Vendée Globe: Ten days to the finish? Dalin: "Life is good at the moment!"
Tatjana Pokorny
· 04.01.2025
Charlie Dalin is galloping towards the finish harbour of the Vendée Globe. The 40-year-old leader of the 35-boat fleet has recently extended his lead over his rival Yoann Richomme to 122 nautical miles. Early in the morning on 4 January, Dalin still had around 650 nautical miles to go to the equator. At the 7 o'clock position update, it was "only" 3834 nautical miles to the start and finish harbour of Les Sables-d'Olonne.
"Life is good at the moment. Life on board is nice: it's 33 degrees during the day and 27 degrees at night, so it's easy to sleep. The sea is flat. So it's easy to move around, eat and sleep. Yes, it's been slow, but also really pleasant for a few days. I'm not complaining. And we should speed up during the day today and start to experience more wind again," reported "Macif Santé Prévoyance" skipper Charlie Dalin, who was sailing at around the eleventh parallel south on Saturday morning.
Will the Vendée Globe winner be in place by mid-January?
The Vendée Globe organisers have already announced the expected arrival of the front runners as 14 to 16 January. This is not yet a certain arrival period, but is in line with the latest forecasts. Meanwhile, the position changes in the top ten remain manageable, while the chasing group around Boris Herrmann recently had to battle in rough conditions before the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" skipper found himself in the eye of the storm, as his video clip showed on the evening of 3 January.
Progress was not easy for anyone in the end. On the two leading boats, Charlie Dalin and Yoann Richomme had to battle longer with the light winds of an extensive area of high pressure. Behind them, the chasing pack around Boris Herrmann, who had moved back up to eighth place overnight, had to bolt against the wind for days in fickle winds and roaring seas.
With the boats now sailing for almost 55 days and getting tired, the endurance test for the skippers and one female skipper and their Imocas continues. Fourth-placed "Vulnerable" skipper Thomas Ruyant had to learn the hard way just the day before what can happen when his important J2 headsail shredded irreparably in a squall of over 50 knots.
Brutal humping at the Vendée Globe
Boris Herrmann has won back his eighth place from "Vulnerable" skipper Sam Goodchild overnight. The German and the Brit have been wrestling with each other for days in tough conditions. Boris Herrmann reported: "We've had upwind conditions since the Falkland Islands. That's not very pleasant. Especially not now that the swell is increasing. The boat is hitting the waves hard."
Boris Herrmann expressed the hopes of all the skippers affected by the hump: "We are all looking forward to when this is over. Also because it feels like it will last forever. It's a bit annoying that the weather models change a lot from one session to the next. So we don't really know what to think! It's good that we're sailing together in groups a bit."
However, like his direct opponents, Herrmann also had to watch Paul Meilhat's successful breakaway attempt. The "Biotherm" skipper, who was still in tenth place ten days ago on Boxing Day, almost 300 nautical miles behind fourth-placed Thomas Ruyant ("Vulnerable"), had already moved up to fifth place on 30 December. On the morning of 4 January, after his successful attempt to break out of the Herrmann chasing group in fifth to tenth place at the turn of the year, he is now only a good 50 nautical miles behind Ruyant.
Successful breakout by Paul Meilhat
Meilhat's closed set to the front was initially labelled "risky" by "Charal" skipper Jérémie Beyou. Boris Herrmann also initially considered the Meilhat variant to be less desirable due to the heavier weather. In the meantime, Boris Herrmann knows: "Paul Meilhat has left us behind. He did a great job and studied the route a little more closely. We were all, certainly I was, more sceptical about the routing. That's the reason why I didn't follow the route. But that was a mistake when you think about it!"
Looking back, Boris Herrmann noted: "The night we sailed near the Falkland Islands, I was ahead of him. He has now built up a huge lead." Towards the end of the 55th day of racing, Paul Meilhat was around 300 nautical miles ahead of Boris Herrmann. However, the less than happy realisation for those left behind also contains the message of what might still be possible for Boris Herrmann and the other chasers with just under 5700 nautical miles to the finish if they make their own good decisions.
The morale is good." Boris Herrmann
Boris Herrmann's forecast from Friday evening for the rest of the season: "I think we have another week ahead of us with lots of questions, transitions and a lack of clarity. Morale is good. I'm a bit tired, I have to go to bed. It's physically exhausting to do the tacks because the port foil is hard to lower. I work like a maniac to get it down. It always takes a while. I don't know exactly, but we've done about twelve to fifteen tacks now? I'm a bit tired, I'm fed up, that's enough!"
Atlantic Amwind bolting at the Vendée Globe
Team Malizia's skipper left little doubt about his hopes on the evening before the start of the weekend: "It's really enough! We'd like to sail normally. At the moment it's always just: upwind, downwind. But I don't want to complain too much, I'm going to bed now. I hope it doesn't throw me out. We did a jump earlier that really hurt my back. That was a hard blow. I hope we don't have many more of those."
Boris Herrmann at Vendée Live!
Anyone who wants to listen to Boris Herrmann live today will probably have the chance to do so on the daily programme Vendée Live! with presenter Andi Robertson. Herrmann's former Ocean Race competitor Christopher Pratt will also be a guest here on 4 January afternoon. The "Malizia - Seaexplorer" skipper will be added to the online streamed programme from 2.30 pm.
In the eye of the storm and perhaps another week full of question marks? Watch Boris Herrmann's clip from the evening of 3 January here:
