Route du Rhum 2018

[Wansworth]

Couldn’t the race have been postponed .....any sensible seaman would have waited I suppose with total communications the organizers and competitors know someone will turn up to rescue them....or is it so the sponsors don’t get upset

 

[matt1]

Couldn’t the race have been postponed .....any sensible seaman would have waited I suppose with total communications the organizers and competitors know someone will turn up to rescue them....or is it so the sponsors don’t get upset

To be fair I think all recognise the "demolition derby" nature of this race and the vendee. As one the competitors put it (may have been Alex T.) much of the human interest is about who is going to get into difficulty and how they overcome it. If it were just a flat sea drag race it wouldn't be half as interesting. The stakes are high but that's what makes it entertaining

 

[Wansworth]

Ah......Just like Strickly come dancing...an entertainment

 

[Roberto]

Repairs aboard Sodebo, currently in Coruna, they want to finish the race

 

[Wansworth]

Local news talking about new named low arriving tonight......interesting though in the news reel I reckon you can see a cat or trimaran sailing out to sea? Thursday afternoon. Have they mended one of the competitors holed up in Coruña?

 

[dunedin]

Local news talking about new named low arriving tonight......interesting though in the news reel I reckon you can see a cat or trimaran sailing out to sea? Thursday afternoon. Have they mended one of the competitors holed up in Coruña?

Easy to see from the fleet tracker https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

Looked to be Loick Peyron. In his tri Happy. Interesting timing, but he has more experience than most.

 

[Dave100456]

AT in HB now 66M ahead. Long way to go but an encouraging start.

 

[Beelzebub]

The two Ultime trimarans are currently tacking down the west coast of Guadeloupe.

Only 13 miles separate them after about 3000 miles racing.

 

[dunedin]

The two Ultime trimarans are currently tacking down the west coast of Guadeloupe.

Only 13 miles separate them after about 3000 miles racing.

How frustrating for Francois Gabart. Led all the way and had a lead of over 100 miles with 300 to go. But now becalmed and doing 2 knots within sight of the finish.

 

[adwuk]

Now only 3.9nm between them, and with a 3 knot speed difference. Looks like Macif will lose the lead in the next hour. That’s going to hurt.

 

[Bathdave]

Now revealed that Gabart has a broken foil and rudder, hence joyon catching him over last 24 hours

looking at the almost live tracker, Gabart has pretty much been going round in circles for the last hour or two, Joyon now within a couple of miles and going much quicker

Just Found some video of about 1 hour ago on FB - Macif totally becalmed

Both seem to have found a bit of a breeze in the last few minutes

 

[Roberto]

Exciting finish, photofinish for the Ultim, Joyon wins by 7 minutes over Gabart, new race record
"The advantage of old boats is that everything that might break has already broken".

Now Thomson

 

[Allan]

Even just watching the tracker last night/this morning, was fascinating. A fantastic win for Joyon, who is lucky enough to be the same age as me!
https://www.routedurhum.com/en/news/857
The reference to his team of family and friends is interesting.

Alex Thompson has had a good 24 hours too. Before the race I thought he sounded like he was getting his excuses in early! He said Hugo Boss was optimised for the Vendee Globe and downwind sailing. Overnight he has opened his lead downwind and it looks like they're in the trades now and he could pull away. I hope nothing breaks!
Allan

 

[dunedin]

Now revealed that Gabart has a broken foil and rudder, hence joyon catching him over last 24 hours

So it transpires that Gabart has been driving this mammoth tri across the Atlantic at speeds up to 30 knots, day and night, with missing foil and broken rudder. Amazing seamanship and staggering confidence / courage bearing in mind how these things can flip so quickly if get things wrong.

 

[dom]

Don't want to jinx him but there's a dynamic beauty to how AT is approaching this.

Just don't fall off now!

 

[davidaprice]

I'm hearing from Finnish contacts that Ari Huusela (Imoca 'Ariel 2') and Sébastien Destremau (RhumMono 'AlcatrazIT - FaceOcean') have had a prang around 05:00 UTC in the middle of the Atlantic (scroll tracker to 08:16:56:21). One of Huusela's pushpit rails is loose. Both boats continued to race while doing repairs. From the tracker it looks like Huusela was on starboard tack . Link to Huusela's team's Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/arihuusela.fi/posts/1156071381208855

 

[Bathdave]

Another trimaran has capsized today, all safe and waiting for a tug to come from Martinique to tow him in

More amazingly, two Class 40 boats collided ....expect it in the Solent, but in the middle of the Atlantic?

One skipper was asleep, boat crash gybed, other one saw him on AIS but had his screen on wrong setting and didn't realise how close he was until last moment, managed to make an emergency duck under but boats hit ...no material damage to either, extraordininary at that speed

 

[Bathdave]

I'm hearing from Finnish contacts that Ari Huusela (Imoca 'Ariel 2') and Sébastien Destremau (RhumMono 'AlcatrazIT - FaceOcean') have had a prang around 05:00 UTC in the middle of the Atlantic (scroll tracker to 08:16:56:21). One of Huusela's pushpit rails is loose. Both boats continued to race while doing repairs. From the tracker it looks like Huusela was on starboard tack . Link to Huusela's team's Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/arihuusela.fi/posts/1156071381208855

There's a fuller account now on the news section which I have paraphrased above

 

[Allan]

I've just checked the positions and Hugo Boss is 214miles from the finish and 214miles ahead of SMA. Now is the time to focus, check and re-check everything! Good luck Alex!
Allan

 

[Dave100456]

Is it just me or do you also perceive that there’s not the expected level of coverage of Hugo Boss on the Route de Rhum website considering he’s leading?