Vendee Globe - Le Cleac'h gets out of sight of Hugo Boss

by Vendee Globe/Sail-World.com on 31 Dec 2016 With just under 5000nm left to sail in the 2016/17 Vendee Globe race, race leader Armel Le Cleac'h (FRA) has eased away to a more comfortable 152nm lead over second placed Alex Thomson (GBR).

The yachts Banque Populaire V and Hugo Boss are sailing at 10.2kts and 9.5kts respectively off the coast of Brazil.

Two days ago the distance between the two boats was just 28nm, after Thomson came from behind in a different weather system to wipe out much of the French sailor's previous margin of 818nm - gained when he too hit a different weather system in the Southern Ocean.

Thomson is hoping to strike again as the boats negotiate The Doldrums.

Freshly shaven wearing an immaculate clean shirt 55 days after starting the Vendée Globe in Les Sables d'Olonne, leader Armel Le Cléac'h shows little emotion as he records a broadcast for a New Year special for French TV. Clearly there is a job still to do, winning the Vendée Globe for the first time, and his unwavering focus, his tunnel vision if you like, is once again evident.

Le Cléac'h is giving nothing away as ever. Indeed, it would not be breaking ranks to reveal the interviewer left the stage shaking his head, bemused that, once again, there was not even the slightest sniff of a ‘scoop'. It was seemingly perfectly scripted for the sailor, who is hard-wired to try and win this race at the third time of asking.

In fact he gives away precious little at all, other than revealing that he, the skipper who has led the solo round the world race since December 3rd and now leads it into the New Year, has also had his problems, his DIY repairs to do. But, he asserts, the boat Banque Populaire VIII, and skipper are at 100 per cent.



The Breton sailor pointed out that he has the advantage, if it might be considered as such, of having duelled up the Atlantic in the last edition. Indeed, he pointed out, four years ago he was about the same distance behind François Gabart as the Briton Alex Thomson is behind him today.

“Four year's ago, off Argentina, Francois had about the same lead that I have, and he managed to keep that up right the way to the finish. Right now, there's only three hours separating me and Alex so I'll hopefully be able to use my experience of that time to push harder and that will be helped by the close contact racing I've had of late. But Alex has that same experience of course so we both know what needs doing.”

Of losing a cushion of more than 800 miles to Thomson, Le Cléac'h explained:
“The last few days have been pretty hard to bear after losing a big lead, that was the fruit of a massive amount of hard work in the Pacific, due to having unfavourable weather.

“Now the zone of high pressure has certainly reshuffled the cards and got things back in some kind of order and logically it has broken Alex Thomson's progress as it was impossible for him to get around it so we've both been slowed a lot.”

“My slight cushion of a lead now will be good, at least for the coming days, as we'll have to tack our way up the coast of Brazil in search of the tradewinds. The situation is certainly better for me now than it was three or four days ago, which I'm happy about.”



“You just have to take the cards you're dealt and make the best of your hand without getting too annoyed. I'm just trying to sail my own race right now. Naturally, I'd have preferred different weather so I could have held onto my lead but that's not the case. I am still in the lead though and that's the most important thing. With this high pressure area the strategy's always hard to decipher as there is variance between the forecasts and what's on the water.”

“We've sorted the bits of damage aboard and now we have to focus on negotiating the numerous tricky sections ahead including the Doldrums.”

The turning of the year has been a time for reflection, a chance to look back and to glance forwards, even if it is only to the next set of weather GRIB files and what they bring.

Irish skipper Enda O'Coineen will hopefully have time to raise a glass and wish his Celtic brethren a huge ‘slainte mahaith' during January 1st in Ireland. Ne'er Day in the south of New Zealand was taken up fully by repairs and recovering from the huge effort and stress of recent days. After sailing 280 miles to the north west of his original track, the skipper of Kilcullen Voyager has completed an exhausting set of repairs to his computers, reset his automatic pilots and secured his mainsail with two reefs and the option to go just a little smaller, before getting back on the racecourse today.

He was due to maximise his rest and recovery time today, looking to replenish his energy after two failed attempts to anchor in Pegasus Bay on Stewart Island to the south of New Zealand, but heads across the Pacific towards Cape Horn in better shape.

Elsewhere, skippers like Eric Bellion have been reflecting on how appreciative they are that their Vendée Globe dream is still alive. The skipper of Commeunseulhomme, leading a quartet of skippers towards the middle of the Pacific in 10th place, said today: “It is a very strange day. I am in a strange mood. Sometimes you are not happy, you just do your jobs. Today I look back a bit at what I did in 2016 and I say to myself that I worked a lot. I worked like hell in 2016 to be at the start of the Vendée Globe. And from that point of view I am very happy to still be in the race. There are many who aren't. I hope that the first greatest day to come in 2017 will be Cape Horn. It would be a dream. But there is a lot of work to do to get there. I am fully concentrated on what is next. I am totally focused.”



Conrad Colman has now lost two sails, his number two Solent jib torn after being hit by a rogue 50kt gust. He refused to be drawn on the duel, which seems likely to develop between the young Kiwi and his former Barcelona World Race co-skipper Nandor Fa. Colman says, in the meantime, that Fa is ‘the boat in front, but we are both racers and we both want to do the best we can.' But with Fa getting into lighter, high pressure just now Colman is likely to catch a few more miles.

