Vendee Globe 2020

[Laurent]

That is quite remarkable with only boat older I think Pip Hare's???

You get to the stage of having to come up with categories of "shoestring"

Like "new boats" pretty good budgets there is still the 'poor'. Such as Tripon (a 1st timer) and Ruyant as Miff points out who struggled financially and were touch and to get to start line at some point.

I agree, there is shoestring, and then there is SHOESTRING...

Benjamin explained in his last interview that it is because of the arrival of a last minute sponsor (OMIA) in September that he was able to by SOME new sails (so I assume that some of his sails are still not new for this race). He also explained that the new sails really changed the performance of the boat, and he is still learning how and when to hold back, and when to be on the attack.

I would assume that Armel Tripon and Thomas Ruyant have all new sails for the Vendée Globe.

 

[troll99]

 

[minca3]

A68a as seen from the window of the aircraft - BFSAI photo

Over the past three years, they have been closely tracking its progress as it slowly drifts towards the British islands. While the berg has decreased by a third to approximately 4,200 sq km (1,600 sq miles) it remains the largest known piece to have broken from the ice shelf and is, of course, a menace to shipping. In addition to the island forced from the berg, shipping in the region faces danger as it breaks apart into what is known as tabular icebergs and debris that could pose a threat to patrol vessels.

The BBC reports that experts were surprised that A68a has not broken apart into a series of large pieces. They had expected it would have lost more of its mass before now. The sides of the berg reach as much as 100 feet in height above the water. The imagery of the vertical sides however uncovered tunnels under the iceberg, as well as deep fissures extending downwards that could be an indication of instability. 

Releasing its images, BFSAI said that the sheer size of A68a meant it was impossible to capture its entirety in one single shot from the A400M aircraft. Instead, they were able to observe with unprecedented detail cracks and fissures within the main body of the iceberg. The A400M crew members and an officer from the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) were also able to visually identify ice debris in the surrounding waters.

“Guided by the satellite tracking, the A400M can get under the weather and closer to the iceberg, enabling more detailed observations,” explained Squadron Leader Michael Wilkinson, Officer Commanding 1312 Flt. “I know I speak on behalf of all of the crew involved when I say this is certainly a unique and unforgettable task to be involved in.’’

 

[JMore]

Sam interview in today’s Daily Telegraph

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/away-sea-long-wasnt-mum/


‘I was away at sea for so long, I wasn’t Mum any more’


Samantha Davies explains why she’s spending Christmas finishing the Vendée Globe – the world’s most dangerous yacht race
ByFleur Britten9 December 2020 • 6:00am

 

If everything goes according to plan, nine-year-old Ruben won’t be spending Christmas with his parents this year. In fact, he hasn’t seen them since the beginning of November, when they left to compete in the Vendée Globe, a non-stop, solo round-the-world yacht race that takes place every four years and covers around 24,000 nautical miles over three months – if you’re fast.

Ruben’s parents are professional skippers Samantha Davies, 46, from Portsmouth, and Romain Attanasio, a 43-year-old Frenchman, who live in Brittany and are the first couple ever to compete against each other in the race known as “the Everest of the seas”.

Well, at least they were until last Wednesday when Davies’s multi-million-pound yacht violently collided with a UFO (unidentified floating object) off the Cape of Good Hope. “I was unlucky,” she says, “because I was just making my dinner, stirring my vegetable tikka masala, which I ended up wearing. At least I wasn’t sat on the bucket [the loo] at the time. 

“I may have cracked my ribs, but I didn’t pass out. I lay down and put my legs up in the air and phoned the doctor and took my anti-inflammatories.”

She still has no idea what she hit, “but it was very solid. It could have been a massive whale, it could have been a container, but it was huge”. The damage to her keel was enough to force her out of the race. 

After Davies diverted to Cape Town to assess the impact, it soon became apparent that she – a mechanical engineering graduate from Cambridge – was not going to be able to repair the boat without external assistance, which is strictly forbidden. Was Ruben going to get an early Christmas present?

Perhaps not: Davies may now have retired from the race, but, incredibly, she is still on course for Plan A. The Vendée veteran (now on her third edition) says she is “determined” to complete the course as an unclassified “adventurer”, as soon as her boat is repaired. 

“I scared myself s---less in the crash,” she says. “As soon as it happened, I was ready to go home and be a mum. But the three days of sailing back to Cape Town gave me time to rest and reflect.” 

Today, she is focused on her mission, which now has two parts. First, it’s about getting back on the horse (“to go back and rebuild myself”). Secondly, it’s about saving children’s lives. Working with the French charity Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, which enables underprivileged children to be flown to France for life-saving heart surgery, Davies’s journey so far has raised enough sponsorship to save 28 lives.

Maybe Ruben has learnt to count his blessings. With his maternal grandparents picking up the slack, it is with them that he’ll be staying, aboard their sailing boat (no washing machine, no hot or cold water, according to Davies). “I think our son would agree that he’s quite happy to say goodbye to us quite a few days before the start of the race, because we’re not actually very good parents at that point,” she tells me by phone before the race. “To perform at this level, I have to give 100 per cent – it’s like an Olympic campaign. Otherwise, there’s no point.”

