The Vendée Globe leaders passed the Falkland Islands with difficulty Thursday night. After spending a good ten hours struggling to lose as few miles as possible in the whirlwinds created by the Andes, Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle), Vincent Riou (PRB) and Mike Golding (Ecover) are still in a 15 to 20 knot West North-Westerly wind making over 13 knot averages. Behind them the Cape Horn is verging on an obsession, Sébastien Josse (VMI) set to round it tonight before sunset local time. He will be followed in 24 hours' time by Dominique Wavre (Temenos). Josse is just 54 miles away at 1900 GMT.
Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle), the leader of the Vendée Globe, has today passed the second Pacific gateway and has less than 9000 miles to the race finish. The leaders have an ETA at Cape Horn in record time on Sunday, after around 57 days of racing. The distance between the most easterly iceberg sighting Tuesday morning (by Mike Golding) and the most northerly (by Jean Pierre Dick) measures a staggering 1600 miles, which is clearly a concern for the chasing pack as they anticipate this Mediterranean sized ice field. While the rich get richer averaging 15/16 knots in the forecast favorable winds all the way to the cape, the trio Josse/ Wavre/ Dick are set to face strong winds in around 48 hours time, accompanied by big, messy seas.
More on the Vendee Globe
More on the Vendee Globe
The ice field lying in the path of the solo Vendée Globe sailors showed how dangerous it can be yesterday when Sebastien Josse hit a growler, one of the small, virtually submerged masses of ice which can be deadly to a lightly-built racing yacht. Josse, who was in fourth place, stopped VMI, lowered the mainsail and inspected the damage. He did not appear to be at risk and resumed a normal course and speed, though VMI's bowsprit and bow rail were damaged. The incident took place at 15.30 GMT, night time for Josse, who is now some 500 miles south-east of New Zealand. The race's astonishingly fast pace continues, and it is possible that the winner could finish in fewer than 90 days. - Tim Jeffery, the Daily Telegraph
More on the Vendee Globe
More on the Vendee Globe