Vendée Globe - Thomson readies for final assault

by Vendee Globe on 14 Jan 2017 British sailor Alex Thomson has revealed he has been banking all the sleep he possibly can as he prepares to enter the final battle for Vendée Globe glory.Thomson had this morning reduced the gap to frontrunner Armel Le Cléac'h of France to 123 nautical miles as the leading pair reach the latitude of the Canary Islands.

Now within 1,700nm of the finish line in Les Sables d'Olonne in western France, Thomson said he was prepared to push man and boat to the limit in a last-ditch attempt to overhaul Le Cléac'h. Talking to his team last night Thomson said he had been resting as much as possible in preparation for several days of fickle breeze before better winds fill in from the south-east to take the pair almost all the way to Les Sables.

“I feel physically exhausted – I've been trying to sleep as much as possible over the last few days to be ready for the light wind, but because of the sheer length of the race it does exhaust you,” said Thomson, who has been practically neck and neck with two-time Vendee Globe runner-up Le Cléac'h ever since the solo round the world race began in Les Sables on November 6.

“My body is getting close to what it can take before needing a serious amount of rest. I don't feel as fit as I did before the race, at times I feel a bit weak. I remain positive though, I'm competing in this race for the fourth time which has been my dream all my life. My first goal was, number one, to finish, second to finish on the podium and third to win the race. To be less than 2,000 miles from the finish and still be I contention to reach all my goals is great.”

Both skippers were matched on speed at the 0400 UTC rankings, each making nine knots, with Thomson's Hugo Boss positioned around 100nm south-west of Le Cléac'h's Banque Populaire VIII.

Jérémie Beyou in third remains 600nm adrift of the leaders, posing them little threat, but his podium spot is seemingly secure for now with Jean-Pierre Dick in fourth more than 500 miles behind him. Meanwhile Yann Elies and Jean Le Cam were picking a path through the Doldrums, their headings of around 300 degrees proof of the challenge its unpredictable winds poses.

Seventh-placed Louis Burton has been able to tack north above the St Helena High, the French skipper of Bureau Vallee finally enjoying steady tradewind sailing.

“I almost went right into the centre of the St Helena High to hunt down the wind shift and that was badly thought out: it's certainly still a bit light but things began to pick up a bit in the middle of the night. Right now, it's not bad at all with a nice moon and tradewinds that are beginning to establish themselves at 14 to15 knots: as Jean-Pierre Dick says, it's ‘easy sailing’! The Doldrums should be in my line of sight in around three or four days.”

Eighth-placed Nandor Fa looks to have made his escape from a violent South Atlantic depression that hit the Hungarian with winds of up to 50 knots but it now blocks the path north for Eric Bellion and Conrad Colman, some 750nm behind.

The foursome approaching Cape Horn remain split west to east by 200nm, although Fabrice Amedeo has overtaken Arnaud Boissières to move into 11th place after Boissières gambled on a dive to the south which didn't pay off. 100nm back Alan Roura has managed to put some distance between him and Rich Wilson. The 23-year-old Swiss sailor this morning revealed he was heading slightly north to avoid the worst of the weather on the approach to the Horn, which is still some 700 miles away.

“I’m keen to make the most of my last few miles in the Pacific whilst sparing my boat and her sails,” he said. “As a result, I’m going to hunt down a lighter band of breeze so I can zigzag my way along that until I hit the last of the rough weather just as I round the Horn. I’m trying to rest but I’m really listening out for the boat. I really don’t want anything to break and given the sea and wind state, these are good conditions for folding a mast in two!”

Didac Costa and Romain Attanasio were today being hit by an icy Antarctic blast, the bitter southerly winds due to remain with them for some days yet.

Pieter Heerema, in 17th on the latest-generation IMOCA No Way Back, was this morning the quickest boat in the fleet, making 16 knots as he heads east through the Southern Ocean around 2,500nm from Cape Horn. The Dutch sailor has managed to stem the bleed of miles to 18th placed Sebastien Destremau, who is some 900nm behind.

Quotes

Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée):

“The Doldrums should be in my line of sight in around three or four days… It should go okay, especially as the trades will shift round to the NE after that, which translates as close-hauled sailing essentially, but I’ll seek to ease my sheets a little by aiming for the grand banks of Newfoundland to begin with so as to be quicker to hit the southerly winds of a low that will likely give me fairly strong winds to carry me as far as Les Sables d’Olonne.

That would be perfect! I need to pay attention today as I’m crossing the path of a race between Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro: there are a fair few boats on the water so I’ll need to be vigilant. It’s pretty quiet this spell in the trades, with fluid sailing on smooth seas with fine weather and nice moon. It’s quite a contrast to the Deep South.”

Conrad Colman (Foresight Natural Energy):

“Northwards! After rounding Isla de los Estados, the South American Sicily off the tip of the peninsula, I finally turned left for real and headed due north under my Code 0 foresail. A beautiful day that had me searching for my sunglasses after weeks of grey. I really enjoyed sailing quietly on a perfectly flat sea in the lee of the islands, a welcome change after the constant surfing and banging and crashing. The tranquillity didn't last long however as dark clouds rolled in and wind again whipped the once calm seas.

