Please select your home edition
Edition
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - LEADERBOARD

Vendée Globe Day 18 morning update: South Atlantic Dilemmas

by Vendée Globe 25 Nov 2020 20:00 AEDT 24 November 2020

The Saint Helena high pressure system that dominates the South Atlantic is cut by a cold front which is now splitting the top half of the Vendée Globe fleet.

More and more solo skippers are deciding to opt for the southerly route, first working through the front, then making slow, soggy miles in light, variable winds near the centre of the high. They are searching for the eastbound fast lane - 'the real wind' - as Briton Sam Davies calls it this morning.

Other than for runaway leaders Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant, fighting south eastwards - on the rhumb line (direct shortest) course - appears to be heading to a much less certain future. Dalin is now over 80 nautical miles ahead of Ruyant.

Britain's Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur) and Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée), Alex Thomson (HUGO BOSS) and now the group of three, 11th to 13t,h Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian Group), Damien Seguin (Groupe Apicil) and Benjamin Dutreux (OMIA-Water Family) have all elected to go south. Davies and Burton were first to make this move 36 hours ago and this morning are just two miles apart.

"I think I chose the right moment to go south and get through the front which is cutting the South Atlantic in half. I have managed to use some really good wind in the rain squalls in the front to come south and at times yesterday I was the fastest boat in the fleet yesterday afternoon and I was even foiling at 20kts some of the time, and so that is great as I have managed to catch up with Louis Burton a bit. Right now he is just two miles to leeward of me. We are sailing beside each other and I can see his little red light to leeward. It is nice to have another boat to be able to speed test against in the South Atlantic. It is great to be in this group, it is really exciting because there are lots of options and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the next 24 hours. I am convinced this is the only option that I had was to dive south and get around this second high and try and find the real wind." the British skipper of Initiatives Coeur reported on this morning's 0400hrs TU radio call.

They have Alex Thomson some 50 miles to their NE, the HUGO BOSS skipper now eighth.

As third placed Jean Le Cam carries on SE, always looking to the shortest miles and most direct route as he has since the start Kevin Escoffier (PRB) is on the horns of his dilemma. Typically for this area of the South Atlantic the different weather modelling applications don't agree. The skipper from Saint Malo points out, " It will go soggy today if I head south. But I could still go east... I have a (weather) file that tells me to go 100 degrees, due east, and the other which tells me to go due south. It's not easy. Maybe I have to ask Jean for advice, he seems to know. In this case I think you have to favor speed, which I did all night, with four sail changes. I'm trying to just keep the boat going fast forwards."

Rankings at 08H00 UTC:

PosSail NoSkipper / Yacht NameDTF (nm)DTL (nm)
1 FRA 79Charlie Dalin / APIVIA19006.10
2 FRA 59Thomas Ruyant / LinkedOut19077.971.8
3 FRA 01Jean Le Cam / Yes we Cam !19369.6363.5
4 FRA 85Kevin Escoffier / PRB19448.2442.1
5 FRA 17Yannick Bestaven / Maître Coq IV19455.4449.3
6 MON 10Boris Herrmann / Seaexplorer ‑ Yacht Club De Monaco19456.2450.1
7 FRA 4Sébastien Simon / ARKEA PAPREC19568.4562.3
8 GBR 99Alex Thomson / HUGO BOSS19634.8628.7
9 FRA 109Samantha Davies / Initiatives ‑ Coeur19676.3670.2
10 FRA 18Louis Burton / Bureau Vallée 219679672.9
11 FRA 09Benjamin Dutreux / OMIA ‑ Water Family19758751.9
12 FRA 1000Damien Seguin / Groupe APICIL19789.5783.4
13 ITA 34Giancarlo Pedote / Prysmian Group19827.1821
14 FRA 53Maxime Sorel / V And B Mayenne19857.7851.6
15 FRA 27Isabelle Joschke / MACSF19899.9893.8
16 FRA 30Clarisse Cremer / Banque Populaire X20006999.9
17 FRA 49Romain Attanasio / Pure ‑ Best Western Hotels and Resorts200171010.9
18 SUI 7Alan Roura / La Fabrique20076.21070.1
19 FRA 92Stéphane Le Diraison / Time For Oceans202311224.9
20 FRA 14Arnaud Boissieres / La Mie Câline ‑ Artisans Artipôle20874.31868.2
21 ESP 33Didac Costa / One Planet One Ocean20892.41886.3
22 GBR 777Pip Hare / Medallia20896.41890.3
23 FRA 71Manuel Cousin / Groupe Sétin20900.51894.4
24FR FRA 02Armel Tripon / L'Occitane en Provence21025.92019.8
25 FRA 72Alexia Barrier / TSE ‑ 4myplanet21389.32383.2
26 FRA 50Miranda Merron / Campagne de France21400.92394.8
27 FRA 56Fabrice Amedeo / Newrest ‑ Art et Fenetres21413.82407.7
28 FRA 83Clément Giraud / Compagnie du lit ‑ Jiliti21417.32411.2
29 FIN 222Ari Huusela / Stark21453.62447.5
30FR FRA 69Sébastien Destremau / Merci21489.52483.4
31 JPN 11Kojiro Shiraishi / DMG MORI Global One21655.32649.2
32 FRA 8Jérémie Beyou / Charal22073.53067.4
RET FRA 6Nicolas Troussel / CORUM L'Épargne  

