Vendée Globe: Record broken again - will Herrmann be left behind despite catching up?
Max Gasser
· 20.11.2024
"I'm sorry, I'm really sad for you. But I stole your world record, man!" a visibly euphoric Yoann Richomme shouted into his camera this morning. Shortly beforehand, it had become clear: The 24-hour record of former Malizia navigator Nico Lunven from last week is already history again. "Paprec Arkea" skipper Richomme beat it by 5.24 miles, covering a distance of 551.84 nautical miles in flat water and around 18 knots of wind from 8.30 a.m. yesterday to 8.30 a.m. today.
Vendée Globe: Is Goodchild racing away after the Doldrums?
"I pushed hard because I was really afraid of losing touch," the 41-year-old Frenchman later explained in the daily Vendée Globe live programme. What is meant is the decisive jump out of the light windy Doldrums into the south-east trade winds in the same weather window as the leading group around Sam Goodchild. "It's been a slow journey so far. I know I've broken the record and we've beaten it twice, but it's so slow between these days," lamented Richomme, who is currently in eighth place after his record-breaking run. Like the rest of the fleet, he had to contend with very light winds throughout the day and was "not really happy with the situation".
Boris Herrmann, on the other hand, was a completely different story, coming from behind today and at times logging the best speed values over four hours. This allowed him to work his way up to 16th place. Still 116.7 nautical miles behind the lead, the fate feared by Yoann Richomme of being left behind in the Doldrums is unlikely to be averted for the German offshore sailor.
Boris Herrmann faces major challenge in second Vendée Globe participation
Over the past few days, the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" skipper had already been struggling with the demanding conditions, including sudden wind holes and challenging cloud formations. At times, the tracker documented a delay of over 260 nautical miles. The intra-tropical convergence zone that the 43-year-old reached today is likely to present further challenges and delay him for several more hours.
Herrmann also reached the Doldrums earlier than he had expected. "I thought I would have a little more time to sail fast," he explained in the evening. In addition to lulls, however, the sailors in the Doldrums are also plagued by heavy rain and violent squalls as well as very inconsistent winds overall. "There have already been a few huge rain clouds with big wind shifts of 90 degrees. First 22 knots of wind, then only eight, but that's okay."
These conditions force the sailors to do a lot of trimming as well as numerous course and sail changes. Herrmann is therefore also preparing for an intensive night. Despite today's race to catch up, it will probably come down to a constellation true to the motto "the rich get richer" in the coming hours. Because as soon as the leaders, especially Sam Goodchild in absolute pole position, escape the Doldrums, they can expect almost ideal conditions in the South Atlantic as far as the Cape of Good Hope, while the extended leading group behind them will struggle to jump on this weather window.
Le Cam's eastern route failed, keel problem with Amedeo
Jean Le Cam's eastern strategy, which was initially associated with high expectations, did not pay off in the end either. The Breton is currently in 15th place and now has a challenging task ahead of him, characterised by light winds and difficult angles.
Meanwhile, compatriot Fabrice Amedeo has had to sail in safety mode at reduced speed since yesterday evening. The reason was probably an oil leak in the keel hydraulics of his Imoca "Nexans - Wewise" from 2007, which he has since repaired.