Despite appearances I was still more than 50 degrees south and was reminded not to forget it. I spent the night running with the small jib and one reef in the main and keenly felt the loss of my other small sails while my closest rival padded his lead with great speeds and is now well ahead. I could however appreciate the beautiful full moon when the dark clouds cleared away and enjoyed chasing the silver crests as it illuminated a bright road ahead.

I'm now skirting the Falklands on my left and a big depression on my right and am working to shave off just enough wind to make good progress without putting my small spinnaker in danger. Meanwhile, as my olive oil remains a thick paste and my fingers are still a little blue around the edges I'm happy to make miles north and look forward to a change in the weather!”

Rich Wilson (Great American IV):

“What an eventful 24 hours. We were in the bulls-eye of the strong winds for the depression. Solent to staysail to storm jib, and 1 reef to 2 reefs to 3 reefs in the mainsail. A big sea built, and it was, as usual, cold and grey. We had 35 knots of wind, and although the polars call for more sail than I had, I still felt it was correct for me. Finally, I thought it would be best if we tried to escape to the south, and so tack-gybed, which we accomplished in the big seas gratifyingly. We headed southeast and in 12 hours we would have less wind and maybe less sea. At one point, an alarm went off on the instruments – ‘no speed source’, and all the data went blank.

The pilot was still steering, but I noticed that our course relative to the wind was off by about 30 degrees, which I corrected on the pilot controller. Luckily, if the pilot is steering according to a wind angle, and then loses that information, it defaults to compass. But now the controller was frozen. It was still steering, but no buttons worked. BG and they think that the problem was one of timing, that some piece of the complex puzzle didn’t get a piece of information in time, and that it should be ok if tried again. Fingers crossed that we don’t have to switch again. We gybed near the Antarctic Exclusion Zone and are now heading East, trying to stay close to the centre of the low, to get less wind as this depression continues to affect the group. We are within 800 nm of Cape Horn, but that still seems very far away.”

Alan Roura (La Fabrique):

“Around 700 miles till the Horn. They’re likely to be the longest of my life! Amidst the impatience and the absolutely horrible weather conditions, I’m not there yet… The routing is giving me around two or even three big days, but I’m not going to follow it. Ultimately, I’ve made the decision to head North, even though I’m on a fairly S’ly course at the moment to get clear of the strong wind. 40 knots, very heavy seas, boat laid over on its side... It’s all good and I’m keen to make the most of my last few miles in the Pacific whilst sparing my boat and her sails.

As a result, I’m going to hunt down a lighter band of breeze so I can zigzag my way along that until I hit the last of the rough weather, just as I round the Horn! I think the whole of the fleet has had enough of it as we’ve all had our share of the rough weather in the deep South… I spent a few hours on the tack where my repairs are under pressure and for now I have nothing to report. I’ve been surfing along at 24 knots in 40 knots of breeze and it’s holding so far. I’m trying to rest but I’m really listening out for the boat.

I really don’t want anything to break and given the sea and wind state, these are good conditions for folding a mast in two! I’m sailing under three reefs and J3 and will likely spend the night like that. I have no choice in any case as the lazy jack is still broken and the short line has wrapped itself around the block at the head of the mainsail so I’m stuck at three reefs as I wait for a good time to scale the mast for the umpteenth time.”

Yann Elies (Quéginer – Leucémie Espoir):

“Here I am back in the northern hemisphere but from a weather standpoint I’m still in the southern hemisphere as I have an established SE’ly. In fact, I’m in the Doldrums and I came to a proper standstill overnight. I was making just two or three knots with the current. A few hours ago things powered up again with the wind on the beam. I’m expecting some more substantial squalls at sunset as that’s often where they form, but I hope to escape the Doldrums tonight. I’ve been inside the system since last night but conditions aren’t violent.

That said, I have to be on my guard as in a squall there can be 15, 30 or 40 knots. In this inter-tropical convergence zone, the fear is clearly that you end up in a mess with your sails batting about all over the place, because essentially we’re going from a ‘tradewind’ mode, where things are nicely ordered with time to have the little details sorted, to a ‘squall’ mode that puts an end to all that. From that point, it’s no longer about speed at any cost, rather it’s about being quick to respond. It’s the silly things like lowering the second rudder, restacking the sails… but you have to be on top of things, inside and out. Soon I’ll be shifting things up forward as I’ll be close-hauled again shortly. Obviously, what I’m really looking forward to is the point where the wind shifts round to the NE for real.”

Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest Matmut):

“I haven’t sailed too badly as I haven’t been caught up by the centre of the low pressure system. I spent the night sailing downwind in strong wind. I felt like I was in good shape to go and play with some steady conditions. Right now I have 30 to 32 knots, heavy seas and gusts. I’ve just gybed to hunt down some SE’ly and some less powerful breeze. We’ll be tacking as far as Cape Horn and after that things will be quick for the first few days. It’s not shaping up badly. Before that though, there will be two pretty tough days where I’ll need to be attentive. There will be some air around, but there’s also a way of having slightly less breeze by cutting some tight trajectories. I’ve swotted up on my “Bernot*” so it should go alright!”

*Courses from the famous French meteorologist Jean-Yves Bernot, with whom Fabrice and a number of the other sailors worked in the run-up to the Vendée Globe.