Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Vendee Globe Ocean Race, Day 52 - Cape Horn Warning

-Vendée Globe’s youngest rookie François Gabart set to lead at Cape Horn
-Armel Le Cléac’h due to pass two hours later


The two runaway leaders of the Vendée Globe are due at Cape Horn from around 1730hrs UTC (1830hrs French time) this afternoon with the youngest skipper on the course, François Gabart (MACIF) expected to be first to pass the longitude of the infamous rock, the most southerly point of the course, on his very first attempt at the solo non stop around the world race.


At 50 miles to the third and most feared of the race’s three Great Capes, 29-year-old Gabart was leading Le Cléac’h by some 35 miles, just as he also did at Cape Leeuwin, the second Cape, on the evening of December 14th. The top duo have traded the lead 15 times since SW Australia’s Leeuwin, but once more it is Gabart who emerges with the upper hand at a focal point of the race.

The Macif skipper seems set to add to his growing collection of Vendée Globe records. After improving the elapsed time mark from Les Sables d’Olonne to Cape Leeuwin by 2 days 2 hours and 24 minutes, Gabart should now also lower the best time from the start to Cape Horn by something close to 4 days and 9 hours. The bar was set by his project manager and mentor Michel Desjoyeaux in January 2009 at 56 days 15 hours and 08 minutes en route to winning his second Vendée Globe crown. Race rookie Gabart has also already set a new best time for the passage of the Indian Ocean. Le Cléac’h – who finished second to Desjoyeaux in the last race – looks to be around two to 2.5 hours behind.


Ice with it ?
With a proliferation of ice around their route, carefully monitored by CLS and the Chilean and Argentinian air forces, the leading duo are expected to slow to a more prudent pace. Gabart was making 18kts in the early afternoon but on the 1500hrs UTC ranking had slowed to 14kts. They should be delivered from the Pacific Ocean in SW’ly winds of around 20kts. Even a hint of blue skies are expected to add lustre to one of this historic race’s most memorable passages, conditions which are very much contrary to the hardest Cape’s reputation for fierce, feezing winds and mountainous seas. With a large high pressure system attached to the South American peninsula over offering only light winds, the leaders are expected to continue east on a long starboard gybe, ultimately passing to the east of the Falkland Islands.


When the duo double Cape Horn in rapid succession it will be the closest passage of recent editions. In 2009 Roland Jourdain was very nearly nine hours behind leader Desjoyeaux and in 2005 Jean Le Cam lead Vincent Riou by nearly 15 hours.

Speaking on Vendée Globe LIVE today, double Vendée Globe winner Michel Desjoyeaux said:
“ I’m not surprised to see François and Armel so close. They’re both such good regatta specialists, they can relish the close proximity. But doing that for such a long period is exceptional, it’s been going on for 15 days, so psychologically it must be so demanding. I’m sure they’d actually prefer to be a little further away from each other. But they will fight hard until the end. Maybe strategy and choices will make a difference in the next few hours.”


Up and down
The fortunes of those skippers who are giving the most immediate chase appear to wax and wane.  Jean-Pierre Dick has found the winds conspire against him as he anticipates his sixth passage of Cape Horn. Having initially had a direct course towards the mark, Dick has had to reposition to the south and therefore lost more than 150 hard earned miles. The opposite fate is being offered to Briton Alex Thomson who has a fast, direct course. Quickest in the fleet again today, the speedy Hugo Boss skipper has made 111 miles on Dick since the morning of 30th December and is now 470 miles behind the Frenchman.  JP on Virbac-Paprec 3 is currently estimated to be at Cape Horn around 1 day and seven hours after the leader.


“ Rounding Cape Horn is a special moment.” Confirms Desjoyeaux, “But the reputation of the Cape really dates back to centuries ago. So nowadays, it’s more of  relief than anything else. You simply can’t wait to get out of the Southern oceans and feel closer to land. Some skippers will see their first land since Spain. Sometimes, you even don’t care about not sailing flat out because you’re just relieved the conditions are better and you’re closer to civilization. But it’s not like they can relax or anything, the ice is a real concern and they’ll have to be extremely careful.”

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