Vendee Globe and Alex Thomson / Hugo Boss

matt1 said:
No doubt Linkeout is faster in these conditions, & I’d expect him to to steadily erode Alex’s lead especially as Alex will be first to be headed and come more into the wind. I thought I read somewhere that HB was optimised for lighter wind foiling, which is therefore concerning that Linkedout is proving quicker. There’s no way Alex will be holding anything back in the conditions he is currently in. If he can keep pace to the southern ocean he should be fine as he tends to outperform there - he may just need a big cushion by Cape Horn if he is to hold the lead backup the Atlantic, particularly if there is some upwind element. Keeping everything crossed
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Yes Linked Out has certainly been the stand out boat these last two days, however the 8am standings show that he has not gained on Hugo Boss at all over the previous 11 hours. Difficult to interpret as could be one of many things: Linkout Out getting into the same weather conditions as HB, Ruyant holding it back overnight or Alex adding a bit more to keep the lead at around 100nm. The leaders certainly seem to have an "avenue" through the doldrums which if closes afterwards will make for an even more extreme in the spread of the fleet.
 
E39mad said:
Yes Linked Out has certainly been the stand out boat these last two days, however the 8am standings show that he has not gained on Hugo Boss at all over the previous 11 hours. Difficult to interpret as could be one of many things: Linkout Out getting into the same weather conditions as HB, Ruyant holding it back overnight or Alex adding a bit more to keep the lead at around 100nm. The leaders certainly seem to have an "avenue" through the doldrums which if closes afterwards will make for an even more extreme in the spread of the fleet.
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For what it's worth my read of it is that the relative distances and speeds currently have more to do with the skippers' quest to position themselves at their desired point to cross the doldrums than any particular speed differential in a straight line. Alex's team have been pretty open that their boat is optimised for VMG running, and not reaching as they are doing now. On that basis, if I was linked out or Apiva I'd be a bit concerned that the boat supposedly best optimised for the Southern Ocean running conditions was looking likely to lead into the Southern Ocean.
 
Latest update doesn't look so good for AT. I hope it's just the wind being a bit fickle and not actually what is shown on the map. Looks like his vital stats monitor is broken too :)
 
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Spyro said:
Latest update doesn't look so good for AT. I hope it's just the wind being a bit fickle and not actually what is shown on the map. Looks like his vital stats monitor is broken too :)
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Looks like he's hit the doldrums. Big bear away seemingly at the time of the update. Course change looking for the best route through the doldrums / around a cloud, or a bear away to facilitate a sail change? guess we'll find out at 1400!
 
flaming said:
Looks like he's hit the doldrums. Big bear away seemingly at the time of the update. Course change looking for the best route through the doldrums / around a cloud, or a bear away to facilitate a sail change? guess we'll find out at 1400!
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Yep, I suppose you'd expect the top four or five to compress a little going into lighter winds. The good news with what looks like a good path through the doldrums is that Alex should hit the fast winds heading south first. The worst case scenario of sitting in a hole whilst your nearest competitors sail around you currently looking unlikely.
 
E39mad said:
Yep, I suppose you'd expect the top four or five to compress a little going into lighter winds. The good news with what looks like a good path through the doldrums is that Alex should hit the fast winds heading south first. The worst case scenario of sitting in a hole whilst your nearest competitors sail around you currently looking unlikely.
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For the top 5 certainly. Gets a bit less sure after that. Currently though I think there is a good chance that the leaders will be past Cape Town before the group from 26 back are in the Southern Hemisphere. Especially if the Doldrums come back into play for them.
 
AT is lucky to be where he is ,, lucky that Le Cam has a slower boat , lucky that Beyou / Charal retired, lucky that Apiva . Linked out and PRB took the wrong course earlier on , lucky that Vallee had to stop for 5 hours , other than that good on him . (y) unfortunately Charal is still in port :(
 
cherod said:
AT is lucky to be where he is ,, lucky that Le Cam has a slower boat , lucky that Beyou / Charal retired, lucky that Apiva . Linked out and PRB took the wrong course earlier on , lucky that Vallee had to stop for 5 hours , other than that good on him . (y) unfortunately Charal is still in port :(
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That's a lot of luck :mad:
 
cherod said:
AT is lucky to be where he is ,, lucky that Le Cam has a slower boat , lucky that Beyou / Charal retired, lucky that Apiva . Linked out and PRB took the wrong course earlier on , lucky that Vallee had to stop for 5 hours , other than that good on him . (y) unfortunately Charal is still in port :(
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It's amazing how whenever Alex is at the front people have always called it luck.

