Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Went to the marina today to put extra lines on Ellida and also to have a look at Hugo Boss tied up all alone. Took a bit of time to look at it all and try and take it all in... the deck gear, cockpit, rig, gadgets, layout... Just amazing. What a machine :)
 
She was moored up port side to on the outermost pontoon so no way to see the starboard side. I'd imagine a refit of a part like that won't take place until the boat is out of the water anyway, probably when back home in Gosport. Plus, she's not racing anytime very soon.

Got some good close ups of the port foil though :)

Just taking a bit of time to look a little closer at all the control lines, rigging, deck gear etc was fascinating.
 
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mainsail1 said:
I cannot find any timing for his return or even whether it will be Saturday or Sunday.
Anyone seen useful info as if I am going to get there I need a plan!
Click to expand...

Alex Thomson Racing will be releasing final details during the coming week. As soon as these are to hand I will post 'em up.
 
Quick update:

6 in the Northern and 5 in the Southern Hemisphere.

Nandor Far (8th), has escaped the contrary winds (at last), is currently doing 10 knots has covered 290 miles today. He has strong (sometimes too strong) and favourable winds ahead and could make it across the finish late Monday evening but will likely have to reduce sail and settle for a Tuesday finish.

Eric Bellion (9th) Currently doing 5 knots, covered 260 miles today and is now 736 miles behind Nanda Fa. Likely to be languishing at the Azores anticyclone ridge for best part of tomorrow.

Conrad Colman (10th) is currently doing 10 knots and covered the most miles today (363 miles). He is 224 miles behind EB, and may not be able to make the same sort of progress tomorrow - as the ridge ahead is unstable!
Video of Conrad Colman having fun

Arnaud Boissieres (11th) is currently doing 9 knots, has covered 315 miles and is 433 miles behind CC. He will have the better of the winds over FA tomorrow.

Fabrice Amedeo (12th) is currently doing 13 knots has covered 307 miles and is 52 miles behind AB.

Alan Roura (13th) is currently doing 8 knots, has covered 271 miles today and is 298 miles behind FA. He crossed the equator at 1225 today. He has another 6-8 hours of light winds ahead.

Rich Wilson (14th) is currently doing 11 knots and covered 257 miles today , he is very firmly the back marker of the 'Group of 4' , 488 miles behind AR and 837 miles behind AB. Reasonable winds ahead in the next 24 for Rich.

Didac Costa (15th) is currently doing 10 knots, has covered 244 miles today and is 375 miles behind RW.

Romain Attanasio (16th) is currently doing 8 knots and has covered 243 miles today and is still a mere 18miles behind DC.

Pieter Heerema (17th) is currently doing 11 knots and has had a repeat of yesterday's achievement, covering 180 miles and is now 662 miles behind RA. It looks like an equally challenging and low achieving day for him tomorrow.

Sebastian Destremau (18th), is currently doing 5 knots heading NW towards South America, into a bit of a wind cul-de-sac, covering 189 miles today and is now 1248 miles behind PH. Difficult routing decisions and winds ahead for SD tomorrow.
 
6 in the Northern and 5 in the Southern Hemisphere.

Nandor Far (8th), currently doing 7 knots has covered 298 miles today, with 1136 to go. Quote from VG website :'He has been enduring some of the toughest conditions of his Vendée Globe just 1300 miles and some four days before the finish line. Riding the southern side of the low pressure system which has battered the French Atlantic coast, the Spirit of Hungary skipper reported winds of 48-50kts with big seas, encountering random strong squalls with bigger gusts. The latest routing run by the Hungarian skipper suggests the finish line during Tuesday afternoon or evening. Indicative of how fatigued and determined he is, Fa has indicated that he wishes to cross the line as early as is prudently and practically possible. And so there seems little chance he would slow in order to postpone his line crossing until daybreak Wednesday'.

Eric Bellion (9th), Is currently doing 11 knots, covered 260 miles and is now 807 miles behind Nanda Fa. He looks set for a quick run home and should cross the line Friday 10th.

