Vendée Globe: New Year's greetings and concern for the boats in humpback conditions
Tatjana Pokorny
· 01.01.2025
Charlie Dalin and Yoann Richomme remained the dominant forces on the Vendée Globe on New Year's morning. The skippers of "Macif Santé Prévoyance" and "Paprec Arkéa" used the tip of a still young low pressure area off Cabo Frio north of Rio de Janeiro as a bridge over the St Helena High. As a result, they recently made good progress at speeds of almost 20 knots.
Vendée Globe: Dalin continues to dominate in the new year
However, because Charlie Dalin had reached the fresher winds first, he was able to slightly extend his lead over Yoann Richomme on New Year's Eve, before Yoann Richomme closed to within 60 nautical miles of him again on New Year's morning. Both were struggling to reach the trade winds north of Salvador de Bahia as quickly as possible.
Behind her, Sébastien Simon ("Groupe Dubreuil") maintained his position some four degrees of latitude further south and closer to the Brazilian coast on New Year's morning, 376 nautical miles behind Dalin. With his broken starboard foil, the third in the fleet remained unchallenged by direct competition. Thomas Ruyant in fourth place could only claim this to a limited extent.
Although "Vulnerable" skipper Ruyant still held a lead of around 230 nautical miles over "Biotherm" chaser Paul Meilhat at the 11 a.m. position update on 1 January, his cushion has shrunk somewhat. Overall, Ruyant's lead over the chasers in fifth to tenth place has also been reduced somewhat.
On the mogul slope between low, high and the ice edge
The group of hunters sailed northwards between a low-pressure area to their west and a high-pressure area to the east in an upwind corridor at latitudes 44 to 46 degrees south. The last corner of the ice edge as a restricted area on their right-hand side made optimal progress even more difficult. The boats hammered mercilessly into the sea again and again in winds of 25 knots and more.
There was hardly any time for a New Year's Eve party on board or even much leisure for New Year's thoughts for the hard-pressed skippers at the turn of the year. In this top ten chasing group, Boris Herrmann was still in ninth place on New Year's morning, maintaining a slightly reduced lead of a good 30 nautical miles over the Swiss "TeamWork - Team Snef" skipper Justine Mettraux.
The gaps between the chasers remained small overall: Boris Herrmann was separated from Nico Lunven ("Holcim - PRB"), Jérémie Beyou ("Charal") and Sam Goodchild ("Vulnerable"), who were in sixth to eighth place ahead of him, by 13 to 60 nautical miles at the 11 o'clock position update on 1 January. "These are tough conditions! We're sailing on the wind, the boat is hitting the sea. And that goes on for another two days. Then we'll find other conditions again and fight our way further north towards home," said Boris Herrmann on New Year's Eve, describing the unpleasant conditions.
Beyou fights for a better Vendée Globe chapter
While the top ten chasers continue to stalk each other and the stress level has risen accordingly, Jérémie Beyou, who has dropped back to seventh place, took some time to reflect on the effects of almost 52 days at sea and the current rodeo conditions during his group's upwind sailing in the South Atlantic.
The 48-year-old took part in the Vendée Globe for the first time in 2008, but quickly retired with a fracture. Four years later, he also had to abandon his solo race with keel problems. Jérémie Beyou achieved his formidable third podium finish in 2016/2017, despite having to compete in a large part of the Vendée Globe without weather information and communication.
At the last edition of the Vendée Globe, Beyou started the race as one of the co-favourites, but had to turn back to Les Sables-d'Olonne for repairs just four days after the start. He was only able to resume the race 9 days, 2 hours and 50 minutes after the official start and finished in thirteenth place after a mentally demanding chase around the world. Charal remained his loyal sponsor.
It really shakes us up." Jérémie Beyou
This time, Beyou wanted more again. But he is currently struggling over the South Atlantic moguls like his competitors. "The conditions are difficult. I have 28 knots of wind and chop. We're trying to find our way between this stormy low-pressure area coming towards us in the west and this high-pressure area in the east."
The "Biotherm" attack: too bold or successful?
Beyou continued: "In between there is a current from the north, between 25 and 30 knots, but with a short and choppy sea. I have two reefs and J3. When we are in the current the wind is more or less in line with the models, on the other hand in stormy lows like this it's a bit crazy, there are big storms which I try to avoid!"
His assessment: "I think 'Malizia', 'Vulnerable' and 'Holcim' are doing the same as me, trying to avoid the stormiest zone. 'Biotherm' has gone right into that zone, it seems a bit daring to me! And Justine is also at the limit! But finding a way through is not easy, we're hardly making any progress, the weather conditions are really not favourable."
Beyou outlined what this could mean for the boats, which are already tired after almost 52 days at sea: "I have a whole series of breakdowns on board, one after the other. The fire I had three days ago has made me very vigilant when it comes to the smallest electrical connection. I just dropped a radar unit on deck - the list is long!"
Being in a group increases the pressure." Jérémie Beyou
The situation brings additional challenges for the equally tired skippers, whose faces speak volumes in the pictures from the sea. Beyou says: "It's complicated to race in a group in these conditions. So it's not much fun. You can't afford to make many mistakes. These are boats that are all fast. I would definitely prefer to be a bit more isolated at the front!"
Crémer, Dutreux and Davies: New Year off Cape Horn
According to Beyou, the mental strain adds to this: "It's not easy to see how the others are progressing in the rankings. It's one thing when they catch up with you. But it's still a bit difficult morally to be overtaken by boats you haven't seen since the start. But we will have to keep fighting, if the boat allows it, to try and catch them again!"
Behind the top ten, three more boats are expected off Cape Horn on New Year's Day: Clarisse Crémer ("L'Occitaine en Provence") and Benjamin Dutreux ("Guyot Environnement-Water Family") will approach the third and most important milestone of their Vendée Globe in the course of the day and are likely to be slowed down somewhat by the weaker winds. Sam Davies ("Initiatives - Coeur") could use this opportunity to attack in thirteenth place and get much closer to Crémer and Dutreux.
