Vendee Globe 2020

[OPAL 208]

Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) is sticking to the right track, despite the absence of his port foil. Feeling strong and with a lucid mind, he talked about his route this morning:  "The same players shoot again! "It's funny when you look at the map and see all these boats so close together after two months of racing. It's quite incredible, it's crazy: it seems no-one can really take off on this Vendée Globe! The weather situation means that we always get back together like this. It's going to be a breathless finish all the way to the end, a lot of things are going to happen, we're all going to arrive on the same day, or even within 48 hours. 

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/21668/thomas-ruyant-it-s-crazy

[stief 4,034]

44 minutes ago, Cwinsor said:

Is it the norm for the projected up bound track to pass this close offshore Recife? I am trying to find a composite of previous winner's tracks. Wondering if this edition may be among the furthest west.

From memory, not too unusual.  The 2016 VG IOS.app still works (screenie below; can't seem to activate tracks though). VOR usually cuts it quite close, but their destination is in the USA. (also checked Volodia and forss' trackers; both inactive). So, you could be right

,

edit: did find a vid of the 2012 tracker looks like they cut it close too.

Edited January 13 by stief
added link

[HeartOfGold 41]

Onboard video from Armel:

Had his worst 24 hours of the race, apparently, "a real horror". Expresses sympathy for Yannick. And he's now "on the attack".

[stief 4,034]

48 minutes ago, OPAL said:

Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) is sticking to the right track, despite the absence of his port foil. Feeling strong and with a lucid mind, he talked about his route this morning:  "The same players shoot again! "It's funny when you look at the map and see all these boats so close together after two months of racing. It's quite incredible, it's crazy: it seems no-one can really take off on this Vendée Globe! The weather situation means that we always get back together like this. It's going to be a breathless finish all the way to the end, a lot of things are going to happen, we're all going to arrive on the same day, or even within 48 hours. 

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/21668/thomas-ruyant-it-s-crazy

Good info--thanks. Didn't realize he's planning for 75% of optimum (unless he's playing games with the others)

Quote

There's nothing that compensates for the loss of a foil. I'm going to do the best I can. I'm going to have to regulate my pace all the time, with sometimes more and sometimes less sail up, and find slightly different ways of doing things. But that won't make up for the difference with a boat standing on its foil. I'm at 80° to the wind, and I'm at 15 knots instead of 20, but I'm holding on

 

[troll99 446]

West side not good.. even Burton may pass Yannick.

[stief 4,034]

13 minutes ago, HeartOfGold said:

Onboard video from Armel:

Had his worst 24 hours of the race, apparently, "a real horror". Expresses sympathy for Yannick. And he's now "on the attack".

Hmmm. He doesn't sound worried about his foils, so that's good too. Thanks.

[OPAL 208]

26 minutes ago, stief said:

can't seem to activate tracks though

http://tracking2016.vendeeglobe.org/hp5ip0/

[stief 4,034]

3 minutes ago, troll99 said:

(snipped 1700 projection)

Interesting. A Dalin / Thomas dual duel forecast. Thanks

(and good to see the Windy plugin now updates quickly. Used to wait 1/2 an hour before it caught up with the tracker)

[troll99 446]

6 minutes ago, stief said:

Interesting. A Dalin / Thomas dual duel forecast. Thanks

(and good to see the Windy plugin now updates quickly. Used to wait 1/2 an hour before it caught up with the tracker)

Checked again and it is 1400 report date.  

p.s it is now 1700.. still no difference in Saturday 1300 forecast.

[troll99 446]

Cropped too much earlier. The view of Doldrums.

Doldrums winds still strong the whole week.

Once past Doldrums, some nice 15kt breeze up to Canaria.

[stief 4,034]

Wish I'd found this logbook earlier: sample from Giancarlo today, thanks to gtrans (Safari wouldn't do Italian). Interesting how they use WhatsApp

Quote

 I'm at the chart table, I turned on the wifi network and a message arrives. It is the whatsapp group of skippers participating in the Vendée Globe . We write. We share. We motivate ourselves. We keep each other company. We resist against loneliness. Loneliness. Loneliness has always been a great opportunity for me. As a child I was a child who loved to play alone. Only child, in the silence of my bedroom I loved to animate games in my imagination. Growing up I have always tried to cultivate the need to look within and I found an ally in this in solitude. Moments alone, travel alone, now this experience. Usually loneliness invites introspection, tells him where you are and sooner or later introduces it to you. After a while you are in the company of loneliness, introspection knocks on your door and it's up to you to decide whether to open them or not. You can let it in, and start looking inside yourself, or you can pretend not to hear it coming, you can fill your days with noise, activity, thoughts and not open them. Because looking inside, really, sometimes hurts: you see what you have inside, things that you sometimes don't like and don't want to have. I always thought it was better to see and know than to hide. Because this is the only way to improve, to grow as a human being. But now I don't want to talk about introspection.

