A skier's looks at the Vendee Globe, SailGP news, and the RORC's Transatlantic Race
by David Schmidt 15 Jan 05:00 NZDT
January 14, 2025
Charlie Dalin, MACIF Santé Prévoyance © Olivier Blanchet / Alea
One of the coolest aspects of going on a ski trip with a rental house full of sailors is the après sessions, especially when the nonstop solo around-the-world Vendée Globe race is nearing its end game. While libations may or may not have been involved, this was my reality last week at British Columbia's Sun Peaks Resort: The turns were great, but as soon as our group stopped for a break or for the evening, it wasn't long before the conversation would turn to the Vendée Globe, and the fortunes of those at the top of the leaderboard.
The conversation got much richer once we started playing with GRIB viewers and various weather models, coupled with the real-world experience that some members of our ski party had sailing on the waters that separate the race leaders from the race's finishing line off Les Sables d'Olonne, France.
Even with the sizeable knowledge base that resided in our rental house last week, sailing is sailing, and a lot can unfurl in the final miles of any race. That said, as of this writing (Monday morning, U.S. West Coast time), skipper Charlie Dalin, racing aboard Macif Sante Prevoyance, was leading the hunt, with about 140 nautical miles separating him from his dream of winning this world-famous race.
Dalin's closest rival, Yoann Richomme, racing aboard Paprec Arkea, was about 140 nautical miles astern. While this doesn't leave Richomme with much runway to catch Dalin, it should be noted that Richomme was sailing at over 20 knots, while Dalin, now subject to much softer airs closer to shore, was sailing at a click below 9 knots.
A 140 nautical mile lead would be huge in a classic 600-miler (e.g., Fastnet, Bermuda, or the Hobart), but it's important to remember that Dalin has already sailed some 23,773 nautical miles since crossing the starting line (also off Les Sables d'Olonne) on November 10.
Another point of constant discussion on our trip involved the second group of boats. While the top three slots are likely going to Dalin, Richomme, and Sebastian Simon, the latter of whom is racing aboard Groupe Dubreuil, there's a great dog fight unfurling between Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable), Jeremie Beyou (Charal), Paul Meilhat (Biotherm), Nicolas Lunven (Holcim-PRB), and Thomas Ruyant (Vulnerable).
As of this writing, a mere 273 nautical miles separates Goodchild's stern from Ruyant's bow.
Being sailors, our ski group also spent some time discussing the fact that, while 40 boats began the 2024-2025 edition of the Vendée Globe, only six skippers have had to drop out. This is an impressively small attrition rate (again, remembering that some of these sailors still have thousands of miles left to sail) compared with past editions of this storied race.
This point clearly isn't lost on the IMOCA class.
"The IMOCA boats have never been faster or more reliable," said Antoine Mermod, who serves as president of the IMOCA class, in an official communication.
Part of this improvement, Mermod posited, involved the use of IMOCA boats in both the Vendée and The Ocean Race.
"Over the past few years, new events have been added to the IMOCA Globe Series Championship, the most significant being The Ocean Race," Mermod continued. "This has allowed many sailors and boats to get real world Southern Ocean experience in the most competitive, fully-crewed, offshore race, and apply that experience to their preparation for this Vendée Globe."
As for Dalin, the longtime race leader is realistic about what will hopefully prove to be his final hours at sea in this edition of the Vendée.
"There will be some upwind to finish in some very cold temperatures, maybe the coldest night of the entire race, and it is going to be a flat sea," said Dalin in an official Vendée communication. "So that is my final picture, the boat skimming nicely upwind, sometimes foiling, close to the coast, that is how I picture it. We are sailing so close to my training waters, where I have been so many times with the boat, and I will sail probably close to the home base which for me is a nice symbol, to be sailing close to Finistère where the boat is based and the boat was built, it is pretty nice."
Niceties aside, Dalin is clearly aware of time's sometimes-elastic nature.
"When you are close to the finish time passes so much more slowly," Dalin continued. "But really life goes on the same, do the job, stay focused, rest, eat well and trim the boat well. I'm still in my race, completely. It's always the last miles that feel the longest."
Sail-World tips our hat to Mr. Dalin for sailing a great race, and we have our fingers crossed for all Vendée skippers that there are no unexpected "evolutions" between now and the finishing line.
Changing gears from IMOCA 60s to foiling F50s, this weekend's Auckland event (January 18-19) is set to see the SailGP fleet debut its new T-foils, which are replacing the fleet's older L-foils. The new foils are hewn from machined titanium and carbon fiber and are expected to be much faster than their forebearers.
Impressively, the New Zealand SailGP team posted a top speed of 52.48 knots at a training session on the waters off Auckland.
Speed aside, the new foils also represent a bit of a technological reset.
"It's definitely an interesting element," said Andy Maloney, who serves the flight controller for the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team. "Some of the teams we've seen at the top of the leaderboard the last few seasons won't have any more experience on T-Foils than the new teams."
While the rich have a tendency of getting richer in sailing, it will be very interesting to see how the new foil shapes affect this weekend's racing, and if the foil changes allow some of the newer teams to experience similar learning curves as the more experienced squads.
Finally, in more offshore news, the 11th edition of the RORC's Transatlantic Race began on the waters off of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands. The race will take the fleet some 3,000 nautical miles across the Pond to the Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, in Grenada.
All told, there are 12 IRC monohulls, plus five multihulls, and two Class 40s competing in this high-profile event.
Sail-World wishes these sailors safe and fast passage across the Atlantic.
May the four winds blow you safely home.
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor