Unprecedented solo monohull speeds continue to be sustained by the leading five boats on the Vendée Globe as they head towards the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope. Les Sables d’Olonne’s Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) has shown speeds more worthy of his airline sponsor than a solo round the world yacht race, pushing the 24-hour solo monohull record higher and higher on successive skeds today, reaching a new best ever mark of 614.25 nautical miles over the 24 hours to 1330hrs UTC today.
After a frenetic night Simon, sailing the Verdier designed boat which won The Ocean Race as 11th Hour, had raised the bar to 596.23 miles to 0830hrs this morning and then, in the perfect conditions, he kept upping the ante. And there is every chance the record might keep going up on this low pressure which is proving to be the ‘gift that keeps on giving’ for the elite leading pack. Six boats have now gone over 560 nms in the last 24 hours, Macif Santé Prévoyance, HOLCIM -PRB, VULNERABLE and Charal, the latter next fastest peaking so far at 615,33 miles.
We have lift off
It is almost sure now that the leaders will make it all the way from their entry point on to the low, just north of Rio, to the Cape of Good Hope on one single, super fast gybe.
Simon reported this morning, “The boat is doing really well, there’s only one metre of sea, a reasonable wind between 24 and 26 knots of wind. I have two reefs in the mainsail, under FRO, in a relatively safe configuration for the boat. It’s an incredible distance, I would never have imagined doing that. In my opinion it’s not over because the scenario is improving for us. And since I’m staying in the front group, I’m on this depression all the way to Bonne Espérance instead of dropping off it this evening so I’m going to continue to go at this speed for almost another full day, so there’s a chance that the record will be beaten again, I hope by me.” And how right his prediction proved to be.
@VendeeGlobe
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