Whether they are in the middle of the Indian Ocean – as the leaders Charlie Dalin and Sébastien Simon are – or just entering it by South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope and Cape Agulhas – the Vendée Globe fleet are dealing with a whole array of challenges.
The leading duo are outrunning a monster low pressure system as they pass the Kerguelen Islands. Before the Cape of Good Hope there is no gentle slip road on to the low pressure chain. And while several skippers are also having to deal with small mechanical problems, Louis Burton’s issue has proven race ending and the skipper of Bureau Vallée who finished third on the last race, has had to abandon and is heading to Cape Town. He has damage to his J2 stay fitting which threatens the security of his mast. With no possible solution Burton and his team took the hardest decision and the hugely popular, hard driving skipper from Saint Malo becomes the second skipper of 40 starters to abandon from this record sized fleet.
Setting the level
All the way through the fleet is about setting the level, the cursor determining the level of risk. The sea state in the Agulhas current strands to south and east of the South African tip have been especially tough, as also has it been at the back of the big low pressure system Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) and Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) are racing ahead of.
“It’s like a roller coaster it goes up, it goes down, it accelerates, it decelerates and what’s good is that there’s no need to go back to the checkout to buy a ticket again, we can ride this all day long!” summed up defending Vendée Globe champion Yannick Bestaven (Maître CoQ V). Whether they are north of the Kerguelen Islands or near the southern tip of Africa, the Vendée Globe sailors are almost all dealing with rough conditions and, as usual in the Indian, it is the raging seas which hamper progress and make life so unpleasant.
“We’ve been getting tossed around quite a bit for the past two days. The boat is accelerating hard and crashing into the next wave. It’s crashing in all directions and it’s not very pleasant. I feel like I’m sailing in the Raz Blanchard (the notorious Alderney Race) except that usually it’s usually all over in a matter of a few hours and here, it’s 24/7, endless, non stop!” commented Louis Duc (Five Group – Lantana Environnement) who is getting shaken up in the testing Agulhas Current. “We go from 30 to 10 knots in almost a fraction of a second. It puts a lot of strain on the boat and it’s the same for me. You have to be on top of it or you end up on the floor.”
Charlie Dalin 1 Monster Low 0 (HT)
At the front of the fleet the race leader Charlie Dalin seemed to be almost enjoying his race which right now is not against his rivals but against the low pressure system. At the back of the centre of the low there are ten metre waves and brutal 60 knots gusts. But if he and Simon can succeed in staying ahead of the worst of the voracious system the gains will be significant.
@VendeeGlobe
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