Please select your home edition
Edition
Palm Beach Motor Yachts

Vendée Globe Race Friday Update: Cape Horn Cavalcade

by Vendée Globe media 27 Dec 2024 10:40 PST 27 December 2024
Thomas Ruyant on Vulnerable - Vendée Globe 2024 © Thomas Ruyant

With just 238 miles between fifth placed Jérémie Beyou (Charal) and 11th positioned Yannick Bestaven (Maître CoQ V) a veritable cavalcade of Vendée Globe skippers will pass Cape Horn tomorrow.

At forecast speeds they should pass with 12 or 13 hours from early Saturday morning in a more compact grouping in the end than the last edition when nine skippers passed within 25 hours, all on or around Day 57.

Approaching his seventh rounding of the Horn, Germany's Boris Herrmann has the highest number of passages to his credit of this gorup, set to cross in eighth, whilst it will be the first time solo for sixth placed Nico Lunven (HOLCIM PRB), eighth placed Paul Meilhat (Biotherm), ninth placed Brit Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) and Switzerland's 10th placed Justine Mettraux (TeamWork Team Snef). They should cross quite far off the rock given the brisk conditions they will be experiencing and certainly the first will still be in the dark.

Cape Frio conundrum

After crossing a light winds zone leaders Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA) and Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prevoyance) are back up to speeds of over 20 knots. Their priority today has been to go around a small depression to their north while carefully avoiding the calm zone in its centre. Crossing the semi permanent cold front at Cabo Frio will be the topic of one of their key decisions upcoming which could well influence who gets to the tradewinds first even if they are not that well established.

In the meantime the winds will be quite strong off the South American coast,

"We will have to decide this evening which route to take and it is not easy. There are large areas of light winds and they move around a lot. From one weather file to another, it varies considerably," analysed Dalin, meanwhile they are on what he called "rodeo on an Argentinian bull." But other than being over 600 miles ahead of third placed Seb Simon and only a dozen or so miles behind Richomme, the top pair are happy as the temperatures are finally rising, Dalin expecting to get out of his thermals soon and into his t-shirt. Both are now clear of the Antarctic Exclusion Zone, which he compares to a noisy neighbor that he is happy to final part company with. Dalin conforms a fast climb up South America Recife - on the NE corner of Brazil - in just one week, with the added bonus of a possible finish now talked of being into Les Sables d'Olonne around January 14 or 15.

Heer and Cornic in storm mode

Between Tasmania and New Zealand, Switzeland's Oliver Heer (Tut Gut) and Antoine Cornic (Human Immobilier) have about 12-18 hours in tough conditions in a big low. "I'm already seeing 44kts gustng to 47 with 6.5 metre seas and it is only going to get worse." Noted Heer.

And further east Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur) is staying north to avoid a system which Benjamin Dutreux (Guyot Environnement) and Clarisse Crémer (L'Occitaine en Provence) are going through. Crémer has suffered a water leak which has affected all her computers leaving her working on a back up iPad.

But other than for these systems the Pacific is very much true to its name

"The current situation in the Pacific is rather exceptional at this time of year. It's quite rare not to see major depressions pass by. This Friday, a large number of competitors are sailing in beautiful anticyclonic conditions", explains Christian Dumard, weather consultant for the event.

Find out more...

Related Articles

Touching base with Francesca Clapcich
Francesca Clapcich on her 2028-2029 Vendee Globe campaign In late March, Italian-American sailor Francesca “Frankie” Clapcich announced that her Team Francesca Clapcich Powered by 11th Hour Racing will campaign for the 2028-2029 edition of the Vendee Globe race. Posted on 13 May
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
Henri-Lloyd Dynamic RangePredictWind - Routing 728x90 BOTTOMSelden 2020 - FOOTER