Despite being warned in advance and having their position and course communicated to the skippers, some passed within sight of the icebergs. At least two icebergs were sighted by satellite outside the Antarctic Exclusion Zone (AEZ) and were expected to be very close to the Vendée Globe participants. The ice exclusion zone was set up to prevent skippers from getting too close to icebergs. However, once the first competitors have sailed past it, the exclusion zone may no longer be changed in order to keep conditions the same for everyone. However, long after the first boats have passed, at least two icebergs have moved northwards across the exclusion zone.
Iceberg at a close distance
One of the first to be affected was Sébastien Marsset ("Foussier") in 22nd place, who reported: "Thirty minutes after I had phoned race control, my radar alarm went off and I had an echo four miles ahead of me. I stuck my head out and immediately saw the iceberg. It was all hands on deck because I was travelling at 17 knots under the small gennaker! I tacked upwind, which temporarily pushed me even closer to the iceberg, furled the gennaker and was 2.5 miles away from the iceberg. I had to take a second reef to really slow down. I was heading straight for it!"
Marsset was torn between fascination and stress in view of the hundred metre long block: "I admit that I didn't sleep much last night, but now... it's tense! It's nerve-wracking because we're scrutinising everything, I've got all my alarms on, I don't know how much time I've spent outside watching out for the tiniest bit of foam because I thought it was a piece of ice! I have to take a breath, everything is fine, there is another one further east but I think I will put more distance between it and its theoretical position. My idea is to steer away from the ice zone, I admit it blew my mind! The year 2025 is starting very intensely, I've seen an iceberg for the first time in my life!"
The body is only 3.6 millimetres thick
A few hours later, it was Eric Bellion ("Stand As One - Altavia", 23rd) who filmed the icy monster at 54° South. He said: "I admire our pioneers who went there on their first circumnavigations, it took a lot of courage and certainly a bit of daring, respect to them! It's frightening. My hull is 3.6 millimetres thick, I can't afford to hit that. Icebergs are nice for expedition boats with steel hulls, but not for our carbon racing boats."
Further back, New Zealander Conrad Colman (MS Amlin, 27th) spotted an iceberg. As the sun slowly set, just before dusk, a gigantic silhouette appeared on the horizon, so that the Kiwi was even able to launch his drone to film the iceberg up close.
Tension at the top
Meanwhile, the two leaders are once again battling light winds, with an area of high pressure standing between them and the south-east trade winds. Charlie Dalin ("Macif Santé Prévoyance") is just under 26 miles ahead of Yoann Richomme ("Paprec Arkèa"). Both are currently travelling north at around ten knots.
In third place, Sèbastien Simon ("Groupe Dureuil") is sailing his own race. He is around 346 miles behind and has positioned himself close to the Brazilian coast.
In fourth and fifth place are Thomas Ryant ("Vulnerable", 1370 miles behind) and Paul Meilhat ("Biotherm", 1557 nm). They are positioned between the leaders and the chasing pack.
This is led by Nicolas Lunven ("Holcim-PRB", 1657 nm), closely followed by Jérémie Beyou ("Charal", 1688 nm), Sam Goodchild ("Vulnerable", 1733 nm) and Boris Herrmann ("Malizia-Seaexplorer", 1737 nm). Justine Mettraux ("TeamWork-Team Snef", 1800 nm) is hot on his heels before a larger gap of around 745 miles opens up to the next boats. The group is currently crossing in the middle between a high and a low pressure area. Sam Goodchild describes the situation as follows: "Boris is closest to me at the moment and I'm generally doing well against him. But it's hard to compare what's boat speed and what's wind shifts, what's the right play with the clouds and how to catch the right clouds at the right time. But when we were lined up together it went quite well, I was able to keep up with him or sometimes was even a bit faster, which is encouraging. So I'm just trying to keep at it and improve."
Boris Herrmann slowly
Boris Herrmann is not looking like catching up at the moment. Over the past 24 hours, he has made the second least progress in his group with 184 miles and an average speed of 7.7 knots. In the lead, Nicolas Lunven managed 203 miles at 8.5 knots, while his current direct rival Sam Goodchild was the only one to be slightly slower at 175 miles and 7.3 knots. So there is a duel going on between these two.
14 boats around Cape Horn
14 boats have passed the third big cape of this Vendée Globe. The passage times:
- Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA): 43d 11h 25min 20s - 12/23/2024 23:27:20 UTC
- Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance): 43d 11h 34min 50s - 12/23/2024 23:36:50 UTC
- Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil): 44d 21h 19min 38s - 12/25/2024 09:21:38 UTC
- Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE): 47d 05h 36min 29s - 12/27/2024 17:38:29 UTC
- Jérémie Beyou (Charal): 47d 16h 14min 46s - 12/28/2024 04:16:46 UTC
- Nicolas Lunven ( Holcim PRB): 47d 16h 29min 46s - 12/28/2024 04:31:46 UTC
- Boris Herrmann (Malizia - Seaexplorer): 47d 22h 49min 30s - 12/28/2024 10:51:30 UTC
- Paul Meilhat (Biotherm): 47d 22h 50min 01s - 12/28/2024 10:52:01 UTC
- Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE): 48d 02h 42min 52s - 12/28/2024 14:44:52 UTC
- Justine Mettraux (TeamWork - Team Snef): 48d 04h 20min 23s - 12/28/2024 16:22:23 UTC
- Yannick Bestaven (Maître CoQ V) : 49d 07h 19min 06s - 12/29/2024 19:21:06 UTC
- Clarisse Crémer (L'Occitane en Provence) : 52d 02h 17min 07s - 01/01/2025 14:19:07 UTC
- Benjamin Dutreux (GUYOT environnement - Water Family) : 52d 03h 26min 27s - 01/01/2025 15:28:27 UTC
- Sam Davies (Initiatives-Cœur) : 52d 09h 07min 15s - 01/01/2025 21:09:15 UTC
