but without going
around the world alas.”
Quotes
Rich Wilson (Great American IV): “We're doing fine
out here – I've got a pretty nice day actually. We've got 12-15 knots,
sometimes a little bit more. We're heading southbound now in the middle
of the South Atlantic, in the middle of confusing weather patterns that
are out here. We're trying to make our way south and we're still hanging
on to a group of boats that all seem a little bit faster than we are,
but it's nice to have some company for sure. Eric [Bellion] is one of my
great new friends from the Vendee Globe, and he's been doing a great
job catching right up to our group. We'll be seeing him shortly I'm
sure. It's nice to have other boats nearby for a variety of reasons – in
terms of safety it's good to have a few boats not too far away but then
also there's a feeling of company too. I've had a nice couple of email
chats with Eric and with Alan Roura, with Nandor and with Koji. It's
really a nice part of this race that we're competing but we're also
having a great adventure. Certainly on the adventure side you can share
some stories and some camaraderie. There's a battle going on among a few
of the boats in this group – I'm not sure if we're in the middle of the
battle or not. Certainly there's some highly competitive sailors in
this group and they're going as fast as they can. It's fun to watch.
We're at the back of this group so we can watch what's going on in front
of us. It's unusual to have a group like this so close to each other - I
think it's terrific.”
Pieter Heerema (No Way Back): “I'm heading south – I
should be more or less into the high pressure, but the wind is
surprisingly strong. It's been around 18 knots and it just went up to 20
knots. The waves are huge and I've been bashing into them for more than
24 hours. It's surprising because normally the conditions in a high
pressure are calm with light winds and no waves, but this is a different
one I guess. But everything is fine. It's getting cooler – it's more
like Europe now – and you can really notice that the temperature drops
another notch every five or six hours. I planned to go south until I got this front and I rode the front
east for one night. It was fantastic with reaching at 20 knots of boat
speed. But when I looked further along the track, there was a very big
risk I'd end up in a big high so I left the front and decided to go
south again. It's not pleasant, the boat is making nasty movements with
big smashes into the waves, but I think in the long term it'll be better
to go along the sides of the high instead of in the middle of it, but
we'll have to see."
Sébastian Destremau (TechnoFirst – faceOcean): “As
soon as I started getting my plans together for the Vendee Globe, the
Southern Ocean was all I thought about. I’m excited and nervous about
it. I’m looking forward to it but equally it’s very scary. I’ve been
there with a team but this is very different. You’re alone on a big
boat, in big seas, with big everything. It’s a huge thing the Southern
Ocean. It’s out of this world, in the middle of nowhere. This is what
the Vendee Globe is all about. Right now we’re effectively cruising. The
Southern Ocean is no holiday!”
Jeremie Beyou (Maitre CoQ): “Right now I’m simply
operating on a day to day basis. I can’t really follow what’s going on
ahead as I’m still lacking weather information due to a broken fleet
satellite. I am getting some information in the safety reports sent out
by Race Management and I’m able to download the odd grib file with the
Sat C. Essentially, it’s difficult to form a real game plan for more
than 24/36 hours down the track so I’m making headway by observing the
conditions around me and correcting my course accordingly. It’s not
great but it reminds of a Solitaire du Figaro, where you’re not allowed
weather information. I’m spending a lot of time at the chart table but,
needless to say, it’s not super efficient because just recently I was
expecting 20 knots and ended up in gusts of 30 knots. It’s a handicap to
say the least. I’ve spoken to Paul but I haven’t spotted him yet.
Together with the albatross we’re not alone out here…”
Kito De Pavant (Bastide Otio): “Tristan da Cunha.
With a name like that, there was no chance of this island ever becoming a
top rate tourist destination. I don’t think that’s the only reason
either… Firstly, you must admit that it’s a long way from everything and
close to nowhere. Added to that, it has a volcano that culminates at
more than 2,000m, which spits out lava and toxic smoke from time to
time, which led to the population being evacuated to England, only
apparently it’s no better there because they came back!!! Yes indeed,
there are residents, but not many (264). The other major disadvantage is
that the island is round and there is no shelter for boats. When you
see the type of seas you get in this part of the world, it can’t be too
easy to make landfall there every day. On the other hand, this island at
the edge of the world has the huge benefit of brightening my
cartography. It makes a bit of a change from the wind barbs, the
isochrones, my pivoting routing and the desperate positions of my
playmates. And if you’re thinking about your next holidays, I’d like to draw
your attention to the presence of another island, which is equally
exhilarating, with the evocative name of Gough. It’s 200 miles further
south and to be frank with you, even the organisers of the Vendée Globe
have not allowed us to take a trip there as it’s in the exclusion zone.
Otherwise, apart from the paradisiacal islands I’ve just told you about,
I’ve nothing new to report. The weather is fine, the sky is clear but
the wind has begun to ease so I’ve had to hoist some more sail to
continue to make a little headway.”
Tanguy De Lamotte (Initiatives Coeur): “I’m
leapfrogging off the waves in Biscay, whilst the others are making
headway in the Southern Ocean. We’re heeled right over, slamming through
the waves so I will be happy to get to my destination, even though I’ll
have to resign myself to officially retiring from the race just before
my team climbs aboard at the Nouch Sud mark. I’ll be the first to make
it back to Les Sables, but without going around the world alas. That
said, there have been a lot of positive points about my journey. In
terms of bringing generous people together it’s been a great success as
no fewer than 34 children with a heart malformation can now be operated
on thanks to this project. That’s just crazy! We’ve exceeded our
objective in that regard. My misfortune at sea is a good lesson because
it teaches you that sometimes elements come together that are stronger
than you are and you have to remain humble. I will take a few days’
respite once I get back to digest all that’s happened but life goes on.
My wife is due to give birth to our 2nd baby in May and I have future boat plans too.”
(www.vendeeglobe.org)
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