 |
 |
  Celebrating Vendee Globe - Sailing news from North America & beyond
 | | Armel Le Cleac'h (FRA), skipper Banque Populaire VIII, winner of the sailing circumnavigation solo race Vendee Globe Vincent Curutchet / DPPI / Vendée Globe © |
When it comes to solo offshore sailing, the non-stop around-the-world Vendee Globe is in a class by itself and is considered to be a similar level of achievement to winning a Volvo Ocean Race or an Olympic medal by some sailors. Hyperboles aside, there's no question that this contest pushes both man and machine to the absolute breaking point, as exemplified by the fact that 29 boats started racing off of Les Sables d'Olonne, France, on November 6, 2016, and-as of this writing-11 boats had retired from racing due to mechanical or structural issues.
While the rate of attrition can be a sobering metric, especially when the costs of these campaigns are considered, a much happier metric is this one: three days, 22 hours and 41 minutes. This is the amount of time that winning skipper Armel Le Cleac'h (FRA; 39), sailing aboard Banque Populaire VIII, shaved off of the winning time posted by skipper Francois Gabart (FRA), sailing aboard Macif, in the 2012/2013 edition of this storied race.
 | | - Banque Populaire VIII - Armel Le Cleac'h - Vendee Globe 2016/17 © Team Banque Populaire |
In total, Le Cleac'h sailed 27,455 nautical miles in 74 days, three hours and 35 minutes. That's an average pace of 15.43 knots, all the way around this lovely and lonely planet.
Alex Thomson (GBR; 42), sailing aboard Hugo Boss, pressed hard to the end, but ultimately finished 15 hours, 59 minutes and 29 seconds astern of Le Cleac'h. For Thomson, this represents his strongest finish to date in an event that he has dedicated his life to winning for the past twelve-plus years, as well as the second-fastest circumnavigation time to date for an IMOCA 60 monohull. Here, however, it must be noted that Thomson was in the pole position prior to a collision with an unidentified floating object that snapped a significant section off of his starboard “Dali foil” and significantly reduced Hugo Boss' speed potential for large chunks of the racetrack.
 | The Vendee Globe 2016 - 2017
British yachtsman Alex Thomson onboard his ‘Hugo Boss” IMOCA Open60. He finished 2nd in the Vendee Globe solo non stop around the world yacht race. Shown here in the Sables d Olonne port celebrating. He completed the solo non stop around the world race in 74days. 19hours and 35 minutes
Photo by Lloyd Images © Lloyd Images |
At the time of this writing, skipper Jeremie Beyou, sailing aboard Maitre COQ, was 61.7 nautical miles from the finishing line and was sailing at nine knots, meaning that Mr. Beyou should be enjoying a good meal and perhaps a nice glass of red wine ashore before long.
American Rich Wilson, the sole full-blooded Yankee in this heavily Francophile affair, is sailing aboard Great American IV and is currently sitting in 14th place out of a field of 18 boats that have either finished racing or who are still hauling the mail towards France. At the time of this writing, Wilson, who is 66 years old and suffers from extreme asthma, was southeast of Buenos Aires and sailing at 7.6 knots, with 5,619 nautical miles to go.
 | | Great American IV Skipper Rich Wilson US at start of the Vendee Globe in Les Sables D Olonne France on November 6th 2016 © Jean-Marie Liot |
Speaking of around-the-world record times, skipper Francis Joyon and his IDEC Sport crew are rapidly burning off the remaining miles that separate the bows of their 31.5 meter trimaran from the Brittany, France finishing line of their Jules Verne Record attempt for the fastest non-stop, fully crewed circumnavigation time. As of this writing, the IDEC Sport team has 1,909.1 nautical miles remaining, which they were dispatching at a clip of 27.9 knots.
If their breeze holds, the team should arrive in France on Thursday to claim a new Jules Verne Trophy record. Get the full scoop on this proud attempt, inside this issue.
 | | IDEC Sport heads due north – Jules Verne Trophy © IDEC Sport |
Meanwhile, in America's Cup news, the four teams that are currently based in Bermuda-the defender, Oracle Team USA and challengers Artemis Racing, Land Rover BAR, and Softbank Team Japan-are participating in a two-week practice-racing session on the waters of Bermuda's Great Sound. This racing will be run and administered by the America's Cup Race Management team, who will be running Cup racing later this spring, giving participating teams a look into their racecourse futures. Racing will take place aboard the fully foiling AC45S boats.
“This is the third time we've done this,” said regatta director Iain Murray. “We're getting a handle on the performance of these boats, the speed and angles, which helps us set up the race course.”
 | | Oracle Team USA and Softbank Team Japan - America's Cup Practice racing in AC45-S -, January 2017 Americas Cup Media |
Unlike a lot of the America's Cup World Series racing, which has been unfurling for the past several years, this racing will follow a match-racing format, which will give the teams some valuable practice in this specialized style of sailing. “We're seeing some different styles from the other teams out there and for all of us, there's so much to learn as the World Series was pretty much all fleet racing,” said Jimmy Spithill, skipper of Oracle Team USA.
Get the full America's Cup download, inside this issue.
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor
A QandA with Dick Neville, Quantum Key West Race Week's RC chairman
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor, 
For the past 30 years, international sailors have gathered in Key West, Florida, each January for Key West Race Week, a regatta that has achieved legendary status due to its calendar dates, its location, and the impressive level of competition and racecourse management that this storied event offers. I caught up with Dick Neville, Race Committee chair for this year's Quantum KWRW, to learn more.... [more]
|
|