In 14th position Romain Attanasio (Fortinet - Best Western, 14th) should hook into the back of this big Biscay system which will slingshot him towards the finish line. And at the back of the fleet, Manuel Cousin (Coup de Pouce, 32nd), Fabrice Amedeo (Nexans-Wewise, 33rd) and Denis Van Weynbergh (D'Ieteren Group, 34th) will also have to cross a stormy, unsettled system in the South Atlantic.
Herrmann and Davies incoming
There are 22 skippers still competing on the Vendée Globe and eight of them are tightly packed in a group which is due to finish early next week. Deliverance should finally come for Boris Herrmann (Malizia Seaexplorer) and Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur) tonight and early tomorrow when they cross the finish line in strong winds and big seas to take 12th and 13th places respectively.
© Jean Le Cam
Jingkun Xu célèbre le réveillon du nouvel an chinois avec une nouvelle coupe | Vendée Globe 2024
Meantime spare a thought for the thousands left waiting in the Les Sables d’Olonne waiting for the next skippers to cross the line and make their way up the famous Les Sables d’Olonne channel. Intermittent rain squalls, gale force winds and big seas braking over the harbour are not conducive to spending time outdoors.
Tonight is the night
Both Herrmann and Davies have slowed right down to around 10 knots, "The low pressure centre is moving down to the South-East which means close-hauled sailing and may force them to tack until the finish", explains Basile Rochut, Vendée Globe weather consultant. And that means their finish time has slipped from this Wednesday afternoon to this evening for the German skipper and the morning for the British skipper
And for Jingkun Xu (Singchain Team Haikou, 31st) the chance to celebrate Chinese New Year during his Vendée Globe is one he has been keen to share as the year of the snake begins. He sent a video, wishing everyone a "smooth, harmonious year and excellent health".
Less than one hundred miles separate Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur – Duo for a Job, 15th) from Jean Le Cam (Tout commence en Finistère – Armor Lux, 22nd)! Ferré has once more witnessed Tanguy Le Turquais (Lazare, 21st) come back to be beside him.
Ferré said “This level of intensity is exceptional, especially a few days before the finish and after a full round the world race! I, who dream of doing the Solitaire du Figaro and who have done everything a bit backwards, am lucky to be doing a Vendée Globe and a Solitaire du Figaro at the same time! We have a battle that is going to be close right to the end!”
Within this group, there are four boats with straight daggerboards and four foilers. Among the foilers Alan Roura (Hublot), is head to head with Isabelle Joschke (MACSF):
The Swiss skipper Roura said. “This battle is completely crazy! It spices things up until the end, it's going to be a great finish. We all want to fight for this 15th place. Starting tomorrow, the wind will pick up, it's going to be a bit of a challenge. I'm very happy to be back in this group."
Right now, it's going strong, I'm at more than 100% of my polars. We'll see who can pull it off, it's going to be super intense right to the end! Normally I have just five days of racing left. And I've put socks back on, which means it's cool and we're getting closer to home!
Alan
Roura
HUBLOT