Conrad Colman (10th) is currently doing 6 knots, covered 293 miles today and is 287 miles behind EB. He will meet lighter winds tomorrow.

Arnaud Boissieres (11th) is currently doing 9 knots, has covered the most miles of the field today (332) miles and is 399 miles behind CC.

Fabrice Amedeo (12th) is currently doing 8 knots has covered 319 miles and is 48 miles behind AB.
Quote from VG Website: " Right now is it is not really much fun. We are slamming and it is hard to move around the boat. I move from the chart table to the bunk. I think our conditions are a bit better than Eric Bellion's. We have about 25kts and he has about 30. And it looks like we will have this until Monday. Then it should ease."
" At the moment I'm beam reaching and I am looking to get around the Azores high. It is going to be very west and so we are going to be forced to make a huge detour to get to France. It looked like it would be the 16th before but now this detour, the additional miles north and west, will probably add another couple of days, making it more like the 18th. Even so this all a bit of a guess right now, how it looks. There will be a low on the Portuguese coast and to the west is the high pressure and so it will be a long way around."
" It is hard for the morale now to see everything extend a bit more, but the finish line will come. Even so I have to be super careful now with my food. I have to ration what I have and I am tired and have to be careful how I move around the boat. I take care to have the boat well balanced. There are not many manouevres to be done, it is J2 or J3. But when we get to the Azores high it will be more work and I will have to be more alert. So I am going to rest as much as I can right now and build up my reserves over the next 2-3 days."

Alan Roura (13th) is currently doing 6 knots and has covered 262 miles today and is 360 miles behind FA. He has good winds ahead.

Rich Wilson (14th) is currently doing 10 knots and covered 257 miles today (again), he is very firmly the back marker of the 'Group of 4' , 369 miles behind AR and 777miles behind AB. Predicted to cross the equator at 1700 tomorrow, he may be relatively untroubled by the Doldrums.

Didac Costa (15th) is currently doing 11 knots and has covered 265 miles today and is 366 miles behind RW. Medium and fairly consistent winds ahead throughout tomorrow.

Romain Attanasio (16th) is currently doing 8 knots and has covered 243 miles today and is still a mere 25 miles behind DC.Medium and fairly consistent winds ahead throughout tomorrow.

Pieter Heerema (17th) is currently doing 11 knots and has had a repeat of yesterday covering 201 miles and is now 693 miles behind RA. Another challenging and low achieving day for him tomorrow.

Sebastian Destremau (18th), is currently doing 6 knots and has lost ground due to heading NW (covering 184) , he really needs to head N or NE pretty soon, before he gets much further into the cul-de-sac. He is now 1325 miles behind PH.
 
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7 in the Northern and 4 in the Southern Hemisphere.

Nandor Far (8th), currently doing 12.3 knots has covered 330 miles today, with 821 miles to go. Quote from VG website: Fa is riding the south eastern edge of a low pressure, staying south away from the worst of its activity. Even so, he will still get a brisk 40-45kts of wind tonight and tomorrow. "I would like to stay as south as possible. At the moment I am at 42N or something like that and I am far from the worst of it. And I am running in front of it and I am making between 16 and 25kts of speed. I can see step by step what will happen for the next ten hours. I will stay in front of the strong winds. Maybe the maximum I will have is 40-45kts which is not a big problem. I have had that a few times. I have to change the headsail to the J3. I can see a lot of signs which suggest the boat is tired, especially with the sails and small breakages. It is time to arrive, time to finish. On the other hand the mast looks good but I cross my fingers. All the ropes are tired, like me, but we are pushing together to make it through the last days.".

He is expected to finish Tuesday night or in the small hours of Wednesday morning.

Nanda is a remarkable chap, now 62 he was not only involved in the design of his boat he was also very 'hands on' in building it - here a 7 minute video -

Eric Bellion (9th), Is currently doing 10 knots, covered 259 miles and is now 941 miles behind Nanda Fa. Well SW of the Azores, he looks set for a quick run home and should cross the line Friday/Saturday 10/11th

Conrad Colman (10th) is currently doing 5 knots, covered 246 miles today and is 302 miles behind EB. He has good winds ahead.