@thengling (think this fits in with your point about imagination)

[troll99 446]

3 minutes ago, stief said:

Wish I'd found this logbook earlier: sample from Giancarlo today, thanks to gtrans (Safari wouldn't do Italian). Interesting how they use WhatsApp

 

 I'm more of an introvert too. It is nothing wrong with that as it helps to deal with the environment. 

[stief 4,034]

6 minutes ago, troll99 said:

 I'm more of an introvert too. It is nothing wrong with that as it helps to deal with the environment. 

+1 to introverts. Best part of my offshore and inshore solo sailing memories

btw--were you able to see/find the link to credit his charitable project? (still looking)

Quote

For each click (like, share, comment) made on a post from Giancarlo's international sports project, Prysmian Group donates 1 meter of cable to Electriciens sans frontières to create an electrification project thanks to its professional volunteers and local people

 

[stief 4,034]

Why Giancarlo is good to follow (dammit--where are the Italians who could have kept us updated in the thread? Well, better late than never).

 

[Virgulino Ferreira 374]

31 minutes ago, stief said:

Quote

I'm at the chart table, I turned on the wifi network and a message arrives. It is the whatsapp group of skippers participating in the Vendée Globe .

 

Bloody hell, my stomach dropped. I'm nauseated. I just had lunch, ffs.

[stief 4,034]

12 minutes ago, Virgulino Ferreira said:

Bloody hell, my stomach dropped. I'm nauseated. I just had lunch, ffs.

I know. WhatsApp was great during Kevin's rescue, and numerous other times like tech and probably medical support, but is a new level of communication. Figure the NOR in 2024 will again define "without outside assistance" further. Jules Verne Trophy went with "no physical outside assistance" and the current VG NOR has a long section on comms.

Guess it's like foils: the race(es) are having to keep up with the information age. Something lost, but maybe enough gained . . .

Fans sure benefit.

[troll99 446]

52 minutes ago, stief said:

+1 to introverts. Best part of my offshore and inshore solo sailing memories

btw--were you able to see/find the link to credit his charitable project? (still looking)

 

https://www.prysmianoceanracing.com/news/the-home-straight-for-giancarlo-and-the-1-click-1m-of-cable-projects/

https://electriciens-sans-frontieres.org/

Enough to click on Pedote social networks.

https://www.facebook.com/giancarlopedote75/

https://www.giancarlopedote.it/ 

At the bottom of the page, one can find social networks.

[jimmyuk81 57]

Looks like Pip is taking a gamble and diverging from the foiling pack ahead... Not quite sure where she goes from here, but good luck to her! 

[littlechay 699]

44 minutes ago, stief said:

I know. WhatsApp was great during Kevin's rescue, and numerous other times like tech and probably medical support, but is a new level of communication. Figure the NOR in 2024 will again define "without outside assistance" further. Jules Verne Trophy went with "no physical outside assistance" and the current VG NOR has a long section on comms.

Guess it's like foils: the race(es) are having to keep up with the information age. Something lost, but maybe enough gained . . .

Fans sure benefit.

WhatsApp is the app of choice for seamen everywhere. It works. It is non-compelled so messages arrive when the signal is good etc. It works on very low bandwidth links.

We install lots of satellite comms on small (and large) fishing vessels as well as yachts and always have to allow WhatsApp through the firewall

[Virgulino Ferreira 374]

At the very least use Signal, FFS!

[stief 4,034]

1 hour ago, jimmyuk81 said:

Looks like Pip is taking a gamble and diverging from the foiling pack ahead... Not quite sure where she goes from here, but good luck to her! 