I'm really not sure why so many people seem surprised when a sailor on his 5th Vendee Globe in a brand new boat built with incredible attention to detail based on what they learned from having the fastest boat last time round, and a large dedicated and experienced team behind him is leading... And why they need to justify this with anything other than "he's outperforming everyone else..."

None of his competitors have all of those factors. Some have similar experience but an older boat. Some have a new boat but less experience. Some have a new boat but less support team... etc etc.
 
flaming said:
It's amazing how whenever Alex is at the front people have always called it luck.

I'm really not sure why so many people seem surprised when a sailor on his 5th Vendee Globe in a brand new boat built with incredible attention to detail based on what they learned from having the fastest boat last time round, and a large dedicated and experienced team behind him is leading... And why they need to justify this with anything other than "he's outperforming everyone else..."

None of his competitors have all of those factors. Some have similar experience but an older boat. Some have a new boat but less experience. Some have a new boat but less support team... etc etc.
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.......makes me think of Samuel Goldwyn's famous remark "The harder I work, the luckier I get".

Alex deserves any good luck. When he is unlucky, he never seems to whine about it.
 
Frogmogman said:
.......makes me think of Samuel Goldwyn's famous remark "The harder I work, the luckier I get".

Alex deserves any good luck. When he is unlucky, he never seems to whine about it.
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I agree entirely , i would never grudge any one any luck , and may his luck continue , but in time he may need more than luck .
 
Frogmogman said:
If he's still in port, he needs to do something, as he seems to be proceeding at 6,2 knots.
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6.2 knts and still tied up , hey that looks like a fast boat indeed , but he is off the leash now and on his way , good luck to him also as of yet he does not seem to have had any ?, allez allez ?
 
flaming said:
It's amazing how whenever Alex is at the front people have always called it luck.

I'm really not sure why so many people seem surprised when a sailor on his 5th Vendee Globe in a brand new boat built with incredible attention to detail based on what they learned from having the fastest boat last time round, and a large dedicated and experienced team behind him is leading... And why they need to justify this with anything other than "he's outperforming everyone else..."

None of his competitors have all of those factors. Some have similar experience but an older boat. Some have a new boat but less experience. Some have a new boat but less support team... etc etc.
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I doubt that anyone should be surprised , to the contrary perhaps there would be some surprise and maybe some questions asked considering all the points you so rightly highlight if he were not in the lead . Crack on AT ?
 
I was quite ticked by Jean le Cam's latest video clip. The content rather exposed his lack of ease at providing video content compared to the younger contingent, and he seemed to have a slight craft moment where he was casting around for Alex Thomson's name, which ended up with him referring to AT as Darth Vader (in his black boat with black everything).
 
Frogmogman said:
I was quite ticked by Jean le Cam's latest video clip. The content rather exposed his lack of ease at providing video content compared to the younger contingent, and he seemed to have a slight craft moment where he was casting around for Alex Thomson's name, which ended up with him referring to AT as Darth Vader (in his black boat with black everything).
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Is this av on youtube ?
 
cherod said:
AT is lucky to be where he is ,, lucky that Le Cam has a slower boat , lucky that Beyou / Charal retired, lucky that Apiva . Linked out and PRB took the wrong course earlier on , lucky that Vallee had to stop for 5 hours , other than that good on him . (y) unfortunately Charal is still in port :(
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Alternatively - AT worked extremely hard to get funding and create an innovative fast boat; showed maturity and experience in throttling back in the first few days to minimise damage; carefully studied the weather forecast to choose a better routing than key competitors; was sensibly cautious at the start to avoid being over the line and getting a 5 hour OCS penalty.
 
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