Friday 18 December: Things are slowing down at the head of the fleet
After some trying days, the skippers at the head of the fleet can finally release the tension. Yannick Bestaven is still in the lead, now followed by Charlie Dalin. Thomas Ruyant tried a northerly option, which in the end didn't work. As a result, he is now in 3 e place, 139.8 miles from the leader and 92 miles from Charlie Dalin, who is coming back with a full ball on the skipper in the red boat. The trio will see their speed drop radically in the coming hours, due to the softness stagnating in their East.
The hunters are also sailing in the Pacific. Jean Le Cam (4th) and his fellow competitors - Boris Herrmann, Damien Seguin, Benjamin Dutreux and, to a lesser extent Louis Burton - have gained 110 miles in 24 hours. The skipper of Bureau Vallée 2 has planned to take shelter in the wind off Macquarie Island to repair his rigging.
Thanks to the slowdown at the head of the fleet, everyone benefits. Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) has recovered 80 miles, Maxime Sorel (V and B - Mayenne) and the group following him around 60.
Saturday, December 19: Damage in madness
It's another blow for Louis Burton, who has been deprived of his automatic pilot since last night. He now has to steer his boat H24, unable to let go of the controls to rest or eat. As for Romain Attanasio, 13th, he could no longer reduce the mainsail yesterday, as he was surfing in 25-30 knots of wind ahead of a low pressure system. 9 hours of practical work, including a very precise filing of a small part of the sail carriage, got rid of the glitch.
Manu Cousin is worried about his rudder, which he had repaired when he entered the Indian Ocean. Cracks have just appeared. Stéphane Le Diraison indicated this morning that he had fitted his bowsprit to replace a broken furling line, which was preventing him from rolling his sail in heavy weather.
Isabelle Joschke has no more than diesel to run her engine and recharge her batteries following the breakage of the hydrogenerator. Charlie Dalin, this morning, stopped his race for 1 hour to check his low foil hold repair.
A high pressure system in the south of New Zealand is forcing the head of the fleet to sail close to the ice barrier in fairly light but demanding conditions: wind variations are dictating the gybes. And that should last several days! Yannick Bestaven is still in control 47 miles ahead of Charlie Dalin and 131 miles ahead of Thomas Ruyant.
The chasing group is now led by Boris Herrmann, who is maintaining good average speeds ahead of a front. The gaps are narrowing as the hours go by.
Following the latest satellite images, race management decided to lower 11 GPS points by 100 miles, reducing the course from 24,410 to 24,354 miles.
Sunday 20 December: Passage of the anti-meridian
Louis Burton began repairs at noon today at the top of his mast to repair his mainsail track and halyard. He was coming back down at 14:02, having been able to partially resolve the problems. He is thinking of anchoring in the Bay of Lusitania, 500 m from the shore, in a more protected area from the sea.
Yannick Bestaven passed the antimeridian by 180°, so the time shift is now the other way around. From Monday, he went back to Sunday. He is 130 miles ahead of Apivia and 172 miles ahead of LinkedOut and has a much more favourable wind angle than his rivals, who are forced to line up gybes. The rest of the race promises a lot of trouble with little wind and upwind sailing. Maitre Coq, if he keeps going fast, could avoid the high pressure and escape.
For this second part of the Vendée Globe, the first 11 monohulls are just 800 miles apart and the route to Cape Horn is not very clear.
Alan Roura will finally pass Cape Leeuwin. 350 miles from his transom, the fleet is displaying fine average speeds ahead of a front generating an ideal north-westerly wind. Pip Hare, in 17th place, is back with Arnaud Boissières.
Monday 21 December: It sails in a fleet
Never in the history of the Vendée Globe has there been so little separation at this stage of the race: 10 boats in 712 miles (from Maître CoQ IV to V and B - Mayenne). In these tactical weather conditions, Cape Horn, which the frontrunners could reach on 2nd or 3rd January, should see a string of IMOCA boats following one another at the foot of its lighthouse. Remember: 800 miles separated Armel Le Cléac'h from Alex Thomson in 2016 on the way back to the start of the South Atlantic, and in the end 15 hours of separation at the finish.
At the head of the fleet, we're wondering how to position ourselves in relation to the high pressure that is blocking the route. The only thing certain is that this large mass with no wind is moving towards the Antarctic Exclusion Zone, which is right on the IMOCA route and should compress all this little world.
