In the still moderate wind, in which almost all the boats from first to 16th place are sailing, the skippers have plenty of time to think about their routing, which will hopefully become clearer now that the high pressure situation is finally dissipating. Boris Herrmann sent a video from on board in which he compared the routes of himself and Yannick Bestaven ("Maître Coq IV") and Sam Davies (Initatives-Cœurs).
"We're already 17 nautical miles behind the programme's routing today, which is mainly due to the fact that the wind is coming from the front instead of half-windward, as originally forecast. Yannick Bestaven is sailing right next to me, but is one knot faster, even though he is sailing a smaller headsail than me with the gennaker. I don't know exactly why," says Herrmann
Boris Herrmann off board
He also philosophises about the exciting question of whether the group that sails a more south-westerly course will be faster: "Both route variants are close together in the end. Depending on the weather model used, the software comes to the conclusion that they (Davies and Bestaven) are two hours ahead at the Cape of Good Hope and I am one hour ahead in the others. So nothing has been decided yet. I think their route is slightly better, they have more stable winds, we're already sailing creepily close to the high pressure. How that turns out is in God's hands..." "Seaexplorer" is still in 6th place and in the group of three with "PRB" and "Maître Coq IV".
The German then had an unpleasant job to do tonight: The halyard lock on his gennaker wasn't working properly, so Herrmann had to climb into the mast at sunset and then deal with the problem in the dark - a job that every Open 60 skipper probably hates with a 29-metre mast. But everything went well, the problem seems to have been solved. However, he lost ground on the two neighbouring boats. The group of three is likely to be joined today by Sébastien Simon's "Arkéa Paprec", which came up strongly from the west overnight and is now sailing just 20 miles behind Herrmann.
Boris Herrmann climbs to the masthead
In between, Alex Thomson tries his luck with his "Hugo Boss". He was slow during the night, but was the fastest sailor in the field at the 9 a.m. update with 19.3 knots.
Second-placed Frenchman Thomas Ruyant on his "LinkedOut" also took advantage of the calmer weather, which allowed most of the boats in the field to sail at anything between 10 and 15 knots. He quickly cut off part of his damaged port foil, as he feared that the torn profile could break at high speed in the swell and debris washed away could hit the waterstay of his deck spreader; if this were to tear, the mast would come from above. As his Verdier design cannot retract the foils completely, they are always under at least some pressure. But he does the job successfully. But he lost time again, and rival Charlie Dalin escaped him with his "Apivia" after 220 nautical miles. Ruyant and Jean Le Cam still have to contend all day with the weak wind of the high pressure they are caught in. It could be that the two of them will be the big losers of the days of shivering around the high pressure.
Frenchman Sébastien Destremau, who had hydraulic problems with the keel on his "Merci" two days ago, is now back on course. A pipe had burst and the swing keel was swinging freely under the ship - a defect that is extremely dangerous in heavy seas, as the free-swinging, four-and-a-half metre long trailer has often destroyed its suspension in similar cases. But the resourceful Frenchman with the low-budget project, who had already sailed and finished the Vendée in 2016, managed the repair. "I simply dismantled another line in the boat that I could do without," he said and is now heading south again.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