She may just be setting up for a sheltered space to work off her 2.5 hr penalty  (and, I hope, fix her wind inputs)

[stief 4,034]

Speaking of wind input fixes . . . Clarisse is happy. (Sorry for the 5 clicker; kept waiting for an EN CC version to be posted)

 

[Fiji Bitter 1,496]

23 minutes ago, stief said:

Clarisse is happy.

Thanks, she cheers me up, before coffee!

 

[Laurent 1,705]

The come back of Louis Burton on Bureau Vallée is VERY impressive.

I have the feeling that he is pushing his boat most likely more than anybody else.

[Virgulino Ferreira 374]

Pip, the palindromic sailor.

[tDot 114]

3 hours ago, jimmyuk81 said:

Looks like Pip is taking a gamble and diverging from the foiling pack ahead... Not quite sure where she goes from here, but good luck to her! 

Probably to get her port rudder out of the water so that she can repair the water leak at the rudder post.

[PIL66 - XL2 916]

Doing some playbacks this morning..... i'm super impressed with Louis Burton on BV2 and his gains on the the other 3 in this weather. It's how he started the race. 
Him and Yannick may now not be as disadvantaged by their boats age with the two new boats not able to perform at 100% due to boards....
Am I right in saying louis and yannick's boats / foils are 100%...?
Pip's going the wrong way (150deg.)... WTF

 

[tDot 114]

13 minutes ago, Virgulino Ferreira said:

Pip, the palindromic sailor.

I think you have that backwards 

[tDot 114]

5 minutes ago, PIL66 - XL2 said:

Doing some playbacks this morning..... i'm super impressed with Louis Burton on BV2 and his gains on the the other 3 in this weather. It's how he started the race. 
Him and Yannick have may now not be as disadvantaged by their boats age with the two new boats not able to perform at 100% due to boards....
Am I right in saying louis and yannick's boats / foils are 100%...?

 

I'm also thinking the 2016 boats are a better compromise for the given conditions of this Vendee.  That and I think Louis Burton is just incredibly hungry for this win.

[heymatey 30]

This dinghy sailor is nervous for Yannick, who seems to be to outside/to leeward of the shift and fleet with breeze right. Given that and smaller foils, he's doing a good job keeping up as well as he is.

Meanwhile, Burton continues his march to the front.

[ALL@SEA 259]

2 hours ago, PIL66 - XL2 said:

Doing some playbacks this morning..... i'm super impressed with Louis Burton on BV2 and his gains on the the other 3 in this weather. It's how he started the race. 
Him and Yannick may now not be as disadvantaged by their boats age with the two new boats not able to perform at 100% due to boards....
Am I right in saying louis and yannick's boats / foils are 100%...?
Pip's going the wrong way (150deg.)... WTF

 

"Earlier in the race, Pip incurred a short penalty (2.5 hours) after a large wave washed one of her liferafts overboard, breaking the official seal which prevents skippers moving safety equipment. Pip will take this penalty in the next 24 hours and hopefully won't lose too much ground to other competitors " 

From her facebook page.

[stief 4,034]

2 hours ago, PIL66 - XL2 said:

Doing some playbacks this morning..... i'm super impressed with Louis Burton on BV2 and his gains on the the other 3 in this weather. It's how he started the race. 
Him and Yannick may now not be as disadvantaged by their boats age with the two new boats not able to perform at 100% due to boards....
Am I right in saying louis and yannick's boats / foils are 100%...?
Pip's going the wrong way (150deg.)... WTF

Right enough. Yannick--who knows? Like Armel last time,  he doesn't report much. So, no known disadvantage.

Burton--said Jan 11 he's 100% and mentions fixing his water maker, a minor mainsail repair and that  his electonics are "fragile and give me a scare at least once a day"

Pip above  #10823 

[huey 2 602]

Quote ;  Armel gets past Clarisse......finally.......But with Isabells news I would imagine it would be a comfort to know there are two close-ish  by and heading her way....especially with distance to the coast and port...as is Maxime and Boris and Benjamin. 

 de ja vu

SACZ is stalking the three and Isabell going to get hit again    .....Armel has had a solid time of the confronting systems mixed with current meeting sea/swell in the last day........lets hope Isabell keeps the boat upright, and then she can continue to port......the sideways rocking can damage the surrounding structure pretty quickly

[TheDragon 545]

I was a little surprised to hear the chap from Bestaven's team saying that they were trying to help him, around 3:30 on today's English. He does not specify the help, but the context is the wind hole he sailed into, so it would seem to be help with routing. I thought only the sailors were allowed to do routing.