Find out more...

Related Articles

Oliver Heer confirms 2028 Vendée Globe ambition
The Swiss skipper aims to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race with a newer boat After completing the Vendée Globe 2024 on his first attempt, Oliver Heer, the Swiss-German skipper of Tut gut Sailing, has confirmed his intention to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race. Posted on 3 Jul
An emotional evening in Les Sables d'Olonne
Les Sables d'Olonne lit up to celebrate the heroes of the Vendée Globe 2024-2025 On Saturday 10 May, Les Sables d'Olonne lit up to celebrate the heroes of the Vendée Globe 2024-2025. An exceptional evening brought together tens of thousands of people, with strong emotions and unforgettable memories, despite the driving rain. Posted on 11 May
An evening honouring the Vendée Globe heroes
On Saturday, May 10, Les Sables d'Olonne will once again come alive to celebrate On Saturday, May 10, Les Sables d'Olonne will once again come alive to celebrate the epic journey of the Vendée Globe and pay tribute to the skippers of the 2024 edition, during a spectacular evening filled with emotion and festivity. Posted on 5 May
Vendée Globe: A record-breaking 10th edition
An unprecedented level of competition The 10th edition of the Vendée Globe ends on an exceptional note, from a sporting, popular and media point of view. The level of competition has never been so high. Posted on 26 Mar
Vendée Globe - It's a wrap
Belgian skipper Denis Van Weynbergh is back in Les Sables d'Olonne Belgian skipper Denis Van Weynbergh completes solo non stop round the world passage but finishes outside the 2024 Vendée Globe ranking. Posted on 8 Mar
Vendée Globe 2024 Documentary
An extraordinary event recaptured over 52 minutes There were 40 solo skippers who set off on November 10 in front of a cheering crowd, for a race that will go down in history. Posted on 8 Mar
Fabrice Amedeo finishes 32nd in the Vendée Globe
Only Belgian skipper Denis Van Weynbergh (D'Ieteren Group) is now left racing Former political journalist turned ocean racer Fabrice Amedeo completed his second Vendée Globe today (Tuesday) when he crossed the Les Sables d'Olonne finish line at 14h UTC to take in 32nd place. Posted on 4 Mar
Manuel Cousin finishes 31th in the Vendée Globe
The 57 year old ocean racer completes his second successful Vendée Globe After 111 days and 38 minutes racing since leaving Les Sables d'Olonne on 10th November French skipper Manuel Cousin crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe today at 1240hrs UTC. Posted on 1 Mar
Armel Le Cléac'h: “An epic race with a great win”
Le Cléac'h is a true Vendée Globe legend Armel Le Cléac'h won the 2016 Vendée Globe and held the Vendée Globe record for eight years. That was until Charlie Dalin came along and finally smashed it out the park this time. Posted on 28 Feb
Complex final miles for the three musketeers
Cousin, Amedeo and Van Weynbergh are into their last days racing in the Vendée Globe The last three skippers competing in the Vendée Globe are into their last days racing. Manuel Cousin (Coup de Pouce, 31st) is expected to finish on Friday. Posted on 25 Feb
Switch One DesignHenri-Lloyd Dynamic RangeVetus-Maxwell 2021 v2 FOOTER