When a man like Yann Eliès decides to join the race, the conditions must indeed be hellish. And the weather forecast makes this unmistakably clear: gusts of 50 to 70 knots, i.e. 12 Beaufort at times, and waves ten metres high are brought by the huge low pressure system approaching from the west. It hit the trio of Yann Eliès ("Queguiner - Leucémie"), Jean-Pierre Dick ("St. Michel-Virbac") and Jean Le Cam ("Finisterre Mer Vent"), who were sailing in fifth to seventh place.
The storm trauma of Yann Eliès
Eliès is considered one of the best sailors in the field - but above all, the whole situation must seem like a scary déjà vu to him. Eight years ago, he sailed the Vendée Globe with his "Generali" and ran into heavy weather south-west of Australia. During a manoeuvre on the forecastle, his boat drilled into a wave and stopped brutally, sending him flying over half the forecastle and slamming into the boom of the rig. With a broken hip and ribs, he dragged himself into the ship, where he made a distress call. But far from the helicopter range, he had to wait almost two days for assistance. His comrade-in-arms Marc Guillemot ("Safran") tried to come to his aid, but single-handed and in rough seas, he was unable to help the immobilised Elies. His friend tried to throw him painkillers through the companionway as Eliès lay motionless on the floor of the cabin, unable to reach his medicine chest. The seriously injured man was later rescued by an Australian warship. His ship was left adrift and could not be found later. It took the 42-year-old Frenchman quite a while to recover from the terrible experience. But now he is back in the race and wants to put the trauma of the past behind him by completing the Vendée Globe.
And then, of all places, he is hit by another such monster storm. What might be going on in his head now? In any case, he opted for maximum safety: since this morning, he has turned his Open 60 and hopes that the worst will pass to the north of him. But it is likely to be 45 to 50 knots in any case. Probably every true fan of the race is currently keeping their fingers crossed for the skipper.
Escape from the storm to Australia
His pursuer Jean-Pierre Dick has decided to flee from the huge storm and has turned far, far to the north, perhaps even wanting to sail through the Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania if necessary. However, the storm is currently moving eastwards faster than predicted and could already have passed through tonight, which could make the maximum diversions unnecessary. It remains to be seen how many miles the Frenchman will lose due to the diversions to Yann Eliès.
Jean Le Cam, who is sailing behind, is probably looking at the weather charts with the same uneasy feeling. He is being overtaken by the storm low today. He had already slowed down a little in the hope that the worst of the weather might pass slightly ahead of him. He could probably benefit most from the problems of the two skippers sailing ahead of him.
Video summary of yesterday's event
The rookie with the insane performance
The race ahead of the trio continues unaffected. The duo of Jérémie Beyou ("Maitre Coq") and Paul Meilhat ("SMA"), positioned around 800 nautical miles ahead of Yann Eliès, will only be caught up by the low pressure over the next few days. Beyou, who had fallen behind due to sail damage, has now fought his way to within 70 miles of Paul Meilhat. He sailed a phenomenal race as a rookie with his boat, the old "Macif" from the last Vendée Globe winner François Gabart. In all video transmissions from on board, the Frenchman is in a good mood and, as he says himself, is sailing the boat at almost 100 per cent of its potential. "It's easy to sail, all the sails are still in order, I've found a good rhythm," he reports. He is doing what François Gabart advised him to do before the start: "Enjoy the race!" As the only non-foiler on the podium course, the likeable Frenchman has probably won over many fans in the meantime.
At the front yesterday was a pitch black day for Alex Thomson and his "Hugo Boss". After making up almost 80 miles on the leading "Banque Populaire VIII", he got stuck in the doldrums of the eye of the depression that had overtaken the two boats at the weekend, moving agonisingly slowly for hours at only two knots in places. His rival Armel Le Cléac'h had previously misinterpreted the track of the depression and had to shift far to the north, which had cost him a lot of miles. But he easily made up for the loss when he found the wind again faster than Alex Thomson yesterday. This morning his lead had grown to over 180 nautical miles.