 

[stief 4,034]

11 minutes ago, TheDragon said:

I was a little surprised to hear the chap from Bestaven's team saying that they were trying to help him, around 3:30 on today's English. He does not specify the help, but the context is the wind hole he sailed into, so it would seem to be help with routing. I thought only the sailors were allowed to do routing.

You're right--they are not allowed routing assistance. Antoine Mermod discusses that later in the Live. (good discussion earlier  by Yannick's performance expert Antoine Connan on the 2000 data points he gets too). Was a really good Live.

[Roleur 288]

22 hours ago, Hitchhiker said:

Yup. Blast.

California buyer? Or?

[stief 4,034]

Pip is a good example of what outside help is and is not allowed to solve her wind wand problem

Surprised Joff Brown didn't solve the quadratic equation for her, but figure she and her team decided that would be against the rules. 

Quote

Step one to install the wand and get the feed into the computer was surprisingly easy. Moving around a few wires and reconfiguring the Com ports into my navigation software. Step two has been harder - that is to try and get the data to relate to my own points of reference. The problem being all of my datums are from a mast head unit and I am now operating at deck level, where the apparent wind is less and the wind wand itself sticking out at a jaunty angle.

I spent a while googling the difference in wind strength relative to height above sea level and found a rather complicated formula to work it out. Spent half an hour trying to remember how to solve a quadratic equation from my school days, have managed to work out a number that seems to be about right and have altered the calibration of the deck level wand to read what I think it might at mast height. Next I have played around with the wind angle offset to try and get the apparent wind angle about right. With these numbers as a base line I have then spent the rest of the day, sort of reverse engineering the wind data to something that is vaguely helpful. Every time the wind has increased or wind angle changed I have gone on deck, looked at the sea, the waves and the trim of the sails and made an evaluation as to whether the wind data fits what I am seeing. All day I have nudged the wind angle this way and that, changed the windspeed coefficient by one or two and finally I think I have something that might be useful. The only downside being when I gybe tomorrow, I will need to transfer the wand to the other side of the boat and do the whole process again.

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/21419/pip-hare-putting-on-her-big-girl-pants-and-dealing-with-her-wind-instrument-issues

[kokopelli 20]

Looking at the distances between the top boats  if the finish were now, the podium would be Jean Le Cam, Yannick, then Boris.  This is taking into account their time allowances for Kevin's rescue, and assuming an conservative average of 12 kn boatspeed.  Pretty cool to have the rescuers potentially share the podium!

[TheDragon 545]

21 minutes ago, stief said:

You're right--they are not. Antoine Mermod discusses that later in the Live. (good discussion earlier  by Yannick's performance expert Antoine Connan on the 2000 data points he gets too). Was a really good Live.

Okay, watched most of it now. So does Maitre Coq show all the data like Herrmann does and Alex did, I don't find the site? This discussion leaves it a little unclear. Could be all the data analysis was done before the race, but then why does the guy say they are helping Bestaven. Strange, especially with Mr. IMOCA sitting there discussing it.

[stief 4,034]

2 minutes ago, TheDragon said:

Okay, watched most of it now. So does Maitre Coq show all the data like Herrmann does and Alex did, I don't find the site? This discussion leaves it a little unclear. Could be all the data analysis was done before the race, but then why does the guy say they are helping Bestaven. Strange, especially with Mr. IMOCA sitting there discussing it.

You didn't miss any. Only Alex and Herrmann have such data sites AFAIK . ..  Hermann's way more frequently. Pip has some health stats. 

Yes, the Live was bizarre and at times unclear. Typical 2nd language stuff, probably. 

Doubt there is any deliberate abuse,  though in all these WhatsApp chats someone likely slipped. Expect the RC will be making a major review of all the comms (as the NOR allows) for 2024.

Maybe if all the comms were public? 

(I'm toast. night y'all) Peach of a day.

 

[huey 2 602]

Training school for Vendee.....Minis

  https://www.letelegramme.fr/voile/vendee-globe/a-l-ecole-de-la-mini-12-01-2021-12686873.php

[Autonomous 364]

Has Destremau snapped? No, I'm not talking about the bowsprit.

