Vendee Globe Day 7 - Deck cracks on Bureau Vallée
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 16 Nov 2024 19:14 PST
17 November 2024
Louis Burton aboard the IMOCA Bureau Vallée - Vendée Globe 2024 © Benjamin Sellier
The casualty count in the Vendée Globe Race is potentially about to increase with the news that one of the expected front runners Louis Burton has just reported to race control that he had found deck cracks on his foiling IMOCA Bureau Vallée.
"This Saturday, November 16 at 2200hrs UTC when he was sailing in the leading group of the western option Louis Burton informed his shore team and the Vendée Globe race management that he had just heard a very worrying noise: a "big crack" on board the IMOCA Bureau Vallée", Vendée Globe Race Control said in a media statement.
"After taking all the necessary precautions and carrying out a series of checks, he realised there were cracks on the deck of the boat (at the level of the Gennaker spreader), which may risk affecting the structural integrity of the boat.
"Burton is continuing the investigations. The skipper of the IMOCA Bureau Vallée remains in the race."
Bureau Vallée was amongst a western group comprising Youann Richomme, Jeremie,Beyou, Thomas Ruyant and Nicolas Lunven. Their speeds had all picked up to well into double figures.
Hungarian sailor Szabolocs Weores (New Europe) has pulled into the Canary Islands to effect repairs to a 3metre square hole ripped in his mainsail, five days ago when he was knocked flat in 30-40kt winds. He has been sailing under reefed mainsail since. He also suffered some damage to two foresails in the incident.
Maxime Sorel (V and B) had earlier pulled out with an ankle injury.
East versus West
Meanwhile, the contest for the lead of the race would appear to be nearing an intriguing conclusion. The race front now extends back out to almost 800nm.
The western group have picked speed over the ground with some speeds well into double figures, however in the critical Velocity Made Good (in the direction of the finish by way of Cape of Good Hope and two others) the VMGs are well down, except when the boats turn their bows to the south. Then there is a good co-relation between boat speed and VMG.
When the foiling IMOCAs head west towards Brazil and a path through the Doldrums and into the trade winds, the VMGs are down to 4kts - or even negative VMG - a situation not dissimilar to the America's Cup, when the AC75s focussed on maintaining foiling speed in light winds regardless of whether they made progress towards the mark.
In the eastern group, Conrad Colman has moved even closer to the Horn of Africa, and in the 1000hrs UTC sked for Day 7, the Vendée Globe Race Control leader using the Distance to Finish (in France) measure, Jean le Cam has turned to the east as well.
Both competitors are sailing dagger board IMOCA60s and can sail at a better downwind angle, and their VMG is higher, than a foiler at the same deep angle. Both are heading south and are approximating VMG with the Speed over the Ground at 7kts for le Cam and 4.2kts for Colman. They both have to pass between two Exclusion Zones - one around the Cape Verde islands and the other extending from the latitude of La Guera on the Mauritanian coast to Sal Rei in the centre of the Cape Verde island group.
The two will hope they are successful in threading that particular needle, and can then wriggle their way across to the west and pick up waiting fresher breezes. Their hope is to avoid the worst of the Doldrums, if indeed they exist at this moment around the Cape Verde Islands and across to Brazil.
The two competitors seem to be close to exiting the influence of the western Sahara which was the downfall of the Franck Cammas (FRA) skippered Groupama in the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, where the Volvo 70 looked very good at the end of the first week , hugging the African coast. But Groupama dropped 500nm in a couple of days, as they ran out of breeze when attempting to exit the African coast and attempted to cross to the rest of the six boat fleet. The six boat VOR70 boat fleet was down to four boats and reducing later in the leg to three - so Groupamam finished the leg with a very countable third place but was welll back on the other two, who had made an earlier break to the west, and were now enjoying the rewards.
On that same leg the Doldrums proved to be less of a hurdle than in previous editions of the race, with Camper reporting they got through windless/squall ridden zone in just eight hours.
The current racers in the Vendée Globe Race will be hoping they will be so lucky.
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