Vendée Globe 10th January Update - A problematic day for many skippers
by Vendée Globe media 10 Jan 09:17 PST
10 January 2025
After two months at sea it's little surprise that more breakages are emerging in the fleet, and double Vendée Globe winner Michel Desjoyeaux's famous precept - "one problem a day in the Vendée Globe" - has certainly rung true today.
Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA, 2nd) lost his J0 headsail which could prove crucial for closing stages of the race. Boris Herrmann lost his J2, another essential sail, the loss of which could compromise his place in the top 10. For the others, the group led by Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE, 4th) is finally benefiting from easier conditions, while the strong depression in the South Atlantic is now history.
Richomme slows down, Dalin advances
At 0630UTC this morning Yoann Richomme told the race management that his J0 headsail halyard lock (hook) had broken and that the sail had fallen into the water. The skipper had to work to bring the sail back on board before realising that it was torn and unusable. This damage comes at a bad time, less than five days before the finish, especially when he will have to navigate along the Breton coast to the finish in light airs. Charlie Dalin (Macif Santé Prévoyance, 1st) is still expected at the finish on Tuesday, with Yoann between two and twelve hours later.
Relief at last for the chasing group
For Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil, 3rd), the high pressure ridge is rising and could slightly block his path. However, his third place continues to look solid, with his arrival in Les Sables d'Olonne estimated between Thursday 16 and Friday 17 January.
The chasing group around 2,500 miles further south has been enduring one of the most intense matches of this Vendée Globe for the past few weeks and the seven boats are still only 200 miles apart on the leaderboard. They are now finally starting to escape the clutches of the semi-permanent cold front off Cabo Frio, a chaotic zone of squalls, storms and very unstable winds. Those who routed to the west gained a slight advantage, including Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE, 4th), who's sailing the leading older generation boat, and Jérémie Beyou (Charal, 5th).
Paul Meilhat (Biotherm, 6th) also gained, while Nicolas Lunven (Holcim-PRB, 9th) dropped back having taken a more easterly route. Jérémie Beyou (Charal, 5th) does not hide his pleasure, but first has a word for Nicolas Lunven:
"It really hasn't paid for Nicolas, it was a really interesting option but I know he has the resources to come back. In any case, I'm happy to finally be out of this zone. It was terrible and very intense to catch the trade winds of the South Atlantic. I broke my starboard foil cylinder rod, which explained my speed deficit on port tack. It took me the day to repair, it was hell. Before, it was impossible to sleep, now I was able to rest a little, it feels good."
Another breakdown for Boris Herrman
A broken halyard lock (hook) for his J2 headsail means Boris Herrmann (Malizia - Seaexplorer, 7th) making it impossible to use this sail for the moment. That's a serious set back, as Boris points out: "more than 70% of the remaining route is normally done with this sail." In IMOCA, the J2 forestay is structural and remains constantly in place. The German skipper had a different set up to the other boats, allowing him to lower the sail if necessary. He is currently working with his shore team to find a technical solution and hopes to continue to be able to fight to stay in the top 10 until the finish.
Another 500 miles further south, Clarisse Crémer (L'Occitane en Provence, 11th), Samantha Davies(Initiatives-Cœur, 13th) and Benjamin Dutreux (Guyot Environnement - Water Family, 12th) are next to face the Cabo Frio cold front, with very unstable winds and thunder storms. Although the two sailors have gained a slight advantage over Benjamin, who is further west, everything is still to play for:
"I can't wait to be in the trade winds. The cold front is very hard to get through, we stumble upon it and don't feel very efficient. Physically, I'm much better even if I continue to take medication (for back pain). But I'm tired, I've barely slept for two days. I sleep a bit like in the Solitaire du Figaro."
Nevertheless, she's very upbeat and says this edition of the race is very different to her first Vendée Globe in 2020-21. "Of course, the boat is different, I have had more competitors around me for the whole race and my mindset is very different. It was hard to give goals and to say exactly what my objectives were for this Vendée Globe.
"People asked me about the ranking I wanted, but what I had in mind was really about the way I was going to go through the race and the way I was going to push. That's why I'm super happy now - it's because I managed to achieve those goals, to be way more calm and to enjoy. It feels like I've grown up a lot between the two races and that's really what I was looking forward to. I'm super happy about that."
Compression in the next group
Pushed by the strong winds of a depression, Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian, 18th), Yannick Bestaven (Maitre CoQ V, retired but still sailing solo to Les Sables d'Olonne), Isabelle Joschke (MACSF, 19th) and Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur - DUO for a JOB, 20th) continue to gain miles on the quartet ahead of them.
Damien Seguin (Groupe APICIL, 14th), Jean Le Cam (Tout Commence en Finistère - Armur Lux, 15th), Romain Attanasio (Fortinet - Best Western, 16th) and Alan Roura (Hublot, 17th) are currently less than 500 miles behind. "They are stuck in the high pressure ridge," explains Vendée Globe weather consultant Basile Rochut. "They will catch wind again on Saturday evening, but will be blocked again by the semi-permanent cold front from Sunday."
A shuffling of the rankings is therefore under way, but it's difficult to know how many sailors will be part of it. Indeed, an anticyclone is shifting towards the east and could block the others. Will Conrad Colman (MS Amlin, 22nd) and Sébastien Marsset (FOUSSIER, 23rd) manage to sneak in? Sébastien is circumspect:
"We're going to have to speed up, we always have to speed up! I don't know if I'm going to make it. Basically, either you manage to stay in the east of the high pressure area and you're downwind, or it passes over you, you have a zone of light wind and you have to sail close-hauled... It's very uncertain because we also have all our little problems on board."
The depression and the ice are over
On the other hand, Sébastien assures us that the passage of the depression yesterday, which worried him a lot, went well. The race management was not informed of any damage or breakdown during the crossing of this strong gale which also concerned Louis Duc (Fives group - Lantana Environnement, 23rd), Guirec Soudée (Freelance.com, 25th) and Kojiro Shiraishi (DMG Mori Global One, 26th).
Éric Bellion (STAND AS ONE - Altavia, 27th), Violette Dorange (DeVenir, 28th) and Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline, 29th), were behind the worst of the storm. Nevertheless, the wind will gradually strengthen for them, with gusts of 50 knots as they advance close hauled. Meanwhile back in the Pacific, Oliver Heer (Tut Gut., 30th), Antoine Cornic (HUMAN Immobilier, 31st) and Jingkun Xu (Singchain Team Haikou, 32nd) have left the ice warning zone and can continue their towards Cape Horn with one less thing to worry about.
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