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. blue water sailing

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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