Vendée Globe, Cape Horn record set to tumble

Pacific Ocean – At six weeks into the Vendée Globe, with the leading duo Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA) and Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) set to round Cape Horn late tomorrow, fatigue is the constant, gnawing, universal presence. By now the underlying tiredness is never relieved by any number of naps chained together or indeed a longer sleep or two…. were the weather to permit.

The leaders have been blessed with a Pacific which has lived up to its name in terms of weather systems and sea states. In their head-to-head tussle, adrenaline fuels their hard driving attack. That said they will look forwards to the ultimate deliverance into the Atlantic and out of the Big South like their best ever Christmas present. 

And at current speeds it seems certain that the leader will smash Armel Le Cléac’h ‘s 2016 record to Cape Horn, set at 47 days and 34 minutes, when he led Alex Thomson round by 23 hours and 8 minutes. Richomme today is 1200 miles or so ahead of Le Cléac’h’s pace and one or other of the flying duo seems set to also set a new mark for the Pacific – Tasmania to Cape Horn – set by François Gabart in 2012 at 14d 11h 08m when he rounded just 65 minutes ahead of Armel Le Cléac’h during a duel very similar to that of Dalin and Richomme. 

Their pursuers, meanwhile, hope to narrowly avoid a tropical depression but will almost certainly a big, rough and unruly sea for their rounding on 26th and 27th December. 

In third Seb Simon on Groupe Dubreuil, some 300 miles behind the leaders, spoke of the tiredness and fatigue. 

“I’m glad I stopped gybing along the Antarctic Exclusion Zone. It was a real pain. Now, I’m tackling a long 1,400-mile route to Cape Horn. I can’t wait to round it, because rounding it means the end of the Southern Ocean. It also means a great Christmas present and a new race,” sums up Simon. 

The skipper from Les Sables d’Olonne has to work extra hard as he struggles on port tack due to his missing starboard foil. He is expected to round December 24 in the middle of the afternoon half a day or so hours after Richomme and Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) who should round between 2200hrs Monday night and 0100hrs UTC Tuesday morning. 

“It’s of course a bit frustrating to see the two friends managing to escape but unfortunately it’s a battle that I can’t play. The lead that I have over the others should, in any case I hope, allow me to cross the Horn still on the podium,” adds Simon who manages to maintain an average of 18 knots so largely maintaining his delta to the two leaders. 

“I am convinced that I will attack the ascent of the Atlantic in good conditions to fight again at 100% of my potential. In the meantime, I am hanging on. I am also trying to rest because I have a big sleep deficit”, affirmed the skipper of Groupe Dubreuil.

With the incursion of fatigue, actions become more of an automatism, “With the passage of time, everything becomes mechanical,”commented Sam Davies (Initiatives-Cœurs), who is also beginning to feel the effect of -like others – using her legs so little. 

“In the boat, you are never standing up because it is so dangerous,” recalled the British sailor. Aboard IMOCAs in the Big South, each movement is no more than a few wobbly steps in a cramped cockpit or constant clinging on to keep one’s balance on a pitching deck.  

“For my part, I would speak more of wear and tear than fatigue”, highlighted Nicolas Lunven (Holcim – PRB) who had to draw on his energy reserves to repair a mainsail batten car yesterday, a damage which had only just occurred less than a couple of hours earlier to his ‘companion de route’ Jérémie Beyou (Charal). 

Lunven and his group – from fourth placed Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE) to tenth Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) have their eyes on a nasty sub tropical low which is arriving from the north which should pass ahead of them but certainly for Lunven and Ruyant and others nearer the front of this group it will be a big 6 or 7 metre leftover, messy crossed swell which will threaten them and their boats more than the strong winds. 

“The road promises to be really bumpy,” admitted Lunven who has been dealing with very unstable conditions, “It’s absolutely crazy. The average is probably 16 knots and gusts at 35!” he lamented. 

Further back in the fleet it is the lack of wind which is causing most frustration while some of their opponents have managed to escape. 

“The gateway to the East closed in front of us last night, by something like eleven miles and these eleven miles will soon turn into 500 or even 1000 compared to Jean Le Cam (Tout Commence en Finistère – Armor-lux) or Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) who managed to escape from the ridge,” rued Benjamin Ferré today.  

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