Vendée Globe – Day 35 – Lost weekend

by Vendée Globe on 10 Dec 2016 For Alex Thomson and Armel Le Cléach'h the leaders of the Vendée Globe, Sunday morning should provide some time to regroup mentally, to snatch some rest, to thoroughly check their boats and to somehow prepare for the next battering.

Their passage of the International Date Line does in theory give them two Sundays in succession – a proper long weekend – but sadly there is no chance of their anticipated short break from a brutally tough sequence of storms being doubled. There will be little time before a second system tests Thomson and Le Cléac'h and their boats, and sets a fork in the road, a choice of options which may have a significant bearing on the time difference between the two at Cape Horn in around 11 days time.

The British skipper reported to his team today that he is fair shape, physically and mentally, but was very much looking forward to quieter weather.
“Alex is still crawling around the boat. It is impossible to move around at all. He is pretty tired as you would expect. But he seems to be OK.” Ross Daniel, the Alex Thomson Racing Technical Director confirmed this afternoon.
Le Cléac'h has strengthened his position to lead by 190 miles this Saturday afternoon and as Thomson passed to the north of Auckland Island today, the French skipper was on a course more than 100 miles south of his, already angling more south-east. Le Cléac'h will skirt the Antarctic Exclusion Zone, with the objective of getting under the centre of the new low pressure to break into the northerly breeze first. Thomson's route to the north means more miles in theory but while Le Cléac'h may well have some time with a tighter wind angle – possibly even upwind – Thomson is looking to get into the faster downwind conditions on the top side of the low. It is a question of timing. If it works out for Le Cléac'h it could add significantly to his margin. But other routings today suggest there could still just be hours between them in four days' time.

Romain Attanasio is delighted to be back on the racecourse after completing a repair in Simon's Town to the south-east of Cape Town. The French skipper of Famille Mary- Étamine du Lys) had a two-metre long delamination on his hull as well as having to replace one rudder with a spare and making an accomplished composite repair to the other snapped blade. After a diversion which has cost him five ‘crazy' days, Attanasio has set off in pursuit of Didac Costa who had to return to Les Sables d'Olonne one hour after the start because of a flood inside the boat. He took up the course again four days later and is now some 200 miles ahead of Attanasio, setting up the prospect of a nice duel between skippers with famous IMOCAs which have already seen their share of round the world races. Attanasio's boat is the 1998 Lombard design, former Whirlpool, which raced the last edition as Tanguy de Lamotte's Initiatives Coeur. Meantime Costa – who passed the Cape of Good Hope at 0537hrs this morning- has already raced one lap of the planet on the 2000 Owen Clarke Design, Ellen MacArthur's former Kingfisher. The fireman and co-skipper Aleix Gelabert were impressive in their sheer consistency in the last Barcelona World Race, and Costa is back making the same high, regular average speeds.

Attanasio is the only skipper of this race so far to make a successful repair, leaving the rarefied Vendée Globe bubble to interact with the outside world. As ever one battle was to make sure there was no inadvertent outside assistance. He was approached by many curious canoeists at the popular tourist spot which is close to the HQ of the South African Navy, and was even offered cans of Coke and stickers by one woman. His lasting impression, other than the frenetic efforts to make his repairs, was the sheer, sudden unadulterated silence after one month of banging and crashing and constant movement at sea.
“It was quite special to find myself at anchor right next to the coast in the middle of the Vendée Globe. The first day, people were circling the boat in canoes. They came to talk to me and one lady even wanted to give me some coke and stickers. I told her I couldn't take them as I might be disqualified. What struck me most when I arrived though was the silence. I'd been living in a noisy environment and suddenly… nothing! I began to talk very softly. It was a funny feeling.”

