Vendee in the southern ocean now

Ronnie Simpson's Vendee Globe report :

Gone are the smooth seas, warm trade winds and idyllic sailing conditions of the Atlantic Ocean. With the leaders of the Vendee Globe now in the Southern Ocean, they’re surrounded by treacherous breaking waves, ice bergs and large albatross whose wing span can grow to more than 10 feet. This is the mythical, extreme place that we brag about when we tell non-sailors how extreme the Vendée Globe is. With the fleet not yet sustaining a major blow, they’re still getting hammered nonetheless in “typical” Southern Indian Ocean conditions where 50 knots is nothing out of the ordinary and the average seas are 12 feet tall and can come at you from any direction. The three leaders are still bunched tight, drag racing to the second ice gate while their five closest pursuers seem content to play a friendly game of russian roulette with the nearest semi-submerged ice growler. While the air and water temperatures may be dropping into the single digits, the race remains on fire with the front pack shattering Vincent Riou’s 8-year old record to the Cape of Good Hope. Here’s your twice weekly Vendée fix:

I’ve been reporting for nearly two weeks now about how Jean-Pierre Dick’s westward move off Brazil was going to propel him into the lead once the fleet reached the first Aigulles Ice Gate. Deep into the Southern Ocean, the two-time Barcelona World Race champ was going to send it harder than anyone and extend his lead. He would battle with the “Golden Boy” Francois Gabart for the top spot. This prediction was further cemented by a stunning display of boat speed in which the two French sailors went back and forth for a day and a half, setting new 24-hour IMOCA class distance records only to top each other at the next check in, throwing up numbers that were downright gaudy and ostentatious, topping out at more than 500 miles sailed in just one day.

Apparently Armel Le Cleac’h didn’t get the memo. “The Jackal” has struck, countering the flashy speed display by owning the North and hooking into a band of pressure that allowed him to maintain boat speed in the high teens while the two showmen of pace sailed into light headwinds making just 6 knots for several hours. Romping to a 60-mile lead on Monday, Le Cleac’h, winner of 2nd place in the last Vendée, has continued to solidify his position at the front of the pack. His VPLP-Verdier designed Open 60 Banque Populaire has now led some two-thirds of this seventh edition of the Vendée, now more than 25 days old. First across the equator and now owner of the reference time from Les Sables d’Olonne to the Cape of Good Hope (22 days, 23 hours), the 35 year old Figaro winner continues to lead as of this writing, holding onto a slim 14-mile lead over Gabart on MACIF as the leading trio of VPLP’s has consolidated once again, with JP Dick on Virbac-Paprec 3 a further 21 miles back, respectively.

South of the leading trio is Swissman Bernard Stamm on the Juan K-designed Cheminees Poujoulat, who was shown impressive pace thus far in the Southern Ocean, slowly reeling in the leaders, bringing the gap down to just a tick over 50 nautical miles between him and leader Armel Le Cleac’h. A further 100 miles back is Briton Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss, the only previous generation boat in the top 5. Thomson is the Southernmost boat in this lead group.

As a quickly developing and fast-moving area of high pressure comes in from the West, the leaders could be slowed dramatically while approaching the Crozet Ice Gate, the second of the race. Stamm and Cheminees Poujoulat look like they will be the biggest winners in this scenario, allowing them to eat up much of their gap to the leaders, currently at 50 miles. But it’s not all gravy for the Swiss sailor; he will need to make more northing than the lead trio to reach the ice gate. Don’t expect Stamm to make out in the lead, however, as he will have to sail into the High Pressure and light winds just to reach the Gate. Similarly, Alex Thomson will have to make up even more miles to the North to make the next Gate. This should see him make up a portion of his gap, but he won’t pull even like I expect Stamm to. Having said all of this, both VG weather analysts and Anarchists in the forums agree that the current forecast is a bit shaky and could play out a number of ways. The “ace up the sleeve” of the leaders is the stunning light-air performance of these new generation VPLP boats. This will particularly favor “The Jackal” and the “Golden Boy” on their ultralight, rotating wing-mast equipped VPLP sisterships; if the breeze goes light and they have enough pace to remain in front of the high, then they could make out huge. No matter what happens in the top 5, the lead trio should continue extending on the “second pack” of Mike Golding, Jean Le Cam and Dominique Wavre.

Fan favorite Alex Thomson is sailing an absolutely brilliant race onboard the Bruce Farr designed Hugo Boss. The only previous-generation boat in the top 5, the English yachtsman has managed to make it further in this edition of the Vendée Globe than in his previous two Vendée attempts. Thomson’s pace has been impressive, but this hasn’t come without it’s challenges and breakages. In addition to the rudder tie bar that he had to fix during week 1 when his hydrogenerator broke it’s mounting, he is now dealing with more hydro problems and now a broken wind direction indicator as well. All the while surfing at speeds of up to 32 knots in treacherous cross-seas!