Week 4
The different options chosen by the skippers started showing results on November 30, when the leader himself admitted the southerly route may have been the best. Dick briefly took the lead of the race on December 1, just before entering the « Great South » from Armel Le Cléac'h, who had led since November 16. In the process, the Virbac-Paprec skipper set a new 24-hour record, covering more than 500 miles – 502! – in a day. But François Gabart was the one crossing the first of the eight ice gates first. The leaders - Le Cléac'h, Gabart, Dick and Stamm – regrouped with Thomson 100 miles behind them while the pendant que les « senior sailors » tried to keep up with the rhythm 400 miles behind the front runners. On December 2, Jean Le Cam noticed a net was caught up in his keel and decided to dive to release it. The complex operation was a success and became one of the unforgettable moments in the race. On Monday, December 3, Armel Le Cléac'h was the first to round the Cape of Good Hope after 22d23h46’ of race, beating the previous record, set by Vincent Riou in 2004, by more than 24 hours. Finally, it was Indian Ocean time!
The leaders’ speed in such strong wind widened the gap between the frontrunners and the chasing skippers, with 2,200 miles (4,000 kilometres) between the leaders and the last skipper. The former tried to sail as fast as they possibly can to avoid the anticyclone threatening to catch up with them, which turned out to be difficult because of a tricky cross sea. While Armel Le Cléac'h was heading north to cross the ice gates, his opponents chose a curvier southerly route, despite the risk of coming across ice. Behind them, the « senior sailors » were in a close fight - Dominique Wavre and Jean Le Cam even sailed at sight for a few hours on December 7. Armel Le Cléac'h might have been the first to cross the Crozet gate, the anticyclone ended up catching up with him and the Banque Populaire skipper gave up his leadership position to Gabart and then to Stamm, before taking it back a few days later while the other skippers were forced to head north to cross the mandatory gate.
Week 5
Armel Le Cléac'h took the lead on December 8th. Once the second ice gate was passed, the weather conditions were suitable for speed records with a strong northwesterly wind that pushed leaders on a little formed sea. François Gabart was the fastest in that speed game and shattered the 24 hours record with 534.48 miles... Incredible! He took the opportunity to take over the lead, and two days later, he set a new record: the best time ever achieved between Les Sables d'Olonne and Cape Leeuwin (34d10h23'). The duel with Le Cléac'h looked like a match-race as the distance between the two leaders was reduced to its minimum compared the entire Vendée Globe journey... Therefore, it was increasingly difficult for their rivals to follow them, particularly for Bernard Stamm, who faced several problems with his mainsail boards, and a very unlucky Alex Thomson, who hit two UFOs in less than 24 hours, which destroyed his hydrogenerator, damaged his rudder and broke another rudder tie bar. Only Jean-Pierre Dick managed to stay in the leaders’ wake. While crossing the Amsterdam gate, the MACIF skipper was only 20 minutes ahead, after 24,000km of sailing! At the end of the fifth week, Gabart, Le Cléac'h and Dick managed to stay in the same weather conditions while, behind them, Thomson and Stamm stalled. Then the gap with the leaders grew quickly; respectively 500 and 600 miles. While the first skippers arrived at the Cape Leeuwin, Alessandro Di Benedetto (Team Plastique) crossed the Cape of Good Hope on December 12, 2012...
Important facts:
December 7: Jean Le Cam and Dominique Wavre see each other in the middle of the Indian Ocean, sailing a few hundred metres away from each other.
December 9: Sam Davies is back in Les Sables d’Olonne, so is Jérémie Beyou.
During the night, as he was sailing at fast speed, Alex Thomson hits a UFO, seriously damaging HUGO BOSS’ rudder blade and breaking his hydrogenerator. The British skipper works all night long in order to fix the problems which will later cause many energy issues.
December 10: François Gabart shatters the 24-hour record, covering 532 miles.
December 12: Bubi breaks part of his starboard rudder blade.
December 14: François Gabart stes a new record between Les Sables d’Olonne and Cape Leeuwin in 34d10h23'
Rankings:
Banque Populaire
MACIF
Virbac Paprec 3
Cheminées Poujoulat
HUGO BOSS
SynerCiel
Gamesa
Mirabaud
ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered
AKENA Vérandas
Votre Nom autour du Monde avec EDM Projets
Initiatives-cœur
Team Plastique
Key quotes:
Alessandro Di Benedetto (ITA, Team Plastique), December 4
« It’s so much fun to sail on this boat, I can run on the deck and stand up, which I wasn’t used to. And she also goes much faster than a 6.50-metre boat, it’s amazing. This is a beautiful race, I have no words to describe it. And the boat is doing ok. »
Bernard Stamm (SUI, Cheminées Poujoulat), December 7
« It’s just awesome! The boat is great, even though she still needs improved protection, but apart from that, it’s fun. Conditions are good but tough, especially when the boat is going full speed. We’re close to each other, it feels like a regatta, it’s cool. Last night, I saw François on the AIS. »
Mike Golding (GBR, Gamesa), December 9
« The ice gates have changed the race a lot, and even more so now they have been moved. As I’ve said before, as a result, we haven’t made the right sail choices. If I had known we’d sail that much north, I would have taken different sails with me. But it’s the same for every one of us and to be honest, it’s still better than to have to play Russian roulette with icebergs at night! »
François Gabart (FRA, MACIF), December 13
«I have a hard time keeping track of records and race time since we don’t have the same routes. And the ice gates are making things different, too. That’s why I think it’s useless to compare race times, I’m not interested, I don’t care. It’s pointless. »
Dominique Wavre (SUI, Mirabaud), February 8
« I could see the boat of my buddy, Jean, getting closer, it was amazing. Mike Golding wasn’t far away either, it was a real fight. Jean got closer and closer, I tried to call him on the VHF but he didn’t answer. Finally I saw him get on the deck, shooting a video of me… just when I was filming him too! »
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