Vendée Globe 2016-2017

The next three due to finish, have all had a good day in good winds clocking up 400+ mile days, but they are likely to run into light and confused winds in the next 8 hours and maybe beyond.

Jean Pierre Dick (another foiler) is estimated to finish at 1000 GMT on Wednesday with Yann Elies (5th) and Jean Le Cam (6th) within 6 hours of that. But the unpredictable conditions provide an opportunity to upset that prediction and the 'Private Vendee Globe' will be an exciting finish.

Louis Burton (7th) had a reasonable day covering 320NM and is now 20 North. Despite making more west he is still heading toward a wind hole within 24 hours. However the modelled winds are shifting. He is 840NM ahead of Nandor Fa.

Nandor Fa (8th) will probably cross the Equator within the next hour, he has continued to extend his lead (now 1050 miles) over Eric Bellion (9th) by a further 150NM today and Conrad Coleman (10th) has maintained the gap and is now some 255NM behind Eric.

Arnaud Bossieres (11th) leads the group of 4, with Fabrice Amedeo (12th) and Alan Roura (13th), all making more easterlies than Rich Wilson (14th), who has been seeking wind advantage to the West but without much luck. Around 320 miles spans the group of 4, so not much change in the last 24hrs. - I am still cheering for RW.

Didac Costa (15th) and Romain Attanasio (16th), continue to slug it out and are now a mere 109 NM apart. They are predicted to have favourable winds for the next 48 hours.

Pieter Heerema (17th) - should round the Horn around 1700 GMT today and will leave Sebastian Destremau (18th) as the last competitor in the Pacific.
 
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Great updates NormanB, keeps the race alive!

Well done Jérémie Beyou, he'll be back in 2020. Rooting for Conrad, Rich and of course Sebastian Destremau.
 
Well tune in at around 1000GMT for an exciting and close finish this morning. Conditions overnight has compressed the 3 sailors in the 'Private Vendee Globe' and they are within 25 miles of each other. Jean Pierre Dick whose lead has been eroded overnight, is certainly not assured of crossing the line first and it will likely be a visual spectacle of all three jockeying for advantage. They are predicted to finish within 2 hours of each other.

JPD must be pulling his hair out.
 
JPD has 41 miles to run, currently doing 9.3 knots, he may yet have to short tack.

Yann Elies is 13 miles behind JPD, currently doing 8.6 knots with a likely requirement to short tack.

Jean Le Cam is currently making 2.7 knots on his NE tack now, is 27 miles behind JPD.

I think however,the wind data (www.gis.ee), is wrong because JPD would be making more Easterly if the winds shown were correct, equally JLC would not need to tack at all.

A nail biter for all concerned - but exciting for the spectators. A good day to be in Les Sables'.
 
Since I posted the above they are all now on a tack to the NE (050). The wind shown in the model must be at variance with their experience at sea level.
 
Andrew E said:
Amazing scenes in Le Sables D'Olonne with the 2 boats coming down the channel. The French really turn out to support.
Click to expand...

I have turned up nowt - full net search and a scout of all the TV channels I have available (too tight to pay for Sky Sports) - absolutely FA. Very frustrating it must have been great TV.

Meanwhile poor Jean Le Cam has 'watched' 4 and 5 cross the line and with a few miles to go - he has a risk of missing the tide that provides the 4.5m he needs to transit the channel into the marina - that would be bloody hard to bear to be stoofing around in the dark and cold for hours, on top of what he has endured. Let's hope the wind freshens.
 
Clack Clack Clack

'KIng Jean' crossed the line finishing in 80 days 4 hours 41 minutes and 54 seconds.

Let's hope he can get into harbour.

Jean Le Cam struggled to get sponsorship to get to the starting line - it was only with a crowd funding effort that he was able to compete in the VG.

So, a massive achievement on all fronts.

From Wiki:
He finished second in the Vendée Globe 2004-2005, arriving just a few hours after the winner Vincent Riou.

On 6 January 2009, whilst competing in the 2008-2009 edition of the Vendée Globe, he went missing 200 miles from Cape Horn. The overturned boat was discovered with Le Cam alive inside.

Shades of Tony Bullimore?
 
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Meanwhile:

What a day, Jean Pierre Dick (4th) crossed the finish line securing fourth place for the second consecutive time. Yann Eliès exorcised the ghosts of his horrific 2008-9 accident when he crossed the finish line in 5th place to complete the Vendée Globe for the first time, one hour and 25 minutes after JPD. Yann's boat Eliès’ Quéguiner-Leucemie Espoir is the first IMOCA home configured with straight daggerboards as opposed to the new generation foils. One hour and 30 minutes later, Jean Le Cam crossed the finish line to take sixth place.

I have still not been able to determine if he had enough water to enter harbour. No coverage of this exciting finish on mainstream media - and I may have to join the Facebook generation to keep abreast of this sort of stuff - in the future.


Meanwhile the rest of the field are ranging from 2,800 NM to 8070 NM from the finish.

Louis Burton (7th) had a middling day covering 280NM losing a bit of ground to Nandar and is now doing 6 knots in light airs which are likely to continue for the rest of the day. The routing predictor shows him passing well East of Ponta Delgado but West of Madeira (I think he will be the first of this VG to take this route - if he does). He should get better wind tomorrow. He is 807NM ahead of Nandor Fa.

Nandor Fa (8th) at 3N , only covered 194 miles today and his lead has reduced to 1017 NMS over Eric Bellion (9th) who has covered 230NM today. Conrad Coleman (10th) has maintained the gap of 255NM behind Eric.

Not much change with the next group of 4 who have made slow progress today. Arnaud Bossieres (11th) leads the group of 4, with Fabrice Amedeo (12th) a mere 16 miles behind, with Alan Roura (13th), 144 miles behind Arnaud. Rich Wilson (14th), is still out well to the West of them but the model suggests he may have the better of the winds tomorrow so they may be a concertina effect for him. Around 313 miles currently spans the group of 4.

Slow progress today too for Didac Costa (15th) and Romain Attanasio (16th), as they continue to slug it out and are now a mere 99 NM apart. They are predicted to have favourable winds for the next 24 hours.

Pieter Heerema (17th) - is well clear of the Horn and the routing predictor is suggesting a track East of the FI. Sebastian Destremau (18th) the last competitor in the Pacific, has paused to allow a storm front to pass, he did not fancy the Horn and 50+ knots of wind. He may have to 'hover' for another 4 days for a weather window to open. Never mind Sebastian only another 8000 miles to go.

Addition: They have just conducted a press conference with JPD and Yan but no Jean Le Cam which suggests he did not get into harbour.
 
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Still watching the race ... :)

Thank you for these continuing reviews / updates and links.
Really fascinating stuff !!

There's now a load of amazing video footage (about the race) out there.
I was sent a really nice video a couple of days ago which was about a minute and a half long and revisited (showing on a map) the Thomson/Boss race, from start to finish; unfortunately, I can't find it now :nonchalance: nor remember which site (Vendée, Thomson Racing, YouTube, etc) it came from.

Here's a link to an impressive video of BancPopulaire : https://youtu.be/fo0iVKTJYAg
 
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