Vendée – Arctique – Les Sables d’Olonne race.

[staysail]

You mean three, single-handed women sailors?

No. "Girl" is a compliment on the European side of the Atlantic!

 

[terrafirma]

Just worked out what Thomas Ruyant is doing differently. No wonder he is leading. 

 

[Icedtea]

I sailed from Schull for a few months, shelter on Irish shore for wind... yes no yes no, you get accelerations due to ragged coast line. Waves yes, but not swell. I bet it had nothing to do with weakness, but wind tide waves interaction. It is a bit showing that sailors new on the boats tacked much further offshore, Ruyant, Cremer, Koji.

What had you in Schull? An extremely nice part of the world- one of my favourite places to race. 

 

[Lakrass]

While the last time I was to quick to post and only focused on VMG instead of ground speed, I didn't make the same mistake twice.
Tripon temporizing and changing option (as Sodebo did during Brest Atlantique) to avoid worst condition, or something more worrying?

On another note, Ruyant is leading and commanding, first to tack. They are probably close enough to see each other AIS and he could have waited to cover the first one to tack but didn't. He was closely followed but still shows some confidence. The different groups are becoming more and more apparents, quite surprise to see foilers (especially 2nd gen) performance upwind.

 

[RedFlag]

Yep... Definitely something wrong onboard L'Occitane... Sad

OK, back on track again. Let's hope it was just a glitch...

Strike that, it's the map from one hour before. No way to tell...

 

[yl75]

Armel T option was/is aimed at preserving the boat, explained below by the team manager :

 

[terrafirma]

Yep... Definitely something wrong onboard L'Occitane... Sad

Could he just be parked up? Looks light

 

[Lakrass]

I read that too but was strange to see him point South, but now corrected on last update, pointing west again.

 

[terrafirma]

Armel T option was/is aimed at preserving the boat, explained below by the team manager :

This just says he has been going easy on the boat. No report of damage. He is still doing 4 knots in what could be 6 knots of wind

 

[terrafirma]

I think Thomas has made the right choice looking at the wind overlay

 

[Miffy]

Kojirosan has a problem with a reef hook being stuck - prob will need to climb the mast to fix it.

https://www.imoca.org/fr/news/news/probleme-de-grand-voile-sur-dmg-mori-global-one

 

[yl75]

I like the pic chosen by TR as avatar : "no smile, I mean business guys"

 

[Icedtea]

This just says he has been going easy on the boat. No report of damage. He is still doing 4 knots in what could be 6 knots of wind

Smart - more important getting miles under the keel now than trying to go all out for the win. 

 

[Your Mom]

Smart - more important getting miles under the keel now than trying to go all out for the win. 

And to properly qualify for Vendee, he needs to finish the race.  

Here's a fun contest to watch...  average finish among the ladies vs. the gentlemen.  If you score the abandons so far as shown (19th and 20th), then the women currently average 9.5 and the men average 10.75.  (I realize there are numerous reasons for this beyond simply who's sailing better, but it's great to see 3 women in the top 8 at the moment, and it'll be interesting to see if they can keep it up or even move up).

 

[Miffy]

I wouldn't even go there and obsess about men vs women in imoca - every skipper is an individual and arrived at this juncture on their own journey. 

 

[eliboat]

I wouldn't even go there and obsess about men vs women in imoca - every skipper is an individual and arrived at this juncture on their own journey. 

Agreed.  That said, I’m rooting for Sam Davies.  Imagine what she could do with a brand new boat!  

 

[pbenett]

Armel not localised since 13.30. Let's hope for the best

 

[Miffy]

He's diverting back to Brittany - boat damage.

 

[trimfast]

He's diverting back to Brittany - boat damage.

Damn

 

[WLIS Jibing]

Feel terrible for Armel.  It was always going to be a challenge.  Now, it seems even more so for him.  Hope the damage isn't too bad.  I think I read up thread that racers can resume racing to get miles under the belt / other requirements for the VG after having repairs made to the boat.  If that is a possibility, I hope Armel can pull it off and make the starting line in November.