Determined Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) is hanging in there not far behind in sixth despite his compromises, less than 60 miles behind and in fact a little quicker than the two leaders in recent times. And indeed there is likely to be a little compression in from boats behind as they retain stronger winds before they too will slow in the band of gentler airs. But meantime this is good news for Switzerland’s Justine Mettraux (TeamWork-Team Snef) who is still fast at 17 knots in a good eighth place.
But whether it is managing the stress of the head to head, such as between two very different characters Beyou and Goodchild, or staying motivated hour after trying to close a seemingly insurmountable gap of over 150 miles such as Conrad Colman (MS Amlin) is chasing the leading daggerboard boats, fatigue really does affect the emotions.
The mental challenges.
After 70 or so days at sea the gnawing, insidious fatigue is ever present and it really affects, indeed almost determines the emotions,
In 12th Clarisse Crémer provides an insight this morning, “Going around the world solo is experiencing lots of emotions and that is my specialty. One moment you wouldn't trade your place for anything in the world, you tell yourself that you are the luckiest and most privileged person to be there. Fortunately, there are plenty of moments like that. Then there are times when I would give anything just to be able to sleep in a bed that doesn't move, to be left alone and not have to deal with the problems. It's a bit like a roller coaster!”
She is having to deal with the prospect of this low too, knowing that from her position it will be tougher than for the boats in front as the three leaders at least might be able to get in front of it and ride it more directly in whilst she will be faced with bigger seas and winds up to 40kts or more,
“I admit that I would have liked to have had a little easy arrival and that is not at all what is happening. The depression has slowed down. In addition, we have seas just after this ridge. I have no route that passes in less than 50 knots. Whatever happens we are going to have seas. Obviously, I am resolved to that, that's how it is. It's hard not to be jealous of the first three. I'm not sure that I'm more on edge but I am more tired, that's for sure. And I'm more afraid of damage. So close to the goal... you have to stay ready for anything and work if necessary. I can feel the fatigue, that's for sure. 8 days (left to the finish) on the scale of a Vendée Globe is nothing but it's a whole transatlantic race with winter a winter depression. Three things to drive you crazy: solitude, it really helps to go crazy, fatigue and competition which makes you ask yourself 36,000 questions. All this on the scale of a Vendée, that is to say that in the long term, there is a way to go really crazy!”
Dealing with it
Seb Marsset (FOUSSIER) in 24th has raced or sailed round the world in record mode fully crewed but he is discovering himself in solo mode, “Things that could be stressful at the start, like managing tough conditions, we are really sea-going and adapted, we really know our boat very well, we know it inside out. We know that we are capable. On boat management is overall pretty confident. When I have slumps, I often tell myself "eat a bite and get some sleep". Lack of food and sleep are two factors that make it easy to see things more negatively than they are. Fatigue does not help to be positive. Solo sailing really exacerbates emotions. We experience things that are quite intense, challenging, and it is normal that it triggers emotions. Joy to the point of shouting when things go well or disappointment when there is a breakdown, a bad ranking, when we feel far from land. In a way, what we come looking for is this intensity. What we do not have on land. To feel things, to go and tackle some pretty big challenges… Fatigue exacerbates all that and you can feel that it is there, that it is anchored. No matter how much I sleep, no matter how much I eat, take vitamins, things, stuff, I feel that my body is tired and it won’t get rid of it and that it will certainly take time, even on land. What I need is to accept these variations in emotions because it’s normal that they are there. They have a kind of meaning. It’s necessarily a roller coaster and personally, I had prepared myself quite well by doing a lot of mental preparation before the start, which helps me to manage these moments. I recently had the frustration of seeing the group of boats leading get away quite far. It was extremely frustrating because that day I suffered two major breakdowns that prevented me from passing in front of the ridge. I managed to get back on track and be satisfied with everything that's going well. There are 5,000 miles left and I'm going to experience them and do them as best I can.”
Antoine Cornic (Human Immobilier) is surfing the mental highs and paddling out the troughs in a positive mindset, “I'm fine. Quite happy to have rounded Cape Horn. I was very happy, full of emotion. It's a long-term project that took me a long time to get going. I've wanted to do this Vendée Globe for 20 years, so rounding Cape Horn is definitely something. Even though I'm a guy who weighs over 100 kg, I'm still a big teddy bear and I get quite emotional about these things. I'm fine. We rounded the Falklands on Thursday evening. We're in a good flow that's allowing us to move up. Ahead, they're stopped - Oliver and Eric -. It's going to regroup a little. It's going to be nice for the rest of the race. I'm still at 70% on the boat. I have a stringer that came off on a bulkhead. I'm going to have to operate in the anticyclone. There, I'm on the right side but there's no point in continuing to break at that point. I'm being relatively careful. And Jingkun is coming back. It's cool, it's going to add to the match for the Atlantic. It's been a long time since I've been all alone on the ocean with no one around so having a few people in front and Jingkun just behind, it's going to be nice. The emotion? We're approaching 70 days at sea. We're all alone on his boat. It’s your friend. It's really becoming a bit of a mess. You talk to him, you moan. When you talk to real people, you're more emotional than when you're on land for a long time but that's the same for everyone. I'm very happy to be going back up to the Atlantic. And then I'm going to complain because there's going to be the Saint Helena high pressure system and we're going to be stopped.”