Arnaud Boissieres (11th) is currently doing 9 knots, has again covered the most miles of the field today (356 miles) and is now 347 miles behind CC. He has good winds ahead for the next 48 hours until he hits the Azores high which has spilled well to the West.

Fabrice Amedeo (12th) is currently doing 9 knots has covered 344 miles and is 39 miles behind AB.


Alan Roura (13th) is currently doing 6 knots and has covered 301 miles today and is 433 miles behind FA. He has good winds ahead.

Rich Wilson (14th) is having a bad day, currently at the Equator doing 3.8 knots but heading due West looking for wind, and has only covered 206 miles today, he is very firmly the back marker of the 'Group of 4' , 326 miles behind AR and 797miles behind AB. He could clear the Doldrums within 12 hours. Good appreciation here of the guessing game of tackling the Doldrums. Quote from the VG website:
From Rich Wilson's Log
We made good progress into last night. It is 92°F (33.3°C) in the cabin so I had a salt water shower and then freshwater rinse in the cockpit after sunset. It was hugely refreshing.
I have been looking at some of the data that is available now to mariners in anticipation of crossing the Equator and getting through the Doldrums, or the ‘Pot au Noir’ as the French call it. There are satellite photographs spanning the globe taken at different wavelengths to show different things. There is Advanced Scatterometry, which is a real-time satellite based radar to give wind direction and strength. There are the standard hand drawn maps by the expert meteorologists at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Our barograph can help place us relative to the GRIB files that we have been using for our routing.
Fortunately, we have adequate speed access to the Internet to get these with our Fleet Broadband 250 and Iridium OpenPort. The satellite photos are updated every hour, the ASCAT is per 24 hours. When I studied with Jean-Yves Bernot we looked at all of these tools and how best to use them in combination at the Equator. Clearly the latest photographs will help, and an indication of the ASCAT, even though its not hourly as the photos are, may help confirm or not the GRIB files.
Last night I also took my first stab at a haircut. Essentially, go to the stern, and start snipping away trying to make it all the same length, that’s a good start. It feels much better to have it a bit shorter in this heat also. We’ll see after I do round 2 in the next few days how it looks. Of course being alone on the boat, that doesn’t really matter to me!


Didac Costa (15th) is currently doing 12 knots and has covered 288 miles today hanging on to his 15th place, and is closing the gap on RW and is 277 miles behind him. Reasonable winds ahead for the next 18 hours, until he hits the Doldrums.

Romain Attanasio (16th) is currently doing 10 knots and has covered 285 miles today and is 31 miles behind DC.

Pieter Heerema (17th) is currently doing 9 knots and has had a difficult day covering 190 miles and is now 787 miles behind RA. A better few days ahead for him.

Sebastian Destremau (18th), Not a good day at all for Seb who is currently doing 7 knots and has extricated himself from the cul-de-sac (covering 165 miles). He should have a better day tomorrow but there appears to be further trouble ahead and the decision to close South America has not paid off at at all. He is now 1354 miles behind PH.
 
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The remaining field is spread from just over 500 to 5,500 miles from the finish with 7 in the Northern and 4 in the Southern Hemisphere.

Nandor Far (8th), currently doing 14 knots has covered 304 miles today, with 821 miles to go. He has predicted favourable winds ahead, that should enable him to cross the finish line comfortably by mid morning Wednesday 8th.

Eric Bellion (9th), Is currently doing 1 knot stuck in a wind hole South West of the Azores (at 2200 he was pointing 171 degrees), he has covered 216 miles and is now 1025 miles behind Nanda Fa. Fortunately the ridge is moving East and he should be able to get underway in the next couple of hours. It is reported that he is in 'energy conservation mode' as he is struggling with engine and charging problems. Currently predicted to cross the line mid afternoon Saturday 10/11th

Conrad Colman (10th) is currently doing 11 knots, covered 234 miles today and is 337 miles behind EB. He has good winds ahead and should avoid the trouble experienced by EB. Currently predicted for a late Sunday finish, He has however had time and the conditions to play with his drone and uploaded a short video here

Arnaud Boissieres (11th) is currently doing 12 knots, has covered the most miles of the field again today, for the third day on the trot, (331) miles and is now 273 miles behind CC. He is now in a position to threaten Conrad for 10th place, but may stall South of the Azores around this time tomorrow.

Fabrice Amedeo (12th) is currently doing 10 knots has covered 327 miles and is 37 miles behind AB. He is a threat for Conrad too, but will have to overcome the ridge South of the Azores, this time tomorrow.

Alan Roura (13th) is currently doing 7 knots and has covered 310 miles today and is 524 miles behind FA. He has good winds ahead, for the next 48 hours.

Rich Wilson (14th) is having another bad day, currently at 3N doing 1 knot looking for wind, (contrary to the modelled winds) and has only covered 163 miles today, he is very firmly the back marker of the 'Group of 4' , now 368 miles behind AR and 929 miles behind AB. Quote fromVG website: “It took quite a while to get here, that’s for sure! Yesterday, we got almost to the line and then got north winds, so we were beating back up to get to the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a little trying and right now it’s very light. The high has moved a little bit and taken the pressure off the trade winds, so the ITCZ has moved a little way north. So we have a little further to go to get to the other side of the Doldrums. It’s a nice day outside. We have started to prepare for the trade winds. I’ve furled up the genoa and put that away. I’m pretty tired, but we’re making progress. The South American coast is very long and we had a couple of episodes when we were completely becalmed and going in circles. It was very discouraging. You work harder in those conditions for just a few miles than you do when you have strong, steady winds. I’m sure it was the same sort of situation for everybody, so it’s hard to get into a regular sleep pattern. I’ve been checking the boat. We have a few things on our checklist we look at every day."

Didac Costa (15th) is currently doing 9 knots and has covered 247 miles today hanging on to his 15th place, and is closing the gap on RW and is 156 miles behind him. Should cross the Equator around midnight today and has to be a real threat to supplant Rich in 15th in the days ahead - if the weather Gods smile upon him. Quote from the VG website: "The trade winds push us at constant speed towards the Equator now, and an area of variable width, where the south-easterly trades of the Southern Hemisphere converge with the NE trades of the Northern Hemisphere. The weather forecasts there are not really useful. You can move suddenly from zero wind to a violent squall. In addition to the wind maps, we look at infrared satellite photos and use a recent technique that allows us to deduce the prevailing wind by analysing the surface waves. And we also use intuition to find our way out… After this obstacle, the NE trades await us. If you have followed the route of the other boats in the Vendée Globe, you would have seeing that after the Equator instead of trying to go straight towards Les Sables, they made a big detour around the Azores anticyclone. I broke the support of the starboard hydro-generator yesterday and the rail where it is hold in the transom has also been damaged. Fortunately, it is interchangeable with the port one, which is the one that is working now. Anyway, I should have enough diesel (40-50 litres) to charge the twin alternator we installed in Les Sables.”

Romain Attanasio (16th) is currently doing 8 knots and has covered 264 miles today and is 9 miles behind DC. He is a real threat now to overtake RW too.

Pieter Heerema (17th) is currently doing 12 knots and has covered 241 miles today and is now 827 miles behind RA. A better few days ahead for him. Good winds ahead predicted for the next 24 hours.

Sebastian Destremau (18th), Not a good day at all for Seb who is currently doing 10 knots and has covered 174 miles. He should have a much better (300 mile + day) tomorrow .He is now 1408 miles behind PH.
 
To put things into perspective... from gCaptain..

Operation Sea Orbit: On 31 July 1964, USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) (bottom), USS Long Beach (CGN-9) (center) and USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25) (top) formed “Task Force One,” the first nuclear-powered task force, and sailed 26,540 nmi (49,190 km) around the world in 65 days and without a single refueling or replenishment. U.S. Navy Photo

My my the septics were slow... some Frogs can manage it in 41 days
 
Well departing from the rather tangential post above, back to the subject matter of the Vendee Globe!