It seems Ruben’s school is also happy about the arrangement: “He does his homework better and makes huge amounts of progress when he’s with his grandparents.”

With his parents’ itinerant lifestyle, his grandparents’ boat has become “the only thing that never changes in Ruben’s life”, says Davies. What is not a given, however, is his parents’ safety. Those of a more child-centric persuasion may well question whether such perils and protracted absences are in a child’s best interests.

But with a sportswom­an’s mindset firmly engaged, Davies says she doesn’t feel the criticism. “The best piece of advice I ever had was not to listen to anyone else, but to follow your own feeling. We are all different – for me it’s normal to be away, whereas some of my good friends could never leave their child for a night.”

It’s a feminist issue, of course. Few criticisms will be levelled at the many dads taking part, but if we want to see more sportswomen on the leadership boards, we need to cut them some slack on parenting: “The most important point is that Ruben has people that he trusts and that are going to give him the love and care that he needs – I am lucky that my parents love what we do and are only too happy to help.”

That’s not to say that Davies is not struck by guilt. Out on the ocean, she admits, “you suddenly realise: ‘I have forgotten I am a mum!’ And then I feel guilty for not having missed him. But if that were really an issue, then I wouldn’t be doing what I do.”

Offshore contact with Ruben is carefully managed in order to keep both parties on an even keel emotionally. For example, photos and pre-recorded videos are preferable to the frustrations of patchy Skype chats: “My parents will play the videos over and over again to him, and he gets to choose when he sees them,” Davies says. Where possible, she allows Ruben to dictate the amount of parental support he gets while they’re away but, she adds, “most parents would agree that the contact is more for you than the kids”.

Parental absences are, she adds, all he’s ever known: “I breastfed him for four months and then I went off sailing, so yeah, it’s normal for him.”

That said, Davies may never know the worst of Ruben’s longing. Her family follows a sailor’s code of contact to protect whomever is at sea from negativity: “Although I always wonder if he’s sad, my parents would never tell me. When you’re pushing hard in a race, all your emotions multiply and the news could be really hard to deal with.”

The hardest part of long-distance parenting is not the separation, Davies admits, but the reunion. “Your kid has grown up while you have forgotten how to be a mum. Once, I was away for nine months and wasn’t really his mum any more.”

Despite the crash, Davies is adamant she won’t be home for Christmas. “I’m not going to be expected to be on the next plane home – almost the opposite. My son has been like: ‘No, Mummy. Don’t come home yet!’ He’s enjoying himself with his grandparents.”  

There is a temptation, she explains, to spoil one’s child on the return. “The worst thing is if you don’t go straight back to a normal routine, you just prolong the re-establishment of a proper mother-child relationship. That’s when I’ve been completely lost at sea.”

Sam Davies is a Musto ambassador

Additional reporting by Tom Cary

 

[minca3]

I agree, there is shoestring, and then there is SHOESTRING...

Benjamin explained in his last interview that it is because of the arrival of a last minute sponsor (OMIA) in September that he was able to by SOME new sails (so I assume that some of his sails are still not new for this race). He also explained that the new sails really changed the performance of the boat, and he is still learning how and when to hold back, and when to be on the attack.

I would assume that Armel Tripon and Thomas Ruyant have all new sails for the Vendée Globe.

OK, then lets talk SHOESTRING for a moment: let's assume I want to participate in the VG24, I buy the cheapest IMOCA60 that is compliant with the rules and is capable of getting around the globe. I buy it in 2022, train on the boat for 2 years and then do the race. How much money would I need in total?

 

[ant1]

OK, then lets talk SHOESTRING for a moment: let's assume I want to participate in the VG24, I buy the cheapest IMOCA60 that is compliant with the rules and is capable of getting around the globe. I buy it in 2022, train on the boat for 2 years and then do the race. How much money would I need in total?

From this thread (I'm sorry it's in french, might be readable with google translate) https://www.hisse-et-oh.com/tavern/budgets-vendee-globe-2020#5fa9374a040dbf52572f6f2a

Could be true, could be complete bull...

Sebastien Destremeau is said to be operating on a 400 000€ euros budget, boat included

PRB is said to be operating on a 500 000€ a year budget, which is 2 Million € over the four year campaign, boat not included, the boat was supposed to be sold 2 Million €  after the campaign,

And Charal's budget is said to be 15 Million € over four years, boat included,

Edit : completed post with figures from the thread

 

[mad]

^^^ nice read, thanks.

How do you get dirt under your fingernails when you have been at sea for a month?

View attachment 413093

Perhaps a vegetable garden on board?

Cheers.

winch grease, engine oil or grease

 

[OPAL]

Link? Most of the maps I found so far are species specific. Dee mentions the stuff coming down the Agulhas current

Dug that map out of a folder on the PC, cannot remember where it came from.
On these vague trans-ocean routes, spices specific may not make a huge difference south of Cape Hope.
Still so much unknown about these southern migration routes.

Chay's other half maybe the best bet?

 

[Rafael]

HappyWhale has a global tracker mainly Humpbacks, Killer Whales and some Seals...