[TheDragon 545]

17 minutes ago, Autonomous said:

Has Destremau snapped? No, I'm not talking about the bowsprit.

Hard to imagine he really thinks he should head to the horn.

[Autonomous 364]

I'm not insulting him, just concerned. Stuff happens under stress and he's seen plenty.

[littlechay 699]

11 hours ago, Virgulino Ferreira said:

At the very least use Signal, FFS!

Nobody uses Signal so there is no point. Less functionality and the same end to end security ... it's opensource'; which I like but it aint no use unless there is somebody on the other end 

[mowgli 13]

1 hour ago, littlechay said:

Nobody uses Signal so there is no point. Less functionality and the same end to end security ... it's opensource'; which I like but it aint no use unless there is somebody on the other end 

The use of Signal growing. Whatsapp is encrypted till you agree with them to save your conversation on there servers then they are un-encrypte and they can be use by them.

https://beebom.com/whatsapp-vs-telegram-vs-signal/

[M26 68]

4 hours ago, TheDragon said:

Hard to imagine he really thinks he should head to the horn.

asking the real question.

[JonRowe 723]

5 hours ago, stief said:

Surprised Joff Brown didn't solve the quadratic equation for her, but figure she and her team decided that would be against the rules. 

This is just a guess but shore teams aren't allowed to get data off the boat unless it's public right? So possibly this fell foul of that because pips wind data isn't public, so Joff can't use the values to calculate the offset (but would have been able to provide the forumla and some math's assistance in terms of how to work it out?)

[Bebmoumoute 1,110]

Chilean NAvy flew over Charal

 

https://twitter.com/Armada_Chile/status/1349498975854985216?s=20

[Bebmoumoute 1,110]

The CapVG20 Twitter account is saying that during the CORUM dismating, one of the foils was damaged. The team is looking at options.

One option is to wait and order a new pair of foils that will comply with a likely foil size limit that would come in May.

The current foils would not be banned straightaway under the new rule, there would be a transition period (they probably would end up being banned for the VG2024).

 

https://twitter.com/CapVG20/status/1349336825756872704

[b3nharris 100]

12 hours ago, PIL66 - XL2 said:

Doing some playbacks this morning..... i'm super impressed with Louis Burton on BV2 and his gains on the the other 3 in this weather. It's how he started the race. 
Him and Yannick may now not be as disadvantaged by their boats age with the two new boats not able to perform at 100% due to boards....
Am I right in saying louis and yannick's boats / foils are 100%...?
Pip's going the wrong way (150deg.)... WTF

 

Looking back at the DTL, I'm always impressed with Kojiro Shiraishi. Feels like he's really picked up his speed as the race has gone on and from about midway (more or less when Charal passed him) he's made up ground on most of the boats in front of him

[Terrorvision 138]

1 hour ago, b3nharris said:

Looking back at the DTL, I'm always impressed with Kojiro Shiraishi. Feels like he's really picked up his speed as the race has gone on and from about midway (more or less when Charal passed him) he's made up ground on most of the boats in front of him

Didn't he have a lot of issues before getting to the SO which left him with the tail-enders? It's a brand new foiler i believe so he should be getting used to it by now.

[Potter 669]

10 minutes ago, Terrorvision said:

Didn't he have a lot of issues before getting to the SO which left him with the tail-enders? It's a brand new foiler i believe so he should be getting used to it by now.

He had to rebuild his mainsail with a section missing, he cannot hoist full main.

I don't think he would be competitive with a fully functioning boat, as he had no build up time, and relatively little experience.

[JonRowe 723]

 

47 minutes ago, Terrorvision said:

It's a brand new foiler i believe so he should be getting used to it by now.

Sister ship to Charal launched in September 2019 but only has the first gen foils, as there was no budget for 2nd/3rd set.

[Terrorvision 138]

50 minutes ago, Potter said:

He had to rebuild his mainsail with a section missing, he cannot hoist full main.

I don't think he would be competitive with a fully functioning boat, as he had no build up time, and relatively little experience.

 

13 minutes ago, JonRowe said:

 

Sister ship to Charal launched in September 2019 but only has the first gen foils, as there was no budget for 2nd/3rd set.

I knew there were various reasons but couldn't remember the specifics, thanks.

