Vendée Globe?

Sep 20, 2006
2,912
Hunter 33 Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada
It was funny Jean le Cam, said he was in the Renault4 divison vs the foilers in the Ferrari division. But he's still hanging in there in the top 4-5. Will see how it pans out as boats continue to break and drop out.
 

PaulK

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Dec 1, 2009
1,222
Sabre 402 Southport, CT
Drove a Renault 4 to & in Paris once. What a trip! Probably safer than what he's heading into after the Cape of Good Hope. In Fourth place, he's doing a good job keeping up with the Ferraris so far!
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
I love the name -"Yes we Cam!"
The leaders will have to thread the needle to stay in Westerlies as they head more South. Otherwise they've had excellent sailing conditions - winds in the high teens and mostly broad reaching. Boat speeds in the high teens and low twenties.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Today's position map proves the old adage "Nothing good happens at the back of the fleet!" The stragglers are experiencing light winds and some have gybed to try to get into better wind. But's going to be a long diversion while the front of the fleet just extends in fair winds. They may have to sail South almost to the exclusion zone to get into Westerlies. We'll see what happens with that low pressure system which looks like a Black Hole to me.
Sam is some 400 miles ahead of her husband. Ouch for him!
 

PaulK

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Dec 1, 2009
1,222
Sabre 402 Southport, CT
Alex Thompson is reporting structural damage of some sort on Hugo Boss. Speed down to 6 knots. Has dropped to 2nd place. More info perhaps tomorrow.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Yep, Hugo seems wounded. Down to 3 kts. and only 1.8 vmg.
Sam is at the back of what I would call the peloton (Or group of competitive boats but not leading).
Keep us posted re Hugo Boss. Where are you getting reports from individual boats?
 
Sep 20, 2006
2,912
Hunter 33 Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada
Sam and Hugo Boss are also posting on Facebook via their team.
There's also lots of good videos and updates from Vendee HQ on Youtube.
 

PaulK

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Dec 1, 2009
1,222
Sabre 402 Southport, CT
Yep, Hugo seems wounded. Down to 3 kts. and only 1.8 vmg.
Sam is at the back of what I would call the peloton (Or group of competitive boats but not leading).
Keep us posted re Hugo Boss. Where are you getting reports from individual boats?
It's all on the VG website, though it may take some looking around since there is so much info available.
 
Sep 20, 2006
2,912
Hunter 33 Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada
Great video now from Alex on the damage in the bow. I assume it was from some pounding waves when he cut through Theta?
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
I located and viewed the three vids re the bow damage and repair. Wow! That boat is f'ed up. Looks to me like the forces of the bow's touch down in waves are much greater than the engineers planned on. Needed to beef up those safety factors a good deal. I'll throw out the challenge: Does Hugo Boss make it to the finish? I say no.
I'd never seen Alex speak. He has an appealing personality and is determined beyond reason.
I saw some of the other vids but I couldn't understand a word of it. Who knew I should have taken French instead of Spanish?
Meanwhile on the race course the leaders are in light air and trying to figure out where to go. Looks to me that the best route South is still the ticket - that may mean sailing Southwest.:huh:
 
May 17, 2004
5,026
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
I located and viewed the three vids re the bow damage and repair. Wow! That boat is f'ed up. Looks to me like the forces of the bow's touch down in waves are much greater than the engineers planned on. Needed to beef up those safety factors a good deal. I'll throw out the challenge: Does Hugo Boss make it to the finish? I say no.
:plus: I was pretty taken about by the extent of the damage too. Not just one crack but a whole bunch of them in the structure. He says the repair should be at least as strong if not stronger than it was originally. I sure hope it’s stronger - the original doesn’t seem to be strong enough. I hadn’t heard Alex speak before either, but watching his videos it’s hard not to root for him.
 
May 17, 2004
5,026
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Thompson reports that he’s done with repairs and back up to speed. Looks like he lost about 650 miles dealing with the problem. Much of the fleet is still dealing with a high pressure system and not very high speeds.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
It'd better be stronger. We're not sure when the breaks occurred but Alex's statement that something felt wrong means to me that he caught it early. So the conditions were moderate as I remember. Of course the failure could have been earlier. But, as I understand carbon yield strength is nearly the same as its breaking strength. So when it fails, it breaks.
Boats are heading SW wrapping around a weather system but Aptivia seems to be heading SE into lighter wind. The boats heading SW may hit the exclusion zone before the Westerly wind. We'll see.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Aptivia has turned West and is in moderate Westerlies (19+ kts.). The rest of the boats are still heading SW and in lighter wind. He has a chance to extend by a lot. Sam and Burton are about 50 miles apart and 500 miles behind the lead. Yes I Cam off on a flyer. We'll see if that pays. Hugo Boss in with the fleet of leaders but boat speed is off. Less than 10 Kts. in 17 kt. wind. Maybe he's not pushing the boat very hard. Linked Out still heading South. Time to go West?
 

PaulK

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Dec 1, 2009
1,222
Sabre 402 Southport, CT
Jean Le Cam seems to have figured out the wind/weather better than some of his competitors. He's certainly pleased to be doing as well as he is. He'll be slower in the Southern Ocean, but perhaps not as likely to break things. Should be interesting!
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Today's positions show the fleet has tightened some contrary to my prediction that Apivia would extend. Looks like the boats in the back have better wind off that low in the Exclusion Zone. 3 meter waves at 18 kts? Wonder what that feels like? Probably a little splashy. No wonder Alex enclosed the cockpit of Hugo. He's still off speed.