He talked about finding his IMOCA, Galileo, now Foresight Natural Energy, describing the boat which was designed by a South African who is based in Auckland, New Zealand, built in Brazil and which Colman walked past every day near his home in Lorient, quietly recognising the boat which was being used for day charters as a bit of an uncut, unpolished diamond.

“It was built in Brazil and designed by a South African guy called Angelo Lavranos who lives in New Zealand in Auckland, which is my home town. From its birth it has been an international boat as has been my project.” Colman recalled, “Since 2007 it has been in France after it pulled out of the 2008 Vendée Globe with electronic problems, and I have been working day in day out to make sure I have not succumbed to the same fate. And it has been hard with my pilots because I have now done ten Chinese gybes and wrecked two of my key sails as a result. But I have kept the boat in the race.”
He adds: “In 2008 the boat was turned over to a charter company and did lots of day charters in Lorient, my home town, and so I have been walking past this boat every day and really never gave her a second look. Then as the field narrowed in terms of the potential boats for the Vendée Globe I kind of realised there was great boat with really solid foundations right under my nose. And at that point it was the best boat on the market. And I have been really happy with the Galileo. It has a great turn of speed.”


Extracts from today's radio sessions

Yann Eliès (Quéginer – Leucémie Espoir): “This is my first solo Cape Horn but it hasn't changed a lot from my previous two times in crewed configuration as I didn't see it then either! I had some mainsail issues during my last gybe before the Horn so that spoilt the moment a bit because I had the tool box out and was in discussion with my shore crew, so I didn't make the most of it. Added to that, Jean Le Cam and I were within 5 miles of each other at the time but because he no longer has a working VHF we were unable to speak to each other, which was a bit silly!

For my part the Southern Ocean hasn't had that many opportunities to make up ground as any windows seem to have closed but that's part and parcel of the race. In sporting terms, I've had to mentally accept that it's been necessary to put the race to one side on occasion so as to protect the boat, but I have no regrets as the boat is in good shape and Jean and I are now battling it out to be the first of the older boats. It hasn't all been about the race though as I have had some magical moments in the Southern Ocean: the breaks in the cloud about every other day, albatrosses skimming past the boat, a lovely luminosity at night of late… but there has been a lack of mammals over recent days too… whales, seals and so on. We saw a lot more on the Jules Verne, but then we were outside a lot more.

Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire): “All's well. We've got upwind conditions as we make the long climb up the Brazilian coast. Temperatures have really heated up and we're now in T-Shirt and shorts and the boat's running smoothly. After the DIY jobs we're back up to the boat's full potential for the home straight and Les Sables d'Olonne. The last few days have been pretty hard to bear after losing the big lead, that was the fruit of a massive amount of hard work in the Pacific, due to having unfavourable weather. Right now, there's only 3 hours separating me and Alex so I'll hopefully be able to use my experience of that time to push harder and that will be helped by the close contact racing I've had of late, but Alex has that same experience of course so we both know what needs doing. It's 25 degrees aboard so the foie gras won't be too easy to digest tonight but it will be nice to have a bit of a change of diet, together with a bit of chocolate. We're a bit heeled over right now at 25 degrees so conditions will be a little strange for celebrating New Year and not that fast, but clearly my resolution is to be first back to Les Sables d'Olonne in 2017!”

Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline): “Alex is sailing a good race and could win it as he has a great team behind him. He and Armel are embroiled in a great duel and there are more duels right the way along the racetrack. The English are fearsome racers, as we can witness when we're sailing around the Isle of Wight. Back here, our group of five is pretty excitable, with Rich (Wilson) the gentleman of the fleet. He's a very elegant sailor and the sailing has been rather pleasant, whatever the nationality.”

Jean-Pierre Dick (St Michel-Virbac): “I saw the coast of Patagonia yesterday and Staten Island as I passed through the Le Maire Straight. It was fantastic!'

Conrad Colman (Foresight Natural Energy): “It certainly hasn't come easy getting this far and though I'm enjoying racing around the world, this time next year I'm looking forward to not racing around the world! Obviously, I have a big problem now in that I have a second sail out of commission. Essentially I'm going to struggle in medium upwind and heavy downwind conditions so it's a big blow for my Atlantic climb and translates as a lot more work. That said, I'm in good shape otherwise. I've had some big, big waves in the cockpit and it's hard to protect myself sometimes but I'm ahead of faster boats so it's all been about reliability and efficiency. She's particularly good at reaching and that's the conditions coming up so let's hope I can close on Nandor. I'm a competitor in everything I do so every manoeuvre and tactical option is thought through. It's funny to be here with Nandor as we were sailing on the same boat before and now we're just a few hundred miles apart. I'll try to catch up but I think we'll end up in different places. Essentially, I'm very happy to be here with Nandor as we've both had a bumpy road so far but we're still here.”

Alan Roura (La Fabrique): “This big swell that we often hear about, the interminable surfing and the fantastic sailing conditions: those who talk of the South in this manner haven't experienced it in the same way as our fleet. A fine swell yes… but completely distorted by the changing conditions day in day out, with the breakers catching up with each other. Interminable surf, yes, but it ends up smashing into the boat's bulkhead. Sitting in the pit of your stomach is the fear of breakage, of seeing this adventure come to an end in two seconds, the result of a cloud that had no place here, or a weather forecast that doesn't correspond with the reality on the water. I'm tired of the South. Of seeing my boat suffering and no longer knowing what to do to make her hurt less. You clench your teeth with every surf and hope that the pilot will manage to bring the boat back after powering up to double its speed.”