To the South of New Zealand, a fairly hollow low gusting to over 40 knots is worrying three sailors. Romain Attanasio, Clarisse Crémer and now Louis Burton, who has lost 400 miles following his courageous pit stop in Macquarie (three mast climbs and successful repairs) will have to make the most of the north-easterly winds between Wednesday and Thursday (so they will be upwind) and heavy seas.
Sébastien Destremau can't cope with his multiple problems with the helm and automatic pilot, his boat jumping into unpredictable swells and nervously infernal to live through for the Toulon native.
Tuesday 22nd December: Extended gybes
In this weather configuration, the Antarctic Exclusion Zone or ice barrier is not at all facilitating sailing for the first "package" of this 9th Vendée Globe. Everyone would like to head south to get around the vast zone of high pressure, which is coming straight at them, but they simply don't have the right to do so, as security forces them to do so. Master CoQ and Apivia are multiplying gybes in a position further south than LinkedOut. The coming night (day for them) should be crucial.
This zone of light and erratic winds concerns the first six. Behind them, from GROUPE Apicil nothing should really stop them, at least the route will be less chaotic, much more direct with a good north-easterly flow to move forward.
Maxime Sorel and Louis Burton also have every chance of getting back together, while for Romain Attanasio and Clarisse Crémer, it's not at all on the agenda. Both are focused on how they will negotiate the depression on Thursday 24th December.
The man with the most to gain from this unusual situation in the South Pacific is Armel Tripon on L'Occitane en Provence. Today the Nantes-based boat is displaying the best average speed in the fleet: 446 miles swallowed up in 24 hours as opposed to 257 for Thomas Ruyant.
The Minister for the Sea announced yesterday that Jean Le Cam, Jacques Caraës (Race Director) and Christophe Gaumont (President of the Race Committee) will be awarded the Order of Maritime Merit. Jean Le Cam will be promoted to Officer in the Order of Maritime Merit, and Jacques Caraës and Christophe Gaumont will have the privilege of being named knights in the Order of Maritime Merit.
Wednesday December 23: A high pressure that can turn the tables
All the stakes in the Vendée Globe are being played out around the high pressure, which has been forcing the leaders of the fleet for the past two days. The leading trio is hoping to escape, while further on, two women and seven other men are hoping to get back to the leaders.
The depression could be left behind around December 26. In the meantime, Yannick Bestaven, Charlie Dalin (90 miles behind) and Thomas Ruyant (180 miles from the leader) have to deal with the light airs of the moment. The leader is expected to pick up his new wind from the edge of a small low coming from the north-west. Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant, situated on the fringe or west of the zone of high pressure will just have to wait to find a new wind that will come naturally, as the phenomena circulate from west to east.
8th in her first Vendée Globe, Isabelle Joschke has completed an amazing race after 45 days. The sequence of weather systems seems to be still favourable for the fleet to regroup in the coming days.
Sebastien Destremau has planned a stopover in Tasmania. His patched helm system is not as reliable as it should be for crossing the blue desert between New Zealand and Cp Horn.
Thursday 24 December: A clash between the leading duo
The battle rages between Yannick Bestaven and Charlie Dalin. The former chose the East of the high, when the latter chose the East of the high e is to the south and runs along the ice zone. The first two have just passed below the symbolic 10,000 mile mark. Thomas Ruyant has been heading North since this morning, before dropping down to the SE with the best possible angle and on the right tack (port tack) as early as next night.
For the hunters - Boris Herrmann, Jean Le Cal, Benjamin Dutreux, Damien Seguin, Isabelle Joschke and Giancarlo Pedote, two options are open depending on the next changes to the files, but also on the performance of each of the boats. East on a direct course or North?
Thanks to conditions favourable to speed, Maxime Sorel and Louis Burton are also benefiting from the slowdown in the leading group. Clarisse Crémer, Romain Attanasio and Armel Tripon were blocked by a low pressure system.
Stéphane Le Diraison has just passed the longitude of Melbourne, Australia, a place he abandoned 4 years ago. Jérémie Beyou who passed Kojiro Shiraishi a little over 48 hours ago is about to overtake Didac Costa, at the 20 e place. The skipper of Charal has been sailing at an average speed of over 19 knots for the past 36 hours. According to the weather files, he could still have 3 more days of speed.
Kojiro Shiraishi was the 22nd to cross the longitude of Cape Leeuwin.
