At the 0800 UTC position update Le Cléac'h moved
into first place for the first time since losing the lead to Thomson two
weeks ago. The change in frontrunner came almost three weeks into the solo round
the world race as the top two skippers tried to navigate through a
tricky patch of light winds on their way to the Southern Ocean's big
breeze. With Thomson gybing north Le Cléac'h chose to continue east, and when
the rankings came through the French sailor's Banque Populaire VIII was
eight nautical miles ahead.
However, three hours later it was all change again, this time Le Cléac'h opting to head north while Thomson went east. By 1100 UTC Thomson was back in the driving seat with a 16nm buffer -
a spot he has commanded for all but today's three-hour blip since
November 12 – but both he and Le Cléac'h were only making 12 knots of
speed in similar wind.
Le Cléac'h said the most important thing was not his ranking but that he had caught Thomson up.
“It’s not easy trying to make headway as we’re in a light patch
between two lows,” he said. “We’re trying to pick our way through in the
shifty conditions, but it feels good to have caught up with Alex. I’ve
repositioned myself to the north now because things were stalling and my
main focus is staying in some breeze.”
Three hundred miles adrift of the leading pair, third placed
Sebastien Josse was today struggling in light winds but speeds will pick
up when his Edmond de Rothschild is scooped up by the depression
currently being ridden by Paul Meilhat in fourth and Jeremie Beyou in
fifth.
“We have a light wind with more high pressure than the others, but
it’s set to pick up in 24 hours and then we can sail quite fast and
straight to Australia,” Josse said. “Three weeks in and my boat’s in
great shape as we haven’t had much bad weather since the start so we’ve
been quick, as shown my Alex’s records. It’s amazing how fast the boats
are but we haven’t had the real Vendée Globe yet.”
Nearly 2,000nm behind the leaders the tussle between Jean-Pierre
Dick, Thomas Ruyant and Jean Le Cam entered a new phase, the latter
losing out after the weather front the trio was hooked onto passed over
his yacht Finistère Mer Vent. The 57-year-old, competing in his fourth Vendée Globe, revealed that he lost further miles when he slept through his alarm.
“Last night I was constantly making sail changes, the wind going from
35 to 15 knots in the blink of an eye,” he said. “I finally settled
with two reefs in the main and a storm sail up, watched it for a while
longer and then got some shut-eye. Unfortunately, I then slept through
my alarm and woke up five hours later in very calm conditions, still
under two reefs and storm sail… the whole works!”
While Le Cam must now dive south in search of better breeze, Ruyant
and Dick are set to extend their lead as they profit from the leading
edge of the low pressure. Further misery awaits the biggest group of boats from Louis Burton's Bureau Vallée in 11th to Enda O'Coineen's Kilcullen Voyager – Team Ireland in 23rd as another high moves into their path.
The only sailor in that back pack still smiling is Alan Roura from
Switzerland – the La Fabrique skipper could soon find himself jumping up
the leaderboard if he is able to skirt the bottom of the high pressure.
Morgan Lagravière, forced out of racing two days ago with rudder
damage, arrived safely in Cape Town at 0830 UTC on Safran. Vincent Riou,
also heading to the South African port, was due to make land late this
evening.
Meanwhile the international jury decided to hand Jeremie Beyou a
two-hour penalty for accidentally breaking the seal on his engine when
he fell on it.
Quotes
Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire): “It’s not easy
trying to make headway as we’re in a light patch between two lows. We’re
trying to pick our way through in the shifty conditions, but it feels
good to have caught up with Alex. This morning’s conditions have meant
that we’ve finally been able to go out on deck and tick off a few jobs
and give the boat a once over. I haven’t stopped this morning and my
hands are feeling it a bit now with all the Sikaflex, tape and lines.
I’ve repositioned myself to the North now because things were
stalling and my main focus is staying in some breeze. It’s good to get a
breather in a calmer environment, the wind dropping off from 20 to 10
and below. We’ve been sailing in Roaring 40s conditions for a few days
so we’ve been through various shades of grey and fog, you can’t see far
and the nights are quite short. We’ll hook onto the next low on Monday
which will carry us past Kerguelen and into the middle of the Indian
Ocean. It’s complicated with the ice exclusion zone as there’s a very
narrow corridor between it and Kerguelen. It’ll be tricky as further
North the sea bed rises making for breaking seas and we’ll have to focus
on carefully negotiating our way through the islands and fishermen.
I’m taking each day as it comes. I don’t know what day it is but I do
know the date. The time that counts on the boat relates to strategy,
weather, manoeuvres, heading, sail area and food sacks, which are
gradually diminishing.
