Vendée Globe: First Week Recap
The Vendée Globe fleet took off from Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday, November 8 and has been fighting their way across the Bay of Biscay and south ever since. Currently, the majority of the fleet is just passing the Azores and headed into Theta, the record 29th tropical depression of the season. As the front of the fleet catches 30+kts of wind, they’re rocketing south.
The back half of the fleet, however, is sitting
in less than 10kts and will have to catch the system before it’s gone, or else
risk being left behind. As always, the first days of the race are riddled with
drama. From a closely packed fleet to early shake downs to the Bay of Biscay
itself, the standings are in constant flux.
Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Art et Fenetres) almost
immediately turned back to shore after starting the race to make repairs on a
faulty headsail hook. Formerly one of the top hopefuls in the race, this repair
set him back two and half days and about 500nm.
About the time he finally got underway, the
rest of the fleet was making a first tactical decision: hug the coast of Spain
for a more direct route or head offshore for more wind. Most of the fleet, led
by Jérémie Beyou, headed out to sea, but about a third, including then-front
runner Benjamin Dutreux (OMIA-Water Family) stayed close to the coast.
By the time the fleet re-converged a day later,
neither path proved a clear winner—Maxime Sorel (V and B Mayenne), who’d taken
the shore route, moved into the lead but Charlie Darlin (APIVA) who’d gone
outside was in second.
The fleet has spread out and a few front
runners are beginning to establish themselves, but if there’s one thing fans of
the Vendée know, it’s that the race is long, and anything is
possible. In the coming days, we’ll see how skippers navigate Theta and whether
anyone flies too close to the sun, so to speak. If nothing else, the conditions
will be good practice for the Southern Ocean and allow weak points to reveal themselves
inhospitable climes while skippers still have a good chance at repair or
rescue.
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