[singlepic=1514,250,170,,left]Vendée Globe – Oceano Atlantico – Non tragga in inganno il titolo. Di virate ce ne saranno ancora molte, lungo la strada che porta dal centro Atlantico a Les Sables d’Olonne, ma una sarà quella decisiva. Michel Desjoyeaux, localizzato all’altezza dei 38° di latitudine nord, attende infatti il momento giusto per fare prua verso la Francia.
Lo skipper di Foncia, portatosi in mezzo all’Atlantico per aggirare un sistema di alta pressione situata tra Capo Verde e Le Canarie, è a 2311 miglia dall’arrivo e il suo vantaggio su Veolia Environnement, inseritosi nella sua scia, è di oltre 500 miglia e non si vede come Roland Jourdain possa rientrare in gioco a meno di improvvisi colpi di scena.
Ormai prossimo all’Equatore è Armel le Cléac’h. Lo skipper di Brit Air vanta un margine di 1000 miglia su Marc Guillemot e spera di uscire rapidamente dai Doldrum per conservare il vantaggio necessario a compensare l’abbuono di 82 ore che lo skipper di Safran ha ottenuto per aver partecipato all’operazione di recupero di Yann Eliés, il solitario di Generali che all’inzio di dicembre si ritrovò con un femore spezzato in pieno Indiano. Dal canto suo, Guillemot è in cerca degli Alisei con Samantha Davies.
Day 75, 11.00 GMT, ranking
1 – Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) DTF 2311.7 nm
2 – Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) +516.0 nm
3 – Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) +1028.2 nm
4 – Marc Guillemot (Safran) +2006.4 nm
5 – Samantha Davies (Roxy) +2168.5 nm
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[flashvideo filename=video/oceano/Vendee_230109.flv /]
Video courtesy Vendée Globe.
VENDEE GLOBE, THOMPSON AND WHITE CLIMBING
[Vendée Globe Press Release] The gain is small and it is theoretical. It is the fact that he is now nearly as quick as leader Michel Desjoyeaux this morning which finally be giving some satisfaction to Roland Jourdain.
With the Azores High blocking the direct route, the pair are making a NW’ly course. Hence as they move further west, diverging away from the theoretical, direct route to avoid the centre of the ‘road block’ – the lightest winds – so a small mileage gain falls to Jourdain by virtue of the fact that he is closer to the direct course to Cape Finisterre.
The skipper of Veolia Environnement is a knot slower this morning than Desjoyeaux and 524.4 in arrears.
150 miles south of the Equator Armel Le Cléac’h should be in the Doldrums conditions, but the weather for him seem less haphazard and while his speeds have been down they have remained consistently steady. He is 506 miles behind behind Veolia Evnironnement.
Still struggling in the absence of anything resembling the normal trade winds Marc Guillemot (Safran) and Sam Davies (Roxy) continue to do their own thing. The Breton is sticking close to the coast 30 miles off Brazil and his speeds have varied with the intensity of the thermal help. More than 200 miles out to sea Davies is still struggling in high pressure, frustrated at the absence of the trade-winds which were so beneficial for Desjoyeaux and Jourdain. Trapped by the lighter for nearly four days now, Brian Thompson’s advance has seen the Bahrain Team Pindar reduce his deficit to Roxy to just 350 miles, from over 1000 miles at Cape Horn.
Similarly Steve White has been one of the skippers who has done well to stay with the bands of pressure. He has made more nearly 250 miles on Arnuad Boissières who was still making just 6.6 knots this morning to Toe in the Water’s 12.4.
Day 75, 11.00 GMT, ranking
1 – Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) DTF 2311.7 nm
2 – Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) +516.0 nm
3 – Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) +1028.2 nm
4 – Marc Guillemot (Safran) +2006.4 nm
5 – Samantha Davies (Roxy) +2168.5 nm
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