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VENDÉE GLOBE

Vendée Globe: "Worst South Atlantic ever" sees Golding Facing Power Pressure

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The toughest South Atlantic that any of the skippers stuck in it can remember is beginning to turn the screw on supplies. Being dropped by a fickle wind or battered by a north one is one thing, but sixth-placed Mike Golding (Gamesa) has revealed that just having enough to run his auto-pilots in the busy shipping lanes for the finish is increasingly becoming a worry.

“We are looking at 5 days added to the route, potentially, by the problems in the South Atlantic,” Golding, who has 4310 miles to the finish, told Vendee Globe TV. “That puts extra pressure on everything – fuel, food, and this has been a very hard period for the boat as well; going upwind in strong breeze, fully ballasted puts extra pressure on the boat.

“Things have not been easy as we have not had hydro generators since the Southern Ocean. While we did load some fuel, we had a plan that covered a lot of bases – we have hydro, solar and fuel – we tried to cover our options. However, trying to predict our fuel usage from the beginning of Southern Ocean to the current point has been very difficult and now we are very low on fuel. So yes, pretty nerve-racking.”

Golding agreed with his arch-rival, Jean Le Cam, who is just 12 miles ahead and to the west in fifth place, that this is the toughest South Atlantic he has faced in all his races. “I have to agree with Jean when he says this is the worst South Atlantic conditions ever,” Golding said. “I’m just trying to get out of here like Jean (laughs). The reality of it is that is has been a shocking few days and taken forever to get into the lift and we still have some more manoeuvres ahead of us, so we are not out of it yet. I don’t see an appreciable lift really until tomorrow evening. I think my current position is a good thing in the long run, but Jean is doing a very good job of mitigating his losses.”

Fleet News:

Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) has been the fastest in the fleet over the last 24 hours, averaging 15.4 knots and making 369.8 miles. He has won back nine miles from Francois Gabart (MACIF) over the last 24 hours and is 144.7 miles behind. That is not such a deficit if they were heading downwind, but it is tough to bridge upwind in these northeasterlies. Le Cléac’h will hope they pick some downwind as they skirt the Azores high. Unless there is a dramatic change in the forecast they will stay west and do a left hook east into Les Sables.

They should start feeling the effect of the Azores high tomorrow and such has been Gabart’s speed over the last two days that the routing software – something all the skippers have on board to calculate the optimum route of their boat in the forecast weather - is predicting a slightly earlier finish now, in less than a week on Saturday, January 26 – after 77-day.

Gabart revealed under questioning on Vendée Globe TV that the flow of radio banter between the two, who have been locked at the front for the whole race, dried up in the Atlantic. “Armel and I haven’t spoken at all since Cape Horn,” Gabart said in a neutral manner. “The last time was in the Pacific Ocean. We’ve seen each other, but if I remember well, we haven’t talked.” The stakes are high now and neither man will be happy with second.

However, Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) is probably more intent on securing third place and holding off Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) than trying to win the race. Dick, the fastest in the fleet over the last hour with 15 knots, is 524.4 miles behind Gabart, 380 behind Le Cléac’h, but 252 miles in front of Thomson. They are both to the west of the leaders, with Thomson, who is in similar position to Le Cléac’h, running out of road to catch his man, still the furthest west. It may be that both men also need to do a left hook to the finish, but if there is a wind shift, Thomson, in the older, slower boat, may look for any opportunity to find a more easterly and direct path through the Azores high.

The danger is that Thomson sails into a windless area, gets stuck and gives up the chance to say he sailed ‘around the world in 80 days.’ In the end, for him and his sponsor Hugo Boss, personally and professionally, that may be a more valuable than coming third. But the competitive juices are flowing and an opportunity to strike will be too hard to resist. 

Wavre extends over Sansó

Seventh-placed Dominique Wavre (Mirabaud) has extended a little from Javier Sansó (Acciona 100% EcoPowered), after passing him in the ranking on Saturday night. Wavre is 24 miles ahead of Sansó and has tacked north and is due south of Golding. If as forecast the wind veers west after first going east, he may stretch away.

There have been some jokes about the skippers to the west heading to the Rio carnival or hugging the coast of Brazil, but ninth-placed Arnaud Boissières (Akena Verandas) really has been, spending Sunday making 6 knots 10 miles from the coastline taking the more direct, if slowest route home.

Maintenance at the back

The trio at the tail - Bertrand de Broc (Your Name Around the World with Projects EDM), Tanguy de Lamotte (Initiatives cœur) and Alessandro Di Benedetto (Team Plastique) continue to enjoy the best conditions in the fleet, surging downwind. After his climb up the mast to check the halyards, Di Benedetto established that his big gennaker, that had previously come down in the Pacific, is permanently unusable. Fiercely sensitive to the protection of the environment, he has decided to keep the sail on board despite its weight. But under spinnaker, the Franco-Italian sailor continues to swallow miles consistently. At this rate, Alessandro could arrive in Les Sables d'Olonne in a little over a hundred days, well below the 130 days of food originally planned. There may be a sale on salads with the arrival of Team Plastique.

- Matthew Pryor

 

20/01/2013 20:26:00 © riproduzione riservata

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