We’ve had good conditions to go fast and the use of the foils is all
about striking a balance. I handle that my way and others do it a
different way. Yesterday, I was still using the foil, but that’s not the
case now in under 15 knots. Once we’re at the leading edge of the front
the average speeds will be high until it catches up with us. One thing
for sure, the foils are here to stay.”
Jean Le Cam (Finistere Mer Vent): “I’ve been putting
in stacks of manoeuvres of late! A successful manoeuvre is one where
you don’t have any issues, which isn’t easy on your own, but I’m happy
when it comes off. It’s always important to think the manoeuvre through
first and check everything’s ready to go. Personally, I always go
through it in my head first, but it’s hard to know what’s normal when
you’re a human! People think you’re crazy doing 4 Vendee Globes but
isn’t it better to circle the earth than go round in circles at home?
Maybe us Frenchies are made differently. In any case, it’d be very dull
if we were all the same! Another good thing about doing a Vendee Globe
is that nobody can see you when you stuff up! Last night I was
constantly making sail changes, the wind going from 35 to 15 knots in
the blink of an eye. I finally settled with 2 reefs in the main and ORC,
watched it for a while longer and then got some shut-eye.
Unfortunately, I then slept through my alarm and woke up 5 hours later
in very calm conditions… still under two reefs and ORC… the whole works!
Later on, it was pretty breezy under gennaker and I hit the remote to
bear away and nothing happened. I was on stand-by mode apparently so we
broached right over till we were horizontal, me at the foot of the mast.
That was bad enough, but then I did it twice! Still, if you’re going to
make a silly mistake, better to do it twice just to be sure!”
Sébastien Josse (Edmond de Rothschild) “Our damaged
occurred in a weather phase where it was really important not to fall
behind. At the time, we were on the leading edge of a front and I knew
it was important not to drag my heels so as to make the most of the
breeze. Logically that’s exactly what Alex (Thomson) and Armel (Le
Cléac’h) were able to do but I couldn’t follow suit… The four hours’
stoppage time to get the rudder system back up and running cost very
dear because I haven’t had the same weather conditions as them since
that time and I’m lagging behind the system. That said, you have to keep
things in perspective when you see the retirements, especially given
that we have a very long way to go. I’m preparing for the next
opportunity to pounce. Right now, I’m going slowly as I don’t have much
breeze. I’m waiting for the pressure to arrive but we’re not doing too
bad. We have a light wind with more high pressure than the others, but
it’s set to pick up in 24 hours and then we can sail quite fast and
straight to Australia. This is the 12th year of Alex’s Vendee
Globe campaign and he’s growing with every edition. We all know he’s a
great sailor and now he’s proven that. Foils are not a big deal now as
it’s windy and for the next 4 weeks it’s not a big issue whether you
have foils or not, but it will be important for the climb up the
Atlantic. My boat’s in great shape as we haven’t had much bad weather
since the start so we’ve been quick, as shown my Alex’s records. It’s
amazing how fast the boats are but we haven’t had the real Vendee Globe
yet!”
Jordi Griso, team manager One Planet One Ocean (Didac Costa): “Didac
is doing quite well, but there's a big problem onboard. He had a sail
that broke two days ago. It was the J1. It was an old sail that was used
for the Barcelona World Race in 2010 so it was quite old. We knew that
it could happen but it happened too soon for us. We can't do anything
about it now, it's impossible to repair. Didac has to manage without
this sail now. Conditions are not very easy because he's going upwind
with waves. He expects the wind to decrease a little bit and be more of a
reach over the next two days, which will be better. He's expecting to
negotiate the high pressure and finally reach the southerly conditions
in maybe a week. He’s in good spirits. He's happy to be on the boat in
the race after all the things that happened in Les Sables after the
start. Didac is making nice speeds and heading south. The light winds
have been a little frustrating but you can't do anything to change it so
you just have to deal it. He's now trying to prepare the boat for the
south, making a few repairs to the generator and the electronics. This
is the main goal over the next five days. It helps his performance to
have a boat 300 miles ahead [Seb Destremau] – it helps to show you that
you can win back some miles with every position update. I think he needs
to have different wind conditions to catch him, and that's not easy in
the current scenario.”
Paul Meilhat (SMA): “The wind’s kicked back in and
it’s nice to have Jérémie Beyou alongside. I’m managing to keep pace so
I’m happy. Conditions are favouring the foils, so I’m just trying to
maintain the same speed. The last 2 days I’ve done a lot of little
repair jobs. The boat’s quite lively but I’m managing to eat and sleep
well. We’re going to try to stay ahead of this low for as long as
possible – 2 days I think. The nights are a lot shorter now and I’ve
seen my first albatrosses. Tonight I’ll round the Cape of Good Hope, so
it’s a symbolic stage for me!”
(www.vendeeglobe.org)
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