Vendée Globe: Slight upswing for Dalin, Ruyant shaken - "never experienced before"
Neither the two leaders Charlie Dalin and Yoann Richomme nor their chasing pack from fourth-placed Thomas Ruyant to eleventh-placed Justine Mettraux have an easy life on board at the moment. Whilst the far-dispersed leaders are still stuck in an extensive area of high pressure, behind them they have been fighting for every mile for days in increasingly unstable winds and large, rough waves.
Now a storm is threatening with winds of up to 40 knots. Frenchman Thomas Ruyant was already caught by a gust of more than 50 knots yesterday, which could have significant consequences for the rest of the race. His "Vulnerable" lay on its cheek and his J2 shredded. The 100 square metre headsail had been indispensable in the days before. "There are still a few square metres in tatters. I've never experienced anything like it. It was about 20 knots, then the wind suddenly picked up. I didn't see it coming. It turned into a tornado. It lasted two hours, with 45 to 60 knots!" wrote the 43-year-old. He is currently in fourth place, around 160 nautical miles ahead of his first pursuer Paul Meilhat.
Charlie Dalin on his way to winning the Vendée Globe?
Ahead of him, third-placed Sebastien Simon, who has a broken foil, is stalking close to the Brazilian coast, while the Richomme-Dalin duel seems to have no end in sight. However, Dalin has managed to pull away slightly over the past 24 hours. While "Paprec Arkea" travelled 145.6 nautical miles, the leader was able to log 173.5 miles. "I'm not complaining and we should get faster today and get a bit more wind. The trade winds should pick up during the day as we sail north towards the equator," said Dalin.
Recently, the winds for the two top favourites had not only been quite flat, but also very inconsistent. "Macif Santé Prévoyance" skipper Charlie Dalin had "never sailed in such large, rapid wind fluctuations." Thanks to the light conditions of up to 33 degrees, it was nevertheless easy to sleep. In the battle for victory at the 10th Vendée Globe, this should certainly put the 40-year-old in a positive mood in addition to his current position.
Boris Herrmann battles in adverse conditions
Boris Herrmann, who has to deal with uncomfortable seas in the chasing pack, is quite different. "We've had a headwind since the Falkland Islands and it's not very pleasant, especially now that the sea is building up, it's banging hard, sometimes we're a bit scared for the boat!" The group with Sam Goodchild, Jeremie Béyou and Nicolas Lunven are expecting a storm with winds of up to 40 knots soon. "I hope we can get out of it without having to set the storm jib! After that, we should pass the centre of the depression, even if it's not entirely clear on which route, and then we'll work our way north, but that's not easy," says the "Malizia-Seaexplorer" skipper.
Currently lying in ninth place, the German, tired from numerous manoeuvres, is expecting a few more days with an unclear weather situation and possibly important decisions. Paul Meilhat has already managed to escape from the small chasing group. Boris Herrmann also confirmed this: "Paul (Meilhat) left us behind, he did a great job. We were all sceptical about the route, at least I was, which is why I didn't take it! But it was a mistake when you think about it!"
Vendée Globe: More than half of the skippers still behind Cape Horn
One place behind her is Justine Mettraux, the first woman in the current ranking in tenth place. With her current route to the west of the low, the Swiss seems to want to start a small race to catch up with an uncertain outcome. Benjamin Dutreux, Clarisse Cremer and Sam Davies are currently well behind her on the Falkland Islands. Meanwhile, Romain Attanasio on the former "Malizia - Seaexplorer" and Damien Seguin on his "Groupe Apicil" rounded Cape Horn this morning. However, this means that more than half of the fleet is still behind the infamous headland. Last-placed Denis Van Weynbergh from Belgium is even 7,361 nautical miles behind Charlie Dalin, who still has a good 4,000 miles to go to the finish line.