Extracts from today's radio sessions

Paul Meilhat (SMA):
“I'm not sure if this is what I expected of the Indian Ocean, but one thing for sure is that I've been flat out since the start. It's actually been quite nice today and the sun is just about to set so I'm really quite enjoying myself. After the low pressure system rolled through I ended up in a SW'ly wind and it's very cold, especially at night. My plan is to dive down towards the Furious Fifties and the ice exclusion zone certainly makes things safer. That said, it's also much more complicated strategically as we have to put in lots of gybes. Clearly it would be silly to go near the icebergs, but there are some outside the zone too. In the coming days we're likely to get stuck in some light patches. Having some boats on my tail is an added pressure, but it also pushes me to keep up the pace and concentrate more, so it really adds to the challenge and it's extra safety. The frontrunners with their foils clearly have a bonus and also they can go faster so they can stay ahead of a front, which again is an added security. This is my longest time at sea but it's not so much the duration that's tough, it's the conditions in the Southern Ocean with the string of depressions. The sea and the wind make it hard to relax. The sea and the movement of the boat is the most difficult element down here, but we have some calmer days ahead and for now I'm keeping pace so I'm happy.”

Romain Attanasio (Famille Mary – Etamine du Lys):
“If I'd known it was going to be like this I wouldn't have come (laughs)! It was so hard… From detaching the rudders and then dragging them up onto the deck… I repaired one of the rudders and switched the other, which was an operation and a half. Crucially, I suffered delamination on the bottom of the hull over a 2-metre strip at the back. Repairing that took a huge amount of time yesterday but I had some sheets of carbon that proved very useful. I had to wait till morning for it all to dry but it's cool that I've left port now. I hope the repairs are going to hold. I'm going to have to keep an especially close eye on the hull. I'm pretty confident as I've done everything I possibly could. When I think about the fact that I'm heading back out into the race, it's incredible! I'm so happy! “It was quite special to find myself at anchor right next to the coast in the middle of the Vendée Globe. The first day, people were circling the boat in canoes. They came to talk to me and one lady even wanted to give me some coke and stickers. I told her I couldn't take them as I might be disqualified. What struck me most when I arrived though was the silence. I'd been living in a noisy environment and suddenly… nothing! I began to talk very softly. It was a funny feeling.”

Rich Wilson (Great American IV):
“I've reached speeds that are new for me. The wind is strong and the boat is quick. I'm sleeping better though physically the boat is complicated. I'm very happy to be here. It's a great experience. I feel good and the boat is in good condition. Three days ago I had 40 knots of breeze and the boat was powering along at over 30 knots! It's not reasonable as the risk of breakage is higher at these speeds.”

Sebastien Destremau (TechnoFirst – faceOcean):
“Right now I'm a bit annoyed. We're in the Roaring Forties and there's 4 knots of breeze and I'm not even going to mention the chop! There's not a breath of air. The sails are flogging. I was forced to furl in the J2 because it was getting damaged. We're at a complete standstill, making 1.6 knots in the wrong direction due to the current. I'll tell you what I think has happened… Someone, whilst I had my back turned, went and got the doldrums and dragged it down here off the Cape of Good Hope! There's not a single breath of air!”

Conrad Colman (Foresight Natural Energy):
“Sadly things were a bit tense earlier on today as the lazy jack bag broke this time. I've had lots of issues since the start but you have to earn your place in this race. The boat requires a lot of attention but I'm used to working all the time with little sleep as that's what I did when I was preparing the boat. The Southern Ocean is just how I expected it to be!”

Enda O'Coineen (Kilcullen Voyager – Team Ireland):
“I have a problem with my lazy backstays as they've broken. The number 2 reef was not in place so it broke when I gybed and all got wrapped up. Right now, I have 18 knots of breeze and 12 knots of boat speed and the mind entertains itself! Things are looking good and it's warmed up a little. It's amazing sailing everything under the rainbow and there's an incredible camaraderie between the sailors. I became president of our little group at the same time as Trump was elected and it's changed name from the Southern Atlantic Residents Association and merged into the Southern Ocean Residents Association. There's no structural issues with the boat and I'm carefully minding her and doing constant maintenance so it's a case of so far so good. I feel very fortunate when I see what's going on around me with my fellow sailors and though you get used to it, it does change your behavior a bit. We're living on the edge 24/7 and as the saying goes, if you're not living on the edge you're taking up too much space. We're in good shape and I'm proud of my boat!”