Dramatic Damage for Solo Racers
Day 43 for the Vendée Globe nonstop solo race around the world sees some trials and triumph in the Southern Ocean. Thomas Ruyant on Le Souffle du Nord pour le Projet Imagine hit a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object) while at speed between Tasmania and New Zealand, which caused damage that’s now getting worse. “The damage at the front of the boat is spreading," he reports. "The hull is opening up and the frame coming away more, everywhere. I’m sailing to the south of New Zealand. I’m not sure if it will all stay in one piece until then.” This wasn’t just a bump in the night, as he described the hit. “The shock was exceptionally violent. It gives me the shivers just thinking about it. I was at 17-18 knots and came to a sudden standstill, hitting what was probably a container, seeing the damage it has done to the hull. The whole of the forward section exploded and folded up.” He is 205 miles away from the rugged South Island New Zealand coast and heading for the closest civilization at the town of Bluff.
Stéphane Le Diraison’s Compagnie du Lit/Ville de Boulogne-Billancourt was dismasted south of Australia when a simple piece of gear failed. “I went surfing along at 28 knots and heard a lot of noise and rushed outside in my socks, as I was inside trying to sleep. I grabbed the helm and saw that I didn’t have any mast. All the sails (jib top, J3, mainsail) were in the water and pulling down. I cut all the stays to allow this to float behind like a floating anchor. I tried to lift up my sails, but it was too risky, so I let everything go. My first analysis showed that the dismasting was due to a backstay pad-eye breaking. I don’t know why that happened. It shouldn’t have broken.” He is now heading to Melbourne. “I spent 12 hours cleaning everything up. I found a way to set up a jury rig. I now have a 7-meter mast, and it’s fantastic. I don’t think this one will come down.” Although not able to continue racing, Stéphane is still a part of the Vendée mystique. “People often talk about jury rigs, but when you get involved alone on a 60-ft boat, it’s not easy. I’m proud of being able to get back heading north 15 hours after the incident.”
Jean-Pierre Dick on StMichel-Virbac is in fifth place after making an interesting move on day 37. Just like a big version of “Do we go through Raccoon Strait or around Point Blunt?” to get around Angel Island on San Francisco Bay, Dick decided to take a flyer through Bass Strait, which separates Tasmania from Australia. Although it added miles it worked! He passed Yann Elies on Quéguiner-Leucémie Espoir, who now lies in sixth place.
The leaders continue way up front near Cape Horn, and Armel Le Cléac’h on Banque Populaire VIII is more than 500 miles ahead of Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss. Armel hopes for a nice Christmas after a hard sail so far. “Conditions are rather unstable. I’m on the back of the low and the wind is going from 17 to 30 knots. The seas are heavy. They aren’t the right conditions for being fast, but I am making headway. We’re going to have to watch how things change before the Horn. I asked Father Christmas if I could lead the way around Cape Horn. We’ll see…”
For all the Vendée Globe info you need see www.vendeeglobe.org/en. For a cool look at the tracker combining windyty and the boats see: https://gis.ee/vg.
In maxi-trimaran record attempt news, Thomas Coville on Sobedo Ultim’ is currently 2,600 miles from finishing his singlehanded lap around the world, in trade winds north of the equator in the Atlantic and looking good to finish ahead of Francis Joyon’s 57-day solo nonstop record. And speaking of Francis, Joyon and crew on IDEC Sport are doing OK off the Canaries, but not great, just 67 miles ahead of Banque Populaire’s record in their attempt to capture the Jules Verne Trophy.