The no build-up time prior to the race would tally with him improving over the duration of the course, especially with a compromised sail plan. Good on him, he sounds like a true adventurer and sportsman.

Hopefully he'll be back in the next edition with updated foils and a raft of upgrades. 

[Virgulino Ferreira 374]

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/21691/update-on-isabelle-joschke

Update on Isabelle Joschke

(...)

Speaking on the French Vendée Live show yesterday Joschke said

“It’s going a lot better now, it’s calmer, it was really tense for 2 days, but now there’s sunshine, there’s some respite. But there’s still some water getting in. Until I touch land, I won’t be 100% out of danger. I’m still figuring out where I’m going to head to. For the moment it will be either Rio de Janeiro or Salvador in Bahia, depending on what will be the easiest route. I’ve received lots of messages of support, not only since my retirement from the race, but also during my race itself, loads of messages of encouragement.”

[Haji 412]

37 minutes ago, Virgulino Ferreira said:

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/21691/update-on-isabelle-joschke

Update on Isabelle Joschke

(...)

Speaking on the French Vendée Live show yesterday Joschke said

“It’s going a lot better now, it’s calmer, it was really tense for 2 days, but now there’s sunshine, there’s some respite. But there’s still some water getting in. Until I touch land, I won’t be 100% out of danger. I’m still figuring out where I’m going to head to. For the moment it will be either Rio de Janeiro or Salvador in Bahia, depending on what will be the easiest route. I’ve received lots of messages of support, not only since my retirement from the race, but also during my race itself, loads of messages of encouragement.”

I'm so bummed for Isabelle, and hope she can keep her spirits up while struggling to get to shore.  Oof.

[bucc5062 186]

36 minutes ago, Virgulino Ferreira said:

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/21691/update-on-isabelle-joschke

Update on Isabelle Joschke

(...)

Speaking on the French Vendée Live show yesterday Joschke said

“It’s going a lot better now, it’s calmer, it was really tense for 2 days, but now there’s sunshine, there’s some respite. But there’s still some water getting in. Until I touch land, I won’t be 100% out of danger. I’m still figuring out where I’m going to head to. For the moment it will be either Rio de Janeiro or Salvador in Bahia, depending on what will be the easiest route. I’ve received lots of messages of support, not only since my retirement from the race, but also during my race itself, loads of messages of encouragement.”

Thank you for the post.  I try to keep an eye on her track and at the moment it seems to be in the wrong direction.  Still, it may be better to head NE to get into calmer weather before turning west for SA.  Let's hope for a safe arrival into port for her.

[Haji 412]

What's up with JLC? Got swallowed by a wind hole?

 

[Dog 666]

4 minutes ago, Haji said:

I'm so bummed for Isabelle, and hope she can keep her spirits up while struggling to get to shore.  Oof.

Me too.... She would have been right there in that leading pack with a chance to win the whole thing.

[GER 100 172]

3 minutes ago, Haji said:

What's up with JLC? Got swallowed by a wind hole?

 

Probably. In the 14:00 UTC rankings both Yannick (5.15 nds) and JCL (3.48 nds)  were extremely slow compared to the other boats. Yannick even dropped to 6th. Ouch.

[Haji 412]

4 minutes ago, Dog said:

Me too.... She would have been right there in that leading pack with a chance to win the whole thing.

Agreed.  Started to develop sort of a crush on her.  Something about her matter-of-fact style of delivery...yet somehow barely hiding the stress and emotions under the surface. 

[jhc 149]

5 hours ago, Bebmoumoute said:

Chilean NAvy flew over Charal

 

https://twitter.com/Armada_Chile/status/1349498975854985216?s=20

Charal foils both seem to be drawn in, not deployed. Maybe the leeward is extended out from the hull slightly. Certainly not deployed. 

Me thinks the foiling boats were not designed properly for rough conditions. They seem to be marginally faster overall, for the round the world route, but not as touted.

 

[ant1 352]

1 hour ago, bucc5062 said:

Thank you for the post.  I try to keep an eye on her track and at the moment it seems to be in the wrong direction.  Still, it may be better to head NE to get into calmer weather before turning west for SA.  Let's hope for a safe arrival into port for her.

In one of her last videos she said it was important for her to cross her track down the atlantic, a sort of symbol of having made it around the world in a way... in the past few days she's been going straight for her down the atlantic track, she's nearly there... then she'll be heading for a port... that seemed to be the plan anyway

[Laurent 1,705]

1 hour ago, GER 100 said:

Probably. In the 14:00 UTC rankings both Yannick (5.15 nds) and JCL (3.48 nds)  were extremely slow compared to the other boats. Yannick even dropped to 6th. Ouch.

Some action with what seems to be a few tacks for Yannick... I wonder if this is due to issues or chasing clouds...

 

[jhc 149]

1 hour ago, GER 100 said:

Probably. In the 14:00 UTC rankings both Yannick (5.15 nds) and JCL (3.48 nds)  were extremely slow compared to the other boats. Yannick even dropped to 6th. Ouch.

JLC dropped, repaired, and the re-hoisted his J2. Needing to go up the rig twice to un-lash, and re-lash the head of the J2 to the fuller bearing at the head. Pretty obvious he ran off, to a broad reach for the trips up the rig.

[ant1 352]

Jean Le Cam must be putting his J2 back up, after having repaired it over the last few days, its a sail that is never supposed to be brought down, so its a lot of work to bring it down and bring it back up again, might explain his being distanced these past few days and virtual standstill right now... we'll see if he picks up speed again by this evening... come on Jean, Yes We Cam !

Louis Burton and Damien Seguin... hehehe... come on guys !

It would be so so sweet if one of these lower budget boats wins it or makes the podium. A big budget boat winning would have as much appeal as a prison gate to me... congrats to the skipper for his performance (which it really would be), "order" will be comforted... but I won't really care for it that much.

[Virgulino Ferreira 374]

35 minutes ago, ant1 said:

In one of her last videos she said it was important for her to cross her track down the atlantic, a sort of symbol of having made it around the world in a way... in the past few days she's been going straight for her down the atlantic track, she's nearly there... then she'll be heading for a port... that seemed to be the plan anyway

That could explain it!

It would be foolish to do, in a wounded boat, but very poetic, and very brave. I admire that.

She has a Zen Samurai way of being.

[Panoramix 1,285]

Armel Tripon has decided to get some leverage....

[HeartOfGold 41]

18 hours ago, Laurent said:

The come back of Louis Burton on Bureau Vallée is VERY impressive.

I have the feeling that he is pushing his boat most likely more than anybody else.

In yesterday's onboard video from Louis Burton (below), at the end he says quite mildly, "We're on the attack." Then he smiles and widens his eyes, and something about that expression just seems to emphasize those words far more than his tone. I try to imagine the intensity of those hours in the lee of Macquarie Island and it's just... no words.

What an absolutely marvelous race!

[ant1 352]

20 minutes ago, Virgulino Ferreira said:

That could explain it!

It would be foolish to do, in a wounded boat, but very poetic, and very brave. I admire that.

She has a Zen Samurai way of being.

I love it too... she's something.

[bucc5062 186]

1 hour ago, ant1 said:

In one of her last videos she said it was important for her to cross her track down the atlantic, a sort of symbol of having made it around the world in a way... in the past few days she's been going straight for her down the atlantic track, she's nearly there... then she'll be heading for a port... that seemed to be the plan anyway

If so, that is a gutsy and amazing decision.  I get it and if I were in her place I think I'd do so as well.  If she crosses her path no one can say she did not sail around the world.  At this last sched update it looks like she is there so hopefully we'll see a turn for port.

[Bebmoumoute 1,110]

[tDot 114]

25 minutes ago, Bebmoumoute said:

I'd prefer to see his bow pointed at land. 

Soggy cardboard doesn't add to my confidence in his boat. But he's got a fantastic attitude considering the problems he's had to deal with.  I hope he's makes it across the Pacific without any more drama.

[Bebmoumoute 1,110]

[M26 68]

 

[stief 4,034]

Pip's bearing repair vid

 

[Your Mom 1,028]

I'm curious to see what Beyou and those with him do the next 3-4 days.  If they want to avoid upwind sailing, they're going to need to sail halfway to Cape Town before doing any serious northing.  And that may be a good move because it allows them to sail downwind angles most of the way to the equator (although if you go too far, your angles northbound will become too deep).  But it's a lot of extra distance.  On the other hand, the more direct route would likely be plugging away in diminishing upwind stuff for at least a few days.

I suppose it partly depends on how much any of them really want to try to catch up to anyone ahead.  The margin from that pack to the next boat is huge.