On this 93rd day of the race, the remaining field is spread from just over 200 to 5,230miles from the finish with 9 in the Northern and 2 in the Southern Hemisphere.

Nandor Far (8th), currently doing 15 knots has covered 328 miles today, with 196 miles to go. He has predicted favourable winds ahead, and is now expected on the finish line on Wednesday morning. He can get into the channel, from a tidal perspective, at any time after 1130hrs.

Eric Bellion (9th), passed close to the Azores today in strong S'ly winds, just touching the southern side of the low pressure. Is currently doing 15 knots , he has covered 293 miles and is now 1057 miles behind Nanda Fa. Currently predicted to cross the finish line late Saturday.

Conrad Colman (10th) is currently doing 12 knots, covered 309 miles today and is 321 miles behind EB. He has more difficult and stronger winds ahead. Quote from VG website: "The miles to go are counting down. The latitude of Madeira is behind and I'm now even with Gibraltar so I'm back in Europe everybody! Far from sitting back and watch the miles unfurl behind me I am very busy checking all the boat's systems and making little repairs so I hope I can avoid problems in the last blow. I have been repairing the covers on the reefing lines so they will run smoothly and hold fast when I reduce sail. I was surprised the other day by an intense hissing noise and was alarmed to find the cockpit filling with a mist of oil as the keel fell from its canted position. A high pressure hose in the hydraulic system had failed after the hundreds of thousands of pressure cycles as the keel pulsed on every wave encountered in the previous 25,000 miles. Fortunately I had a spare and was back in action soon afterwards but it serves to illustrate that the machine is tired. The man too, as I am massaging painfully sore muscles in my shoulder and neck in order to maintain the required speed on the winches for these last few days. Offshore sailing is a particularly tough sport for the body because we sleep poorly, eat camping food and our efforts are scheduled by the weather and are totally different hour to hour, day to day. I sometimes laugh at the sports products I have on board that help me recover because its rare that I can define whether I'm currently "before sport", "after sport" or "during" as its always a mix and its hard to get time to warm up or cool down. As a result the muscles suffer and I'm looking forward to a date with a massage therapist and chiropractor when I get back! The weather forecast is still changing a lot and its hard to know exactly what's waiting for me but the models overall show less ominous red that show 40- to 50 knots of wind that before so I'm happy with the trend towards more reasonable conditions for the coming days. Fingers crossed!"

Arnaud Boissieres (11th) is currently doing 9 knots, has covered 257 miles and is now 329 miles behind CC. He is now in a position to threaten Conrad for 10th place, albeit he lost 50+ miles to him today and will have difficulty clearing the ridge throughout tomorrow.

Fabrice Amedeo (12th) is currently doing 7 knots has covered 249 miles and is 64 miles behind AB. He remains a threat for Conrad too but will have the same issue as AB tomorrow.

Alan Roura (13th) is currently doing 12 knots and has covered 314 miles today and is 566 miles behind FA. Lighter winds tomorrow for him tomorrow.

Rich Wilson (14th) currently doing 11 knots, has covered 246 miles today, but is still very firmly the back marker of the 'Group of 4' , now 407 miles behind AR and 1037 miles behind AB. Reasonable winds tomorrow for RW.

Didac Costa (15th) is currently doing 10 knots and has covered 143 miles today hanging on to his 15th place, and is 170 miles behind RW. He crossed the Equator at 0307hrs today and has to be a real threat to supplant Rich in 15th in the days ahead - if the weather Gods smile upon him and they won't be tomorrow!

Romain Attanasio (16th) is currently doing 10 knots and has covered 135 miles today and is 20 miles behind DC. He crossed the equator at 0409hrs today. Same conditions as for DC tomorrow.

Pieter Heerema (17th) is currently doing 15 knots and has covered 303 miles today and is now 654 miles behind RA. A better few days ahead for him. Lighter winds ahead predicted for the next 24 hours.

Sebastian Destremau (18th), is currently doing 11 knots and has covered 260 miles today. He is now 1447 miles behind PH. Changeable conditions for the next 24-36 hours for Seb. Here is a short 100 second video from Seb carrying out running repairs.
 
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