Vendée Globe 2016-2017

Guess Alex given up trying to win, settle for second. Not break the boat.

Will he try in another 4 years?

I don't think so. But they have different wind conditions. And they will have a pretty difficult time in the next few days.
Plus the fact that Armel is quite good at this kind of controlling games - he learned that during his time on Figaros.
 
Lates update has AT and ALC on the same apparent wind angle and nearly same wind speed but Armel 5 knots or so much faster????
 
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Lates update has AT and ALC on the same apparent wind angle and nearly same wind speed but Armel 5 knots or so much faster????

The information we get is not necessarily what they're experiencing out there. They may have considerably different conditions. On the other hand AT may have a problem, or it may be that he is not at an optimum wind angle, whereas AleC is.
 
Have not seen the data, but you do have to wonder if he has lost one of his big reaching headsails?
As others have said, we don't know what they are actually experiencing. A small difference in wind speed, wind angle and sea conditions could make a big difference in speed. They are over 200 miles apart. It would be astounding if they were in the same conditions.

Edit - when I look at the "360 degrees" info, ALC has 18 knots from 78 degrees and AT has 17 knots from 67 degrees. The wind is 10 farther forward for AT. That could explain the speed difference.
 
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As others have said, we don't know what they are actually experiencing. A small difference in wind speed, wind angle and sea conditions could make a big difference in speed. They are over 200 miles apart. It would be astounding if they were in the same conditions.

Edit - when I look at the "360 degrees" info, ALC has 18 knots from 78 degrees and AT has 17 knots from 67 degrees. The wind is 10 farther forward for AT. That could explain the speed difference.

Yes, but they are not sailing the same course. Both apparent wind angles were the same so I would think they should have similar speed not the difference they have.
 
As others have said, we don't know what they are actually experiencing. A small difference in wind speed, wind angle and sea conditions could make a big difference in speed. They are over 200 miles apart. It would be astounding if they were in the same conditions.

Edit - when I look at the "360 degrees" info, ALC has 18 knots from 78 degrees and AT has 17 knots from 67 degrees. The wind is 10 farther forward for AT. That could explain the speed difference.
Yes but they are not sailing the same course, both TWA were 73 degrees. I would have thought speeds to be similar not such a difference as seen here. https://gis.ee/vg/ ALC is 6 knots faster over the ground.
 
The wind speeds shown are not actual but the results of modelling. The actual winds will be very different.

The fickleness of the actual winds being experienced are working for Armel but could equally work against him in due course.

We can only hope. :-)
 
The wind speeds shown are not actual but the results of modelling. The actual winds will be very different.

The fickleness of the actual winds being experienced are working for Armel but could equally work against him in due course.

We can only hope. :-)

I agree with that. At some point Alex said he was sailing in a breeze on a tack which wasn't possible according to the winds map provided by VG website. This, plus currents, waves and their general state of exhaustion can explain a lot. I am expecting Alex to catch up (hopefully not too much) in the next few days.
 
I agree with that. At some point Alex said he was sailing in a breeze on a tack which wasn't possible according to the winds map provided by VG website. This, plus currents, waves and their general state of exhaustion can explain a lot. I am expecting Alex to catch up (hopefully not too much) in the next few days.

Plenty of time yet boys, plenty of time.

Keep the faith.

___________________
 
Plenty of time yet boys, plenty of time. Keep the faith.

Looking at the forecast, there are a number of holes coming up that could easily trap the unwary for a day or more. And at some stage they have to eat and sleep and avoid the fishing boats - hard to imagine how exhausted they must be.
 
Well as a sort of roundup, Armel has extended his lead over Alex by a further 100 NM (now 250 NM behind) and is currently sailing faster and for the whole field clocked the most miles run over the last 24 hours. I wondered why Alex had not altered course to say 010 as the wind model (caveat) suggest he should be able to do that, but the Remora projections suggest he is doing exactly the right thing. As has been mentioned above there are plenty of wind holes in complex patterns ahead - so neither is going to romp home and they will be working hard - probably all the way home.

We now have 50% of competitors in the Atlantic with Eric Bellion rounding the Horn (just). Conrad Coleman is just behind him but a tad slower but he has a very much reduced useable sail locker so he will never achieve optimum performance.

Rich Wilson has lost some ground to his group today, but I get the impression (just from data) that he is more cautious than most - but then again he is more likely to cross the finish line with that approach.
 
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As has been mentioned above there are plenty of wind holes in complex patterns ahead - so neither is going to romp home and they will be working hard - probably all the way home.

Having just exteded the Remora model 168hrs, which shows both HB and BP having to sail way north of Les Sables (BP towards Pen Marche and HB almost into the Channel) before tacking south to avoid holes and North Easterlies in the Bay of Biscay, I would say there are deffinitely plenty of options way up to the finish for either getting things just right or horribly wrong!
The fat lady has yet to sing!
 
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