[Tom O'Keefe 124]

2 hours ago, bucc5062 said:

If so, that is a gutsy and amazing decision.  I get it and if I were in her place I think I'd do so as well.  If she crosses her path no one can say she did not sail around the world.  At this last sched update it looks like she is there so hopefully we'll see a turn for port.

In the article this morning it said she needed to get up to 25-26N to find favorable downwind conditions to get to South America.

[k-f-u 137]

Boris with the best VMG in the last 24h, 14.0kts vs. 13.5 for Charlie. If he can keep the pace, he has a chance of winning this VG. Just follow Charlie's wake and be 4.15h faster than Yannick 

[Bebmoumoute 1,110]

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/fr/actualites/21694/charlie-dalin-je-suis-content-de-retrouver-cette-position

 

As suspected from the RAF photos, Charlie cannot deploy the port foil anymore. He is saying he is happy to still be in the race and even better in first position.

[PIL66 - XL2 916]

33 minutes ago, k-f-u said:

Boris with the best VMG in the last 24h, 14.0kts vs. 13.5 for Charlie. If he can keep the pace, he has a chance of winning this VG. Just follow Charlie's wake and be 4.15h faster than Yannick 

Yep he did well... same as Charley and louis... Boris just doesn't seem to get to the lead... not saying he won't but hasn't ...This race now suits a slightly different boat than the SO leg Boris my have that boat. We know Louis has...

[stief 4,034]

Re boat comparisons, Andi pressured Marcus to make some calls in  today's Live. Marcus Hutchinson is surprised Herrmann hasn't let 'er rip yet, and had lots of good info about the states of the boats.

Will Harris put together a decent clear summary of the foilers changed wardrobe choices  too

Quote

Total number of sails allowed is 8 including main and storm jib. It’s not a lot to cover a very large range of uses. The changes in foil tech since last Vendee means we have also seen a massive change in sailect and choice.

The biggest change in the sailect is once foiling, in above 12 knots of wind. The amount of canvas is rapidly reduced especially when reaching. The Apparent wind speed generated with extra speed means that’s there is no need for the extra sail area once foiling. Fractional sails will be much more in play.

Downwind
The big difference between boats is to bring a spinnaker or not. It is much more difficult to foil while using a spinnaker so a lot of foilers have chosen not to bring one and to bring a Gennaker of around 300m2. The foilers who keep their spinnakers have massively reduced their size in order to have a chance for foiling. Sailing VMG downwind is a big challenge to calculate.  Foiling mode means sailing a lot higher and fast than a conventional non-foiler, so the extra distance covered has to be worth it.

Reaching:
Another big split in the fleet is the size of fractional sail to bring used for reaching. Some boats have opted for J1.5 (130m2) while others a FR0(170M2). The differnce being a J1.5 is better for higher reaching angles (100-125) while a FR0 is better for 120-135TWA. These will also be the sails for extreme southern ocean downwind conditions in above 30 knots of wind.

Upwind:
Foiling upwind at around 60TWA is now an option. With this the size of headsails has generally reduced. A non-foiler will typically take reef 1 at 21 knots while a new foiler will find they need the reef at around 17 knots. Quite a big change so with this the J2 and J3 sizes have generally reduced to balance the power still.

Some boats are even opting to tryout their storm sails (max 20m2) to see if these can work as staysails and strong upwind conditions.

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/21699/vendee-globe-sails-with-malizia-s-will-harris

[Haji 412]

If Damien can hang close with the foilers to the doldrums, and there's enough upwind work on the home stretch...watch out.

[TheDragon 545]

I feel sorry for Maxime Sorel. He did so well in the Pacific and nearly caught the peleton, but the Atlantic has been very cruel as he is now 280 miles behind Jean le Cam.

[Bebmoumoute 1,110]

oO

[stief 4,034]

Odds are leaning more and more into Herrmann's favour (his quick estimate from the GFS routing showed only 4hrs upwind and good winds for him in yesterday's Live).

No matter: Damien has beaten the odds already, and the forecasts keep on being extra fickle.

Next 12 hours getting past the thermals at Recife and the traffic tonight will reset the starting blocks. Busy place

 

[stief 4,034]

A week on starboard, he says, but bouncing in the sea state. Not really pushing yet (85%)