Day 23: The ice limit
Armel le Cléac'h is still leading the fleet, now 30 miles ahead of his British rival. It almost looks like the South for the 25 Imoca boats in the non-stop solo round the world race without assistance... From the 11th, Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée), to the 25th, Didac Costa (One Planet One Ocean), the end of the tunnel is not so far. Although they are nearly 4,000 miles from the leaders, their group of 15 boats is getting a new start in the race. They still have 1,500 miles to go before entering the Indian Ocean and sailing in the Southern Ocean. For their safety, the Imoca boats must therefore flirt with this line marked by 72 GPS points. The Antarctic Exclusion Zone requires the sailors to keep an eye on this line set up by the Race Direction of the 8th Vendée Globe, below which they cannot descend due to drifting ice. Everyone is starting to gybe. Between the AEZ (Antarctic Exclusion Zone) and a high-pressure axis, Armel Le Cléac'h and Alex Thomson, still on port tack, are making good speed towards the Kerguelen archipelago dominated by Mount Ross, 1850 m high.
Day 24: 8,000 km between the first and the last
The 25 Imoca boats in the 8th Vendée Globe are sailing from 22° south to 47° south: the fleet is stretching out this evening over 4,336 miles, or 8,000 km! While Didac Costa (25th) is riding high in his shorts off Brazil, Armel Le Cléac'h (1st) has pulled out his mittens, hat and undercoats in the land of albatrosses and penguins. The sailors do not live in the same world. The leading group continues to slip along, while at the back of the pack, behind the windless bubble they are about to leave, the skippers are going to be picked off by a big low coming from the west. 35 knot files... Understand that the wind can rise above 45 knots. There is going to be a lot of action from Wednesday evening!
Day 25: First images of the Vendée Globe history from the Deep South
Images of the Deep South, off the Kerguelen Islands The video footage of the two boats, Banque Populaire VIII (Armel Le Cléac'h) and Hugo Boss (Alex Thomson), was filmed from a helicopter on the Frégate Nivôse, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of the boats. Banque Populaire VIII (Armel Le Cléac'h) and Hugo Boss (Alex Thomson) were filmed from a helicopter of the Frégate Nivôse, whose mission is to ensure the sovereignty of the French state in the TAAF (French Southern and Antarctic Territories). Never before seen: two Imoca foils launched at more than 20 knots in the middle of the Indian Ocean and, at the same time, two skippers called on the VHF! An exceptional moment to be marked in the annals of the Everest of the Seas, the non-stop single-handed race without assistance... As of this evening, the 14 skippers at the "tail" of the fleet are going to encounter some rather rough sailing conditions. The Vendée Globe Race Direction warned them yesterday. The pack is going to be caught up in a low-pressure system, which will catapult them southwards towards the Cape of Good Hope. The forecasts predict 35 knots, which means that the skippers will have to deal with 40-45 knots in the clashes.
Day 26: The cat and mouse game
Starboard tack! Since the leaders gybed early this morning in a much more manageable south-westerly wind, the port foil on Hugo Boss has allowed the Briton to surf at a good pace. In the 3:00 pm rankings, Alex Thomson has regained control of the race, less than a mile behind Armel Le Cléac'h on Banque Populaire VIII. He has made up his 12-mile deficit in 24 hours, still sailing faster than his playmate at an average of 14.8 knots, compared to Armel's 14.3 knots. The battle at the front of the race is unfolding like a good thriller... whose end you can't imagine! Along the Antarctic Exclusion Zone, Hugo Boss and Banque Populaire are going to look for a small low just before the longitude of the Australian Cape... On the other hand, for the 15 other sailors still in the South Atlantic, life at sea has not been easy since this low pressure system from South America has shown its face. The windy and rough atmosphere of the southern seas can be felt.
Day 27: Expected Lows
The peace pipe between the Deep South and the 25 Imoca boats racing is not about to be smoked! In the heads of the sailors, stress is mounting: the expected lows in the southern seas are likely to affect the men and the boats. All of them are probably going to sail as good sailors, and put aside the competition for a few hours. Yann Eliès (Queguiner-Leucémie Espoir) has even planned to slow down to avoid being trapped in the storm. Meanwhile, the duel between Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss), 18 miles ahead, and Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire VIII) continues along the Antarctic Exclusion Zone with gybes... The weather continues to smile on them!
Day 28: Cold weather for everyone
The fleet of the 8th Vendée Globe is spread out over more than 10,000 km this evening. A quarter of the globe separates the last two (Didac Costa and Sébastien Destremau) from the first two (Armel Le Cléac'h and Alex Thomson), who are sailing on average three times faster. Already 28 days of racing since the start in Les Sables-d'Olonne on November 6! From the South Atlantic to the far reaches of the Indian Ocean, the sailors have gone into warrior mode. At the front, they are now sailing at more than 20 knots, and for most of the sailors, three-layer fleeces, boots and oilskins are required to face the powerful train of depressions in the southern seas.
Day 29: Solitaires in trouble and a new abandonment
After a gradual start, the Atlantic Ocean showed another side of its character: a bad low pressure combined with a contrary current put down many solo sailors and even made the cutter fall on Kojiro Shiraishi who saw his mast break in the middle: the Japanese had to throw in the towel. This is the fifth retirement in the Vendée Globe..
