Again, actually one of the worst phases of the Vendée Globe is the close hauled sailing in the NE’ly trade winds in the Atlantic. The constant slamming with a nasty wind chop on top of the short swell is debilitating and it progressively exposes any weaknesses.
Denis Van Weynbergh (D’Ieteren Group) looks set to be last in, due to arrive back in Les Sables d’Olonne on 28th February or 1st March. At some 420 odd nautical miles SWW of the Cape Verde islands he reported last night
“This really is monotonous and not pleasant at all. We're close-hauled, it's slamming very hard. I've been busy trying to fix the electronics since this afternoon because I've been losing connections and it's a bit stressful. I had to reduce my speed and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well and that we can find solutions. I'm close to Fabrice. We've already talked a lot since the Cape of Good Hope. We've been calling each other for support for a while now."
The uphill climb in the trade winds is tough
If there is a supposition or belief that for the sailors still racing life might be in any way easier because they are making slower average speeds than those who have long since finished it is very much misplaced. Boats are very tired, skippers are tired and for some of them time it really dragging.
It's far from the idea you have of the trade winds. When we're going down them, when we're going the other way, it's always pleasant but now it's not fun at all and I'm probably going to have this for another four or five days. I hope the boat will hold up. Every time the boat slams we ask ourselves the question. The sea is rough. We don't realize when we're going down it. The boat is banging very hard and it's causing connection problems. It's a bit hot, there's wind, sea, swell but we're not taking advantage of it since we're not surfing since we're close-hauled. There's also a lot of weed. It's quite hard to charge with the hydrogenerators. I do long two-hour sessions where I stay outside and every time the hydrogenerator stops, I clean it and put it back in the water.
It is very hard to predict when this final group of three boats will finish as they have multiple transition zones to cross which are proving hard to model not less a dynamic Azores high pressure system.
Next to finish, most likely on Monday morning but maybe late Sunday night will be Swiss German Ollie Heer (Tut gut). His boat remains is good shape other than his keel ram problem as does he and he is trying to remain zen despite expecting the breeze to switch off on the Bay of Biscay for his final approach. His night time report explained,
“It is quite windy, the boat is going quite fast I am making good progress which is great but it is quite intense sailing, broad reaching, quite a big swell and I am in a lot of traffic dodging cargo ships left, right and centre and so with the conditions I might as well keep an eye on the traffic. Until tomorrow midday I have solid, solid breeze and then the breeze lightens up very quickly. The weather models then don’t align at all and haven’t now for a couple of days now and I really have to see what is gong to happen, keeping a very close eye on it. For the moment it does not have a very great impact as I am sailing the next 200 miles in this and then we see what happens if I get enough breeze to cross the Bay of Biscay or whether I get stuck, anyways I expect the worst in terms of maybe arriving Monday morning, but I hope I to have enough breeze and getting through to arrive Sunday evening.”
JIngkun reliant on hydros now to generate power
And China’s Jingkun Xu is now reliant on his hydrogenerators for power as his engine will not start and so he cannot generate power off it. He had to climb right into the very tight, claustrophobic confines of the very back of his boat to fix the hydro problem,
“My engine is broken and can’t be repaired and so I had to repair my hydrogenator so I can still charge the batteries for now but every time I mist slow down for the hydro. Right now I am facing some rough conditions with the gusts between 18 to 38 knots making it hard to sail. The situation in the Bay of Biscay is always changing and so my ETA I do not know really. I really hope there will be sunshine at the finish like at the start which is still fresh in my mind.”
Set to become the first Chinese skipper ever to finish the Vendée Globe his ETA is now Tuesday, daytime.
