Outsiders at the front, favorites in ambush and the Swiss at every level of the Vendée Globe rankings. This new edition of the solo race around the planet gets off to a historically slow start. Do the sailors even have time to enjoy the long Atlantic swell?
“We must be the slowest of the last four Vendée Globes,” confessed Yoann Richomme, skipper of Paprec Arkéa, in a video published on Tuesday. While some of the fleet were able to lengthen their stride before entering the Doldrums, light airs punctuated this first week of racing and played on the nerves of the solo sailors.
Justine Mettraux in the mix
Alan Roura had the pleasant surprise this weekend of finishing in 2nd place overall, before paying the price for opting for the middle ground. Neither to the west nor to the east, the skipper of Hublot got stuck between two fleets and will have to work hard to climb back up. For TeamWork Team SNEF, morale is high. Justine Mettraux is sailing close to the big favorites in this Vendée: Dalin, Richomme, Beyou, Bestaven. The last Swiss competitor, Oliver Heer, is sailing his old-generation daggerboard IMOCA at his own pace. For his first participation, he’s taking it easy on his steed and aims to climb the rankings as the fleet narrows with the breakages. It’s worth pointing out, in passing, that the fleet is in good health, with just one retirement to date. That of Maxime Sorel, who injured his ankle and sailed all the way to Madeira without a mainsail hook.
Tight clearance
At the front, the leaders followed one another and it was the outsiders who were most often at the helm of the race. Sam Goodchild – taking part for the first time – controlled his trajectory magnificently right up to the entrance to the Doldrums. Jean Le Cam once again demonstrated the importance of experience by succeeding in his gamble on a route to the west of Cape Verde. Just yesterday, he was provisionally in first place. Sébastien Simon is also one of the fastest boats, with a very steady average pace since the start. Last but not least, Thomas Ruyant – one of the big favourites – was ideally positioned to the west on Tuesday, and should make a strong comeback at the head of the race. After a week and a half of racing, no clear hierarchy is emerging, so let’s see what surprises the dreaded inter-tropical convergence zone has in store for us!
