Brit Alex Thomson in Hugo Boss hits over 25 knots in his chase for the leading yachts. South of the fleet he’s hoping to make up time.
Leader Armel le Cleac’h just passed the most extremely point of the the second ice security gate and dived south finding the winds of his rivals.
Behind him his close rivals are already further south and sailing two knots faster in slightly stronger breeze. Tiredness is evident among the frontrunners as the chill of the Southern Ocean bites and the possibility of encountering ice increases.
Read more : http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/article/5619/an-option-to-invest-in-the-south-for-banque-populaire.html
Did I beat Thomson’s record? I didn’t know, it’s great! And I’m the leader, too, it’s a good start to the month of December! I’m very happy to see the choice I made ten days ago paid off. It’s a true satisfaction, even though the gaps are very small. There are many positive things: We’re in the south, it’s a nice regatta with three boats in a very close race, followed by three others.
There are 28 knots of wind and the sea is quite rough but I have the right sails to go fast without pushing the boat too hard. Our boats have been designed to go that fast. But they do get very noisy. Read More
Like announced in my previous Armel le Cléac’h loses his pole position. Dick has perfect wind conditions and exploits them as max, covering 499 miles in the last 24 hours he has beaten the single-handed speed record on an Open 60 monohull with more than 30 miles !
The record still has to be validated by ‘World Sailing Speed Record Council‘.
UPDATE :
Jean-Pierre Dicks beat his own record : 502, 53 milles in 24 hours == 20,9 knots average speed !
Top 3 all going at speeds above 20 kts, busy and not much sleeping over there.
See Rankings … Read More
Thansfully Armel created a big gap of around 140 miles… the southern option will certainly gain some serious advantages for Jean-Pierre Dick, Jean le Cam & Francois Gabart. Rankings will change completely the following 24 hours.
Current position with wind prognoses the next 12 hours
He added “the next few days will be very exciting for the sailing enthusiasts who follow the Vendée Globe, because there’s a big group that will enter the South together.”
The situation for Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) depends on how much boat speed he can make in the circling lighter winds 10-12kt winds. If he can sail a shorter course he may be able to bypass the high but the risk is that he could end up with less advantageous wind direction and handcuffed by a high pressure.
PRB skipper Vincent Riou tells us more about the reasons that forced him to retire from the Vendée Globe
Vincent Riou abandonne, V. Riou retires from the… door VendeeGlobeTV