A gripping Vendee Globe on Monday entered a new phase as the three leaders, separated by just 70 nautical miles (130km), headed toward the Antarctic Exclusion Zone in search of the winds that would drive them up into the Pacific Ocean.
Charlie Dalin still leads in Apivia, as he has done for the past three weeks, but the gap had shrunk from 300 nautical miles last week to just 65 nautical miles at 5pm GMT.
Yannick Bestaven, who is second in Maitre Coq IV, and Thomas Ruyant, another 5 nautical miles behind in LinkedOut, were giving chase.
Photo: AFP
The three frontrunners on Sunday crossed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin, on the southwestern tip of Australia, within three hours, 20 minutes of each other, making this ninth edition of the solo non-stop round-the-world race the tightest yet.
On the back of a low-pressure system, the three now have the chance to take advantage of fast sailing conditions to open up a big lead on the rest of the fleet, which has been chasing them hard.
Fourth-placed Damien Seguin is 321 nautical miles behind Dalin.
Photo: AFP
The 33-strong fleet, now down to 27, left Les Sables d’Olonne, France, on Nov. 8 and the leaders, all with the new generation “foiler” boats, are now approaching the halfway point in the race, which takes them on a 24,296 nautical mile trip.
Sailing to the south of Australia, Dalin has chosen to move away from New Zealand to navigate along the Antarctic Exclusion Zone, set in place by the race director to protect the skippers from “growlers,” small blocks that have detached from larger icebergs and are drifting across the sea.
“I passed Cape Leeuwin in the lead and now we can dive further south to get strong winds along the ice zone,” Dalin said on Monday as he braced himself for more cold days and freezing nights.
“In the next few days, we will change the system, we will have a slightly different wind along the ice zone, we will continue to advance, but the wind will gradually turn,” he said.
The leader is taking part in his first Vendee Globe as he discovers the joys of the South Seas.
“At night, it is freezing!” Dalin said. “I put on several layers of fleeces and sweaters, and I sleep with a duvet. My cockpit is closed so in the cockpit and in the boat, it’s nice.”
Ruyant has had to deal with a damaged foil, but he has not allowed that to disrupt his progress.
“I have found solutions to deal with the lack of my port foil,” he said. “I play with the ballast a lot, I trim and push hard.”
Ruyant is about to head into fresh waters as his previous attempt at the race in 2016 ended before he reached the Pacific when he hit an unidentified floating object while sailing between Australia and New Zealand.
“Geographically, we’re still in the Indian Ocean, and I can’t wait to cross the longitude of New Zealand, to be in the Pacific which I don’t know,” Ruyant said. “I’ve had my share of struggles and now it’s all good.”
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