Saint Google shows various links... alltough the different tracking maps are actually proyects at a very initial phase.

 

[BGeff]

Caudrelier praises Dalin’s control at the front of the race.


https://www.imoca.org/en/news/news/caudrelier-praises-dalin-s-control-at-the-front-of-the-race



 

 

[Schakel]

Thanks to Mysailing.com.au for these articles..

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Images of the world's largest iceberg floating in the Southern Ocean




9 December 2020
Comments 0 Comments

 








BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE 12-07-2020 07:43:19


Britain’s Royal Air Force released dramatic images of what is believed to be the world’s largest iceberg as it drifts from the Antarctic shelf towards South Georgia island. Using enhanced technologies fitted aboard an RAF Airbus 400M, the crew, which is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI) force, captured detailed images of berg for scientists to study and predict the impact of this and other icebergs.


Known as A68a, the berg broke away from the Antarctica ice shelf in July 2017. At the time, scientists estimated its size at nearly 6,000 sq km (approximately 2,300 sq. miles). They said it could weigh more than one trillion tons.  

A68a as seen from the window of the aircraft - BFSAI photo

Over the past three years, they have been closely tracking its progress as it slowly drifts towards the British islands. While the berg has decreased by a third to approximately 4,200 sq km (1,600 sq miles) it remains the largest known piece to have broken from the ice shelf and is, of course, a menace to shipping. In addition to the island forced from the berg, shipping in the region faces danger as it breaks apart into what is known as tabular icebergs and debris that could pose a threat to patrol vessels.

The BBC reports that experts were surprised that A68a has not broken apart into a series of large pieces. They had expected it would have lost more of its mass before now. The sides of the berg reach as much as 100 feet in height above the water. The imagery of the vertical sides however uncovered tunnels under the iceberg, as well as deep fissures extending downwards that could be an indication of instability. 

Releasing its images, BFSAI said that the sheer size of A68a meant it was impossible to capture its entirety in one single shot from the A400M aircraft. Instead, they were able to observe with unprecedented detail cracks and fissures within the main body of the iceberg. The A400M crew members and an officer from the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) were also able to visually identify ice debris in the surrounding waters.

“Guided by the satellite tracking, the A400M can get under the weather and closer to the iceberg, enabling more detailed observations,” explained Squadron Leader Michael Wilkinson, Officer Commanding 1312 Flt. “I know I speak on behalf of all of the crew involved when I say this is certainly a unique and unforgettable task to be involved in.’’

Tunnel opening up in the massive berg - BFSAI photo

The A400M was able to capture the outline of the iceberg in detail. The reconnaissance provided close up imagery of the iceberg and surrounding waters for observers and scientists to enjoy and study. The data collected by the A400M reconnaissance has been shared with both GSGSSI and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) who are following the progress of the A68a. The imagery stills, video footage, and visual observations will all assist in predicting the iceberg’s future behavior and ascertaining the scale of the threat to the local area.

Typically, the iceberg would have attracted the attention of the numerous cruise ships in the Southern Ocean during the summer, BFSAI said. However, with the global pandemic on-going, cruise ship traffic is negligible this year, meaning that the reconnaissance flight provided the only details on the berg and its current course. 

The latest observations confirmed that A68a remains on a course towards the island of South Georgia. It is expected to pass by the southern end of the island, however, there is a danger that it could ground on the continental shelf in which case it would pose a threat to the natural habitat of the local wildlife.

 

Very interesting but it's not a thread to the vendee globe fleet. Nearest island, southern Georgia Island, has no known permanent inhabitants.

The wind could turn, Perhaps it runs aground.

Old whaling towns

 

 

[Schakel]

Mean time Charal is steaming towards the fleet amd is Apivia doing a southern move.

 

[Hitchhiker]

  View attachment 413153

I wondered when that was going to happen.

 

[Liquid]

Why the radio silence from Hugo Boss?

Any pictures of the damage other than a shot from the dock?

 

[troll99]

64kn gust wind  :blink:

 

[Schakel]

Why the radio silence from Hugo Boss?

Any pictures of the damage other than a shot from the dock?

Because he's out of the race?

 

[TPG]

Why the radio silence from Hugo Boss?

Any pictures of the damage other than a shot from the dock?

The word is they don't want speculation from the internet as to what happened.

 

[Hitchhiker]

Why the radio silence from Hugo Boss?

Any pictures of the damage other than a shot from the dock?

I might have missed something here.  The only image I saw was of the transom with no starboard rudder.  Were there any other images that showed a damaged rudder.  

 

[ant1]

Good episode...

 

[Virgulino Ferreira]

Isabelle eats the southern ocean for breakfast:



" The wind has been blowing strong, 35, 40 knots since this morning. The sea is foaming, powerful, indomitable. Sitting in my seat, while my MACSF surfs, I am mesmerised by the spectacle of nature in the wild. Cradled, dazzled, I feel like I am dough kneaded by the elements. " (Isabelle Joschke, VG site)

" Cette femme est imperturbable !!! "  (comment on youtube, This woman is imperturbable !!!)