Vendee Globe – Day 7

Vendee Globe – Day 7 – Deck cracks on Bureau Vallée

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 16 Nov 19:14 PST
14 November 2024

The casualty depend within the Vendée Globe Race is doubtlessly about to extend with the information that one of many anticipated entrance runners Louis Burton has simply reported to race management that he had discovered deck cracks on his foiling IMOCA Bureau Vallée.

“This Saturday, November 16 at 2200hrs UTC when he was crusing within the main group of the western possibility Louis Burton knowledgeable his shore crew and the Vendée Globe race administration that he had simply heard a really worrying noise: a “large crack” on board the IMOCA Bureau Vallée”, Vendée Globe Race Management mentioned in a media assertion.

“After taking all the mandatory precautions and finishing up a collection of checks, he realised there have been cracks on the deck of the boat (on the degree of the Gennaker spreader), which can threat affecting the structural integrity of the boat.

“Burton is constant the investigations. The skipper of the IMOCA Bureau Vallée stays within the race.”

Bureau Vallée was amongst a western group comprising Youann Richomme, Jeremie,Beyou, Thomas Ruyant and Nicolas Lunven. Their speeds had all picked as much as properly into double figures.

Hungarian sailor Szabolocs Weores (New Europe) has pulled into the Canary Islands to impact repairs to a 3metre sq. gap ripped in his mainsail, 5 days in the past when he was knocked flat in 30-40kt winds. He has been crusing underneath reefed mainsail since. He additionally suffered some harm to 2 foresails within the incident.

Maxime Sorel (V and B) had earlier pulled out with an ankle damage.

East versus West

In the meantime, the competition for the lead of the race would look like nearing an intriguing conclusion. The race entrance now extends again out to virtually 800nm.

The western group have picked velocity over the bottom with some speeds properly into double figures, nevertheless within the crucial Velocity Made Good (within the route of the end by means of Cape of Good Hope and two others) the VMGs are properly down, besides when the boats flip their bows to the south. Then there’s a good co-relation between boat velocity and VMG.

When the foiling IMOCAs head west in direction of Brazil and a path by way of the Doldrums and into the commerce winds, the VMGs are all the way down to 4kts – and even unfavourable VMG – a scenario not dissimilar to the America’s Cup, when the AC75s focussed on sustaining foiling velocity in mild winds no matter whether or not they made progress in direction of the mark.

Within the japanese group, Conrad Colman has moved even nearer to the Horn of Africa, and within the 1000hrs UTC sked for Day 7, the Vendée Globe Race Management chief utilizing the Distance to End (in France) measure, Jean le Cam has turned to the east as properly.

Each opponents are crusing dagger board IMOCA60s and might sail at a greater downwind angle, and their VMG is greater, than a foiler on the similar deep angle. Each are heading south and are approximating VMG with the Velocity over the Floor at 7kts for le Cam and 4.2kts for Colman. They each need to move between two Exclusion Zones – one across the Cape Verde islands and the opposite extending from the latitude of La Guera on the Mauritanian coast to Sal Rei within the centre of the Cape Verde island group.

The 2 will hope they’re profitable in threading that individual needle, and might then wriggle their means throughout to the west and choose up ready brisker breezes. Their hope is to keep away from the worst of the Doldrums, if certainly they exist at this second across the Cape Verde Islands and throughout to Brazil.

The 2 opponents appear to be near exiting the affect of the western Sahara which was the downfall of the Franck Cammas (FRA) skippered Groupama within the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, the place the Volvo 70 appeared excellent on the finish of the primary week , hugging the African coast. However Groupama dropped 500nm in a few days, as they ran out of breeze when trying to exit the African coast and tried to cross to the remainder of the six boat fleet. The six boat VOR70 boat fleet was all the way down to 4 boats and lowering later within the leg to 3 – so Groupamam completed the leg with a really countable third place however was welll again on the opposite two, who had made an earlier break to the west, and have been now having fun with the rewards.

On that very same leg the Doldrums proved to be much less of a hurdle than in earlier editions of the race, with Camper reporting they received by way of windless/squall ridden zone in simply eight hours.

The present racers within the Vendée Globe Race might be hoping they are going to be so fortunate.