Friday, January 1st: Soon the Horn!
On this 54th day at sea, Yannick Bestaven and Charlie Dalin are escaping at the head of the fleet, Cape Horn 430 miles from their bows. Ahead of the secondary low, they have been able to maintain their lead and are making headway in a 25 knot NNW'ly wind at a speed of 16/18 knots, with a consequent lead of 350 to 470 miles over the rest of the fleet.
However, the violent winds - gusting to 60 knots - and heavy seas - 6 to 9 metre high waves - expected on Saturday afternoon could reshuffle the charts.
The hunting group is led by Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) who managed to recover his 3rd place from Damien Seguin (Groupe Apicil). All of them are progressing behind the low, in a SW'ly flow which is enabling them to accelerate. This small group is still sailing compactly, so Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) is 8th, 3 miles behind Jean Le Cam (Yes We Cam), 7th, Benjamin Dutreux (Omia Water Family) is 5th and Louis Burton is 11th.
Behind the top 14, the trio Crémer/Tripon/Attanasio is gradually coming back to the front. 13 boats are progressing on the edge of the ETA, still under the influence of the long southern anticyclone.
Saturday 2nd January: Yannick Bestaven, first Cape Hornier
Yannick Bestaven rounded Cape Horn at 14:42 (French time), a first for the skipper of Maître Coq. Having been at the head of the fleet for 17 days, it took him 55 days and 22 minutes of racing to round the 3 e mythical course of the race.
200 miles from Cape Horn, Charlie Dalin in turn encountered Dantean conditions. He has slowed down his machine and is progressing at an average of 15 knots. He should round Cape Horn at around 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning on Sunday.
Behind them, Thomas Ruyant is neck and neck with Damien Seguin, and they still have at least 36 hours ahead of them before it's their turn in the South Atlantic. All of them will have to deal with a new low, which should affect a large part of the fleet over the next few hours.
Sunday, January 3: Deliverance!
This morning at 5:39 am (French time), it was Charlie Dalin's turn to cross the Horn, 15 hours after the fleet leader. After the storm, it's a calm hour, as conditions have changed radically. After crossing the Horn, Yannick Bestaven confided that he had been hit by the biggest storm of his life, "Demented seas and gusts to 60 knots."
All of them are now waiting to get around the mythical rock to leave behind the harsh conditions they have been facing for the past month. Maxime Sorel, 10th even saw his bridge become covered with snow in a few minutes. Ruyant and Seguin are expected in the south of Horn Island in the early hours of January 4th. Dutreux, Le Cam and their pursuers only half a day later!
The leader of the fleet has stumbled into a long 350 mile long wind shift. Whilst he was no doubt able to take stock of his boat and get some rest, he has also lost half of his lead over Charlie Dalin.
1,000 miles behind them and practically right down to the last competitors, the anticyclonic conditions that prevailed in the Pacific are giving way to the train of lows more common in these regions. It's windy, a lot of wind for almost everyone.
Monday 4 January: Setbacks for Isabelle Joschke
After Bestaven, Dalin, Ruyant, Seguin and Dutreux, 6 IMOCA boats grouped together in 150 miles are getting ready to finish the Southern Ocean. Burton, Le Cam, Herrmann, Sorel, Pedote and Joschke are also getting ready to savour their ascent of the Atlantic.
The night promises to be restless off the tip of South America. A powerful NW'ly air flow is set to strengthen, generating gusts in excess of 40 knots and heavy seas.
Yesterday, when she was sailing in 5.. e position, Isabelle Joschke deplored the breakage of the hydraulic jack on the keel of her IMOCA. Now unable to tilt her boat's appendage to improve performance, the sailor is giving up her sporting ambitions.
For the trio Attanasio/Tripon/Creamer, the conditions in the South Pacific are hard to take in, with 45 knots of wind, 460 miles from Cape Horn.
At the head of the fleet, conditions are much calmer, but more puzzling. Yannick Bestaven still has a small lead (195 miles) over Charlie Dalin, but a high pressure system is blocking their route to the north of the islands Falklands?; extending eastwards, a route that the duo has rightly chosen. Thomas Ruyant has chosen a northerly route.
