Vendée Globe Race Tuesday Update: New year…. same Vendée goals
by Vendée Globe media 31 Dec 2024 10:00 PST
31 December 2024
Jingkun Xu onboard Singchain Team Haikou during the Vendée Globe sailing race © Jingkun Xu #VG2024
In the light winds off the Brazilian coast whilst the rest of the world wait to welcome in the New Year and say goodbye to 2024, the leading duo would dearly like to welcome in a fresh new wind for their start of 2025 and rid themselves of the very complicated conditions caused as the Saint Helena high pressure expands whilst being bisected by the cold front at Cabo Frio.
Dalin ahead
And so 2025 will start the same was as 2024 ends, the two leaders only a handful of miles apart. Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) took the lead again during last night and has crept away from Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA) to be about 30 miles ahead this evening.
In third place Seb Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) has seen his gains reversed slightly as he too runs into the light winds, making speeds in single digit figures.
Ruyant comfortable
In fourth Thomas Ruyant is leading the climb upwind more than 1100 miles behind Simon.
"Last night was complicated, with lots of storms and wind and a rather difficult sea. It was a bit scary with lightning everywhere around the boat. I was on deck keeping an eye on things, and really not very reassured. The last 24-36 hours have been really great. I saw birds, dolphins... There was a lot of activity around the boat. It was impressive. I also came across fishermen, cargo ships... it was a lot of people after a long period of solitude! Being a little ahead of the group behind me and allows me to manage the boat with more serenity in these difficult conditions. No need to force the equipment, I can progress while preserving before the machine. I opened up a gap behind me, but in front, they got away. I'm a bit isolated, but I'm staying vigilant. With all these transitions, the situation can change at any moment." - Thomas Ruyant, VULNERABLE.
Crémer's Frankenstein computer hanging on
Next to Cape Horn, tomorrow, will be Clarisse Crémer (L'Occitaine en Provence), Benjamin Dutreux (Guyot Environnement-Water Family) and not far behind Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur). Crémer has had problems with her computers which got soaked. According to he former co-skipper Alan Roberts she has built something of a Frankenstein machine - taking the best bits of two computers - which is pretty rudimentary but which is letting her use Adrena routing software and other basic programmes.
Cape Horn
Dutreux is happy to be getting to the Horn, "This for me is an incredible opportunity to do the Vendée Globe, to sail in the Southern Ocean, to take the opportunity to surpass myself and get off the beaten track. For this new year, I hope everyone takes on their own challenges, including the maddest ones!"
Of his outlook at the Horn he says, "Foggy conditions are forecast but it would be a huge gift to be able to see the Horn especially since that wasn't the case four years ago. It could be a great memory!", explained the sailor from the Vendée "Our approach might be quite slow especially since we hit the light winds earlier than expected".
Meantime the youngest sailor in the race, 23 year old Violette Dorange (DEVENIR) is preparing to experience another unique moment on her race reaching Point Nemo at midnight. "It's pretty crazy", she confides. "I'm not too sad about missing the party on land, because what I'm experiencing here is incredible. I'm so happy! On January 1, 2024, I woke up and said to myself "this year, it's the Vendée Globe!", and here I am. I'm making the most of every moment!".
Conrad's magic jacket
Conditions in the south Pacific might be relatively benign, moderate winds allowing some quite easy miles but the bitter cold is every present. One skipper who is finding it chilly is Kiwi Conrad Colman (MS AMILIN) who, true to his pledge, is aiming to go round the world fossil fuel free. In 28th racing closely with Japan's Kojiro Shiraishi (DMG MORI One), Colman has no heating at all. A godsend, he says, is a new electrically heated jacket his is pioneering and developing with Gill and beyond that lots of tea and many, many calories. He says he is consuming up to 4000 in the cold weather. "I am getting into big bucket loads of peanut butter as much as I can."
"It's strange to be routing for Cape Horn and not see more than 30-35 knots on the weather files. The last time I was here, it was a completely different picture because I had to deal with a depression with 60 knots established and even stronger gusts. Now, it's almost like a holiday. We're gybing near the Antarctic Exclusion Zone and the atmosphere is polar. It's freezing, everything is damp, even without storms, I have a small bottle of champagne but I am torn: should I open it tonight or keep it to celebrate Cape Horn?" Conrad Colman, MS Amlin
Heer's Harry
Swiss skipper Ollie Heer is eating up the miles on Tut Gut in 30th and although the sailing is relatively easy he tries to switch off the realisation that the it is cold by a diet of Harry Potter audiobooks,
"I have my headphones in most of the time, if it is not music it is podcasts and audio books. Right now I am listening to Harry Potter as I have been for weeks, even though I know the stories inside out, I watched the movies as a kid, it is a great story line that you can just listen to and forget you are in very cold temperatures in the middle of nowhere."
Heere smiles, "My resolutions for 2025? To finish the Vendée Globe and to then just work on solidifying my sailing plans for the next few years, meaning rather than spending weeks on the boat visiting lots of board rooms and getting a solid program together for the next four years and I know if I can do this in the first half of 2025 then I know that 2025 will already be a great year.
"It is easy miles. In a way this - being out on my own - is quite stress free sailing because I have a big gap behind me and a gap in front, but that enables me to very much sail my own race. Knowing myself I would be more worried if I was in the pack that I would push too hard and make silly mistakes. Right now I do my own thing I look after myself and my boat, and just enjoy being down here on my own."
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