It won't be a pleasant rendezvous: according to current forecasts, it is frontrunner Charlie Dalin ("Apivia") who is expected to come closest to the long-announced and threatening low pressure system on Wednesday evening due to his positioning. "Of course there are concerns about facing such a storm, but Charlie is ready and confident," said the race organisers' headquarters early this morning. A recent announcement from the Vendée Globe organisers even talks about an "unprecedented showdown". Gusts of more than 55 knots of wind are expected in severe gale and even hurricane force. Dalin is approaching the depression from the north, which is moving eastwards across the leading group of boats like a north-south band.
Thomas Ruyant, who continues to lag around 200 nautical miles behind Dalin to the north-west, is also struggling with the foothills of the storm, but seems to have saved himself from the worst of it by taking a more northerly route. Ruyant "paid" for this on Tuesday night, accepting a slower journey of 13 to 17 knots than Dalin enjoyed at 20 to 25 knots. Fifth-placed Jean Le Cam ("Yes We Cam!"), who is also in the fight for the top places, had already clearly opted for the safer northern option on Sunday and should therefore also be able to avoid the worst.
Boris Herrmann sailed early Tuesday morning as the eighth with one of the fastest speeds in the fleet, initially continuing on a straight easterly course. On the evening of the 30th day at sea, Herrmann had previously sent a video from on board showing the conditions in which he was even able to make an intermediate sprint in the middle of the chasing pack at the back of the front moving eastwards. Herrmann reported on the sometimes chaotic wind conditions around the 40th parallel south: "Last night I experienced 60-degree wind shifts. Then brief moments with no wind at all and immediately afterwards 30 knots again. It really isn't easy. And it's also not easy to achieve consistently high speeds. But that doesn't really stress me out at the moment. I'm catching my breath for the next big low." In anticipation of the challenging conditions, Herrmann said: "From now on, the wind will continue to increase and will only decrease again in 48 hours and about 800 miles east of here. It will be the strongest low so far. I'm fine with it."
Boris Herrmann's latest video report from on board was taken on the 30th day at sea and shows the conditions and the atmosphere in the Southern Ocean sunset
While the skippers of the boats in the lead are dealing with the storm, Louis Burton ("Bureau Vallée 2"), who has dropped back to fourth place behind Yannick Bestaven ("Maître Coq IV"), and Damien Seguin ("Apicil") are mainly struggling with their technique on board. "I admit that the weather has hardly played a role for me in the past few hours," reported Damien Seguin, who spent Monday repairing his autopilots. According to Seguin, the problems had occurred shortly after a gybe. He was barely able to leave the cockpit and - when the emergency pilot was deployed - hardly slept. He was able to catch up on some of this last night. And with it, his confidence returned. "At the moment it seems like a tragedy," said Seguin, "but the road is long and I'm proud of this first third of the race. We will do everything we can to continue the race. I'm still in the game." Information on whether and how Seguin, who was born without fingers on his left hand and is being tested particularly hard without his main autopilot, will get to grips with his technical problems initially remained unclear on Tuesday morning. Louis Burton ("Bureau Vallée 2"), who was also plagued by autopilot problems two days ago, reported further minor technical problems from the Indian Ocean and is hoping for calmer conditions for a detailed assessment.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