Tuesday 5 January: Demented conditions at the Horn crossing
Yannick Bestaven is slowing down as he prepares to cross the ridge of high pressure. He may have to gybe tonight, but he won't be out of the woods. Charlie Dalin, 2 e at 177 miles took the inside of the turn in an attempt to cut through the high pressure as quickly as possible. If he has been sailing well reaching on his integral foil all morning, he may soon be flirting with lighter winds and start to slow down.
Thomas Ruyant is the only one to have chosen to leave the Falkland Islands to starboard and attempt an attack on the high from the west. A risky choice. It is difficult to draw conclusions on all these options, as the high is moving eastwards in a somewhat random manner and it only takes a few knots more or less close to its centre to completely change the situation.
The 11 sailors who have rounded Cape Horn since 2 January have all described appalling scenes. 6-metre waves, 45-knot winds, as if the Deep South wanted to pay one last tribute to the sailors.
Maxime Sorel went down, some lines were torn off and two of his sails went overboard, which he recovered by force of arms. Boris Herrmann, handicapped by a torn mainsail, was filming a stormy sea. Isabelle Joschke, 11th to round Cape Dur at 5 o'clock on Tuesday morning, described an atmosphere of the end of the world. Even Jean Le Cam, whose 7th passage of the Horn was the 7th, is happy to have finished!
Next on the list is Clarisse Crémer, expected around 10:00 tonight. Armel Tripon is expected there on Wednesday around 3am and Romain Attanasio at the end of the day. At the rear, the whole fleet is being swept along by the successive fronts dotting the Pacific Ocean.
Wednesday 6 January: Calm regained
To the SE of Point Nemo, a quartet has been battered for the past three days by a "beautiful" southern depression: Medallia, La Fabrique, La Mie Câline-Artisans Artipôle and Charal are in 45 knots of wind and troughs of over 6 metres. A depression which also occupies their pursuers Time for Oceans, One Planet One Ocean and DMG Mori - Global One, who have already been passed by the front and whose northern position protects them from the biggest.
At the head of this group, Pip Hare, one of the revelations of this Vendée Globe, is fighting to keep her 15 e despite unserviceable airplanes, the pilot was unable to operate the autopilot normally.
Sailors who are now sailing in the Atlantic are savouring the newfound calm. But the weather situation is complex as far as the waters off Brazil. Yannick Bestaven is the only one to have managed to pass to the North of the high pressure and is set to accelerate again in a new east-southeast flow. From Charlie Dalin (2nd) to Thomas Ruyant (4th), once again leaving his place to Damien Seguin, all have slowed down considerably.
The anticyclone moving eastward will be more favourable to the pursuers. From Burton (5th) to Herrmann (11th), whose mainsail has now been repaired, there is an opportunity to get back at the head of the fleet.
Thursday, January 7: Suffering in the 50th Screamers
Yannick Bestaven now has a large lead over his direct pursuer, Charlie Dalin, with 439 miles ahead of Thomas Ruyant, 3 e of the fleet. But a string of high-pressure bubbles and small low-pressure centres is unfolding before him. The situation could benefit Apivia, LinketOut and Groupe Apicil and all the fighters. To the west, Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant are sailing side by side, upwind, on the edge of the low, they will have to reduce sail in a strengthening wind before tacking to regain more favourable points of sail.
400 miles to the east of the duo, Damien Seguin and his pursuers are skirting the ice barrier, heading east and coping with the high pressure. Within 48 hours, these two groups will converge and may have made up part of their deficit on Maître Coq.
Since January 3, the 50 e Howling winds are weighing down a huge depression on the backs of the 8 solo sailors led by Pip Hare, with winds of 35/45 knots (gusting to 60 knots), ice pellets or snow squalls and big, cross seas. As a result, they will have to proceed cautiously. Pip Hare has broken the port rudder stock of his IMOCA. Although she has a spare rudder, conditions do not allow her to carry out repairs for the moment.
A thousand miles from Cape Horn, that's another 3 days of sailing, everyone is suffering. That night, Miranda Merron (23 e ) and Clément Giraud (24 e ) are also expected to be picked up by a depression from the north.
