Friday review
Vendée Globe leader Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) is in the Pacific and, mathematically, on his way home. He passed the midpoint of the course, after completing 50% of the theoretical distance of the 23 890 nautical miles track just before midday today. Speaking to the Vendée Globe LIVE! English show he sounded relieved and pleased, more so to be in the Pacific which seems set to be kinder to him, and those just behind him, than the Indian Ocean was.
Dalin smiled in the dark of the Australasian night, “It is all good here in the Pacific Ocean - very happy to be in this one. It's very, very unstable tonight, like a frozen doldrums. We've got hail squalls and 40 knot squalls and very unstable wind that's shifting a lot in direction. So not an easy night. Ahead if me it looks like a pretty nice stretch for a while. Medium to not very strong downwind VMG sailing, quite a lot on starboard by the looks of it. Then there's a storm we might get just before Nemo Point, but until then I've got six days of not too strong conditions, which is a good introduction to the Pacific, but maybe a stronger low pressure in a week's time.”
Dalin was congratulated on the show by Isabelle Autissier, the first woman to complete the Vendée Globe, “ Charlie, you are doing an incredible performance. I feel that the boats are so tough now compared to what we were doing something like 25 years ago, but the speed you've done through the Indian Ocean is really impressive.”
And Dalin acknowledged the respect from one of his inspirational childhood heroes, someone who helped kindle his dream of competing in the race,
“Thank you Isabelle. When you were sailing the Vendée Globe, I was a big, big fan of yours and you definitely inspired me into doing the Vendée myself. I always felt like you are a very, very solid and a very fast sailor.”
Behind him those chasing in his wake, from Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE, 4th) to Clarisse Cremer (L'Occitane en Provence, 13th) are expected to regroup and will have to be patient in the face of a growing ridge of high pressure blocking their path under Tasmania.
On Friday 13th Ruyant’s luck is the most miserable, already slowed in the the growing light winds hurdle. Sitting atop the coachroof of his IMOCA VULNERABLE looking dejected on a flat sea with under 10 knots of wind whilst the ‘podium posse’ were moving ever further away from him, the skipper from the north of France, who had some of the worst luck on the 2020-21 race when he lost his port foil early in the Indian Ocean and then was displaced out of the top five by sailors who received time compensation, mused: “It is the worst case scenario for me. I thought I would pass the high pressure ridge easily but I'm stuck in it. I have less wind than I expected. I won’t now succeed in getting across it. The boats behind me will go around. Me, I'm in it and the leaders will get away. I thought I would have 15 knots and manage to get to the other side, but it's not the case, the ridge is going with me. And the high pressure which is forming under Tasmania I can't manage to get myself to the East of it. So a few complicated days ahead for me.”
A ridge for the weekend
Nicolas Lunven (Holcim-PRB), 6th, is also one of the first to be slowed down but, as ever he remains quite zen and objective. “If you let yourself get frustrated by this you will be frustrated all the time, every day. The calm zone is developing to our South and another one is coming up behind. The idea is to try to position yourself as best you can, but it’s not easy. If you go north, you have to cross it again… We’re watching the situation develop carefully. It should keep us busy all weekend and bother us all the way to the south of Tasmania.”
It is all good here in the Pacific Ocean - very happy to be in this one. It's very, very unstable tonight, like a frozen doldrums. We've got hail squalls and 40 knot squalls and very unstable wind that's shifting a lot in direction. So not an easy night.
Verdier on Dalin
Guillaume Verdier, who – with his team – designed the top two boats in the race at the moment, Dalin’s MACIF Santé Prévoyance and Seb Simon’s Groupe Dubreuil (formerly The Ocean Race winner 11th Hour, was on the Vendée Globe LIVE! show too.
Of the second half of Dalin’s race Verdier said, “I guess his job is to not burn himself, not damage the boat -- when you drive like he does, he must not overheat and must just keep going. So it's a job of patience and strategy and tactics - he seems to be good at it. We are really happy the way it goes. Unfortunately, for Seb Simon, he's got one foil damaged - it's a real shame. He was really impressive and I'm very happy that it didn't damage the rudder or any other things as this part of the structure detached from the boat. It's the boat that also won The Ocean Race. It may have been that the boat suffered, I don't know, but anyway, he's doing a very, very impressive race.”
And explaining how he things Simon’s performance might be compromised he said, “It looks okay downwind and still he suffers a little bit. He must be heeling a lot more and must change the trajectory a little bit. He must have two polars running on his software, but it will be heeling at 25 or 30 degrees when reaching instead of 7 or 10.”
It is the worst case scenario for me. I thought I would pass the high pressure ridge easily but I'm stuck in it. I have less wind than I expected. I won’t now succeed in getting across it. The boats behind me will go around. Me, I'm in it and the leaders will get away.
Image: Groupe Dubreuil, Photo by skipper Sébastien Simon