Armel Le Cléac'h is slowly starting to pull away from Alex
Thomson after snatching the Vendée Globe lead from him yesterday. In the
last 24 hours the Banque Populaire VIII skipper has gone from 12
nautical miles adrift of Thomson's Hugo Boss to 31nm in front. Breton sailor Le Cléac'h, runner up in the last two
editions of the Vendée Globe, racked up 467 nm in since 0500 UTC
yesterday while Thomson was only able to sail 423 miles.
And since last
night he has averaged between two and three knots faster than the
British skipper. The reason for the difference in speed is that both
boats are sailing on port tack, meaning Thomson is not able to use his
damaged starboard foil. Le Cléac'h however so far remains unscathed, and
at 0500 UTC was the quickest boat in the fleet at 22 knots, the 20-knot
winds from the north providing prime foiling conditions. The leading
pair are due to pass north of the Kerguelen Islands in around 48 hours,
by which point Le Cléac'h could have built up an even bigger margin.
Seb
Josse on Edmond de Rothschild was this morning travelling east at more
than 21 knots but is now 500nm off the pace having paid the price for
having to transition between two weather systems. “It took a long time
and the transition wasn’t easy,” he said. “I ran into a wall this
weekend, where there was no wind, but it got up again yesterday evening
and now it’s looking better. Now I’m looking ahead to another
transition. We should be able to make good progress for two or three
days, which isn’t too bad.
”While still in touch with the leaders, Josse
will also be looking over his shoulder at the two skippers coming up
behind him – Paul Meilhat and Jérémie Beyou. Despite having no weather
information due to a broken satellite receiver on Maître Coq,
fifth-placed Beyou travelled 470nm in the last 24 hours, the furthest in
the fleet. Meanwhile, almost 3,500nm behind the frontrunners, the main pack of
skippers was still caught in the St Helena High in fickle breeze of just
five knots. It has given hope to the most westerly skippers of Alan
Roura, Enda O'Coineen and Alan Roura, that they might be able to catch
and maybe overtake the pack by skirting south of the anticyclone. Conrad
Colman, in 15th on Foresight Natural Energy, said he was
dreaming of the stronger breeze waiting further down the track. “I’m
focusing on getting to the South Atlantic lows,” he said. “I’m fed up
with the highs and light airs.”
Tanguy de Lamotte officially retired from the Vendée Globe at 0050
UTC after passing the Nouch Sud buoy off Les Sables d'Olonne. His shore
team is now onboard Initiatives Coeur and they will enter the race's
home port at midday with the high tide. Prior to entering the famous
entrance channel de Lamotte sailed a course that appears on the race
tracker as a heart – a nod to the charity he supports which raises money
for heart surgery for children.
Quotes
Sébastien Josse (Edmond de Rothschild):
“I’m sailing along averaging twenty knots with lots of birds circling
me, petrels, albatrosses… it’s a rather gentle entry into the Indian
Ocean. I took advantage to smarten the boat up a bit. Now I’m looking
ahead to another transition. We should be able to make good progress for
two or three days, which isn’t too bad.”
Conrad Colman (Foresight Natural Energy): “At
the moment, I only have six knots of wind, so it’s going to a difficult
day. The way out is 200 miles further south and the week has got off to
a complicated start. I crossed paths with Kojiro (Shiraishi). We
chatted and took photos. I have been talking a lot to Nandor Fa with
whom I raced in the Barcelona World Race and we tease each other a bit.
There is a nice little battle going on in our group with Fabrice Amedeo,
Louis Burton etc… and it is highly motivating to race against each
other. Now, I’m focusing on getting to the South Atlantic lows. It’s the
Southern Ocean I have been dreaming of in the Vendée Globe, strong
winds and heavy weather, where I feel at ease. I can’t wait to get down
there…”
Enda O Coineen (Kilcullen Voyager Team Ireland) in his message last night:
“It was like a sudden 'wake-up' call when the anticipated wind shift
came in. From 9 knots of warm north westerly to a chilling south
easterly at 20 knots. No more South Atlantic Residents Association
'gentle 'debates. Now was a call to 'Arms'. The banging and rattling of
the carbon boat was once again like being tumbled around in a washing
machine. Having negotiated through the permanent cold front coming
across from Brazil, we have now headed west of the bunch and the hope is
to get down the ice zone and Roaring Forties pronto in a calculated
risk. Another 'wake up' was an unexpected landfall in the middle of the
ocean. We almost ran into the Brazilian Atlantic Islands, "Ilas Martin
Vaz" 600 miles off the coast. I passed within 2 miles of Ilas da
Trindade, the largest at 620 meters high and 10 sq. k - majestic rising
out of the skyline. During the afternoon, I opened the engine cover to
discover the base of the engine almost flooded. The engine and electric
pump did not work so it took me 40 minutes to get all the water out
manually. Left unchecked within a few days we could have lost the engine
and a valuable source to charge our batteries, complimenting the two
hydrogenators. I think the water is draining in from the water ballast
thanks - another projet to solve tomorrow.” (www.vendeeglobe.org)
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