Vendee Globe Ocean Race, Can two become three?

Armel Le Cléac’h and his long time running partner François Gabart may have had it all their own way, making the pace at the front of the Vendée Globe fleet since well before they passed side-by-side into the Pacific Ocean nine days ago. But – as was widely predicted – the twosome have finally been slowed through today.  It has been the two skippers which are chasing hard behind, Jean-Pierre Dick and Alex Thomson, who have finally been granted the chance to shine.

Dick and Thomson are riding up on a fast moving low pressure system which will ultimately reach and rescue the two leaders from their light winds low pressure trough. Dick has had Virbac-Paprec 3 at 18 to 19 knots for much of Thursday whilst speedster Thomson has been quickest in the fleet averaging over 18 knots over the previous 24 hours. Both have recovered more than 100 miles on the leaders today so far, and their gains are expected to accumulate progressively over the next 24 hours.

Whilst the two leaders are scarcely voicing concerns, the threat from both chasing skippers may not be immediate, but it certainly gives hope to Frenchman Dick and the Briton who, like Gabart ahead, has yet to round Cape Horn solo.

The top two are still expected at the Cape on January 1st.

All four know well what weather traps can await after Cape Horn, in the South Atlantic where the return round, past or through the Saint Helena High anticyclone is just one where light winds can effectively open doors, or alternatively slam them shut hard.

JP Dick’s margin should be less than 500 miles by this evening, and correspoindingly Hugo Boss is also at 903 miles to Le Cléac’h. Recent routings still have Dick, the skipper who has passed the mythical rocky Cape many more times (5) than his rivals being granted a much more direct route to the Horn. Indeed some still predictVirbac-Paprec 3 will be a matter of hours behind at the ‘big left turn’ rather than the current deficit of more than one day.

In turn Le Cléac’h has actually gained on Gabart who has been slowed more with a much reduced VMG.

"It looks like François and I just can’t stay away from each other, the gaps are tiny, we’ve had quite similar routes so far. » Le Cléac’h told Vendée Globe LIVE, « It’s been a great fight pretty much since the start of the race and because there aren’t that many different options mainly because of the weather, we should stay close to each other for a while, unless something unexpected happens."

Dick is ready for his big push: “Right now I have a 28-32-knot wind but I know it’s going to go up to 40 knots so I’m ready to go out there and trim my sails for whatever comes. There’s so much noise on the boat! Right now my speed is 19-20 knots, it’s pretty good. But the waves are quite rough.  It’s tough but it’s still better than yesterday, when the wind was much lighter than the weather files had predicted. I’m glad things changed and I think Gabart and Le Cléac’h will slow down so hopefully I can catch up with them a bit in the next few days.  It’s hard for me to say what the maximum gap between me and the leaders could be at Cape Horn for me to still have a chance… I just can’t answer because I know my boat and her current state very well but I have no idea how their boats are doing. So many things can change and evolve before we get there…

Protest hearing for Stamm
Bernard Stamm’s attempts to finish his first Vendée Globe remain stalled off Dunedin as he tries to complete all of his repairs, including the essential hydrogenerators. He was reported to be hoping to leave later Thursday (French time) but as yet there has been no confirmation of a departure time.

When his anchor became stuck fast in the kelp beds in Sandy Bay, the refuge in the east of the Auckland Islands where he initially tried to make his first repairs, Stamm sought permission to lie alongside a Russian scientific survey vessel which was anchored in the same location. Now the exact way in which this operation was undertaken is under scrutiny by the Race Committee who have raised a protest which is now in front of the International Jury for hearing,  which is under way. The race rules under Notice of Race 3.2 preclude any form of outside assistance.

With very limited power Stamm will complete his repairs and then is expected to provide required information to the hearing.

Bubi climbs but loses miles
Spain’s Javier ‘Bubi’ Sanso, in seventh, successfully climbed the mast of Acciona 100% Eco Powered early today to make a repair to his damaged headboard car. He chose to make a detour north, rising a few degrees of latitude to find milder temperatures simply so he could work more efficiently whilst swinging 27 metres up in the air. His tenacity was rewarded when he discovered the damage was much worse than it could be:

“It was the piece that I had already changed in the Canaries which was faulty. The plastic bush that goes into the car and which reduces the friction when going up the track was missing when I lowered the main yesterday…so they were touching. You had the aluminium from the car against the aluminium on the track. I had to make a kind of invention and change the parts in the car to that which I had changed…anyway I had to cut a pin and make an invention that I hope will hold as I have no more parts…
Now funnily I have raised the car that I changed in the Canaries with the titanium fixtures of the one I had previously… well anyway, as long as it all holds we are at 100%. The piece is held better in this car.
But just like it was in the Canaries, this repair has not only made me lose time repairing but also completely left my out of sync with the racing.”