Day 44: Two more dropouts!
There are only 20 boats left in the race. After the dismasting of La Compagnie du Lit-Boulogne Billancourt (Stéphane Le Diraison) on Saturday evening and the serious structural damage to the Breath of the North for the Imagine project (Thomas Ruyant) yesterday afternoon, the number of retirements in the 8th Vendée Globe has now reached 9: 3 dismastings, 5 collisions with ofni (unidentified floating objects) and 1 foil damage. A single-handed round the world race that is sometimes unlucky, no matter how talented and careful the sailors are... Less than 1,500 miles from Cape Horn, Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire VIII) is increasing his lead over the British sailor Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) with a 511 mile gap. A Christmas at the Horn!
Day 45: Onboard repairs
Michel Desjoyeaux, double winner of the Vendée Globe in 2000 and 2008, is the first to say that every day there is something to do on a solo round the world race. After 43 days of racing, this is indeed what prevails in the vacations and messages sent by the sailors. Arnaud Boissières and Jérémie Beyou are taking it in their stride. The skipper of La Mie Câline had to lower his mainsail to repair a broken batten, while Maître CoQ The water is coming in through the foil well and the ballast tank vents. During this time, the two leaders are making almost 20 knots and are greedily swallowing up the miles: 449 miles in 24 hours for Banque Populaire VIII !
Day 46: Major keel damage for Paul Meilhat
"With a keel like that, I couldn't round Cape Horn" confided Paul Meilhat this afternoon. The damage to the keel cylinder that occurred yesterday around 3pm (French time) being too important and impossible to repair alone at sea, the skipper of SMA must resolve, with a heavy heart, to leave his third place, which has been fought for 25 days against Jérémie Beyou (Maître CoQ). Paul does not yet know if he will definitely head for New Zealand or Polynesia (Papeete), both 1900 miles away. The weather will decide.
Meanwhile, 5 sailors have been fighting a great battle since rounding Cape Leeuwin yesterday: Roura, O'Coineen, Amedeo, Bellion and Wilson are within 300 miles of each other. 13 hours separate them. The game of musical chairs has just begun!
Day 47: Armel le Cléac'h indétronâble
It has been 19 days since Banque Populaire VIII is leading the way in this 8th Vendée Globe. For 19 days, the Breton sailor has been displaying perfect trajectories and placements, despite the very complicated weather at the end of the South Pacific. The skilful Breton sailor should pass the last of the three capes of the solo round the world race tomorrow at around 1300 hours with a comfortable lead of nearly 600 miles over the British sailor Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss), who is expected to reach the coast of Tierra del Fuego on Sunday evening, 25th December. Behind, Jean-Pierre Dick (StMichel-Virbac), 4th, has slowed down and is watching his comrades come back in his rear view mirror. In the club of five, from Alan Roura (La Fabrique) to Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Matmut), the regatta continues to be tough. 17th, the Spaniard Didac Costa (One Planet One Ocean) is celebrating his 36th birthday in 50 knots of wind 600 miles west of Cape Leewin..
Day 48: Passage of the Horn with Record for Armel le Cléac'h
A postcard Horn! Under a blue sky with white clouds, Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire VIII) rounded Cape Horn in the lead of the 8th Vendée Globe at 13 h 34 min This Friday, December 23, 2016. He will have taken 47 days and 32 mn from Les Sables d'Olonne. He thus pulverizes François Gabart's reference time set on January 1, 2013... by 5 days 5 hours and 38 mn! Today, Banque Populaire VIII has a lead of more than half a world tour over the 19th of the fleet, Sébastien Destremau (TechnoFirst-faceOcean), 1000 miles from Cape Leeuwin... The spread out fleet continues to head east while the leader has just put the left turn signal to go home.
Day 49: December 24 even on the Vendée Globe!
The images sent from the sea show that the Vendée Globe skippers are all thinking about the people on land on this Christmas Day. Foie gras for one, Santa Claus hat for the other, sweetbreads, garlands, little gifts hidden in the boat. Eric Bellion and Alan Roura even sang a Christmas carol to each other while they were sailing 5 meters apart! On this day of festivity and abundance, the sailors are continuing their quest towards the East without a break. Half of the fleet (from La Mie Câline to TechnoFirst-faceOcean) is preparing to face strong winds, while Banque Populaire VIII (in the lead), Queguiner-Leucémie Espoir (5th) and Finistère Mer Vent (6th) are working on their adjustments in light and irregular winds..
Day 50: Capricious weather
There are those who are racking their brains to claw back miles and those who have understood that they have to slow down in the face of the storm and its monstrous 90-knot gusts... That's how it is in the Southern Ocean: the weather can be indigestible. For the 19 sailors still racing in this 8th Vendée Globe, the week looks complicated! Alex Thomson rounded Cape Horn at full speed this afternoon at exactly 12:42 pm, nearly two days behind Armel, but the Briton has cut the distance by nearly half: 440 miles compared to 820 48 hours ago! This means that the 6,500 miles separating the two companions from the finish will be very tense..
