Vendée Globe: Boat trouble for Thomson

(November 21, 2020; Day 14) – British skipper Alex Thomson, who lost the lead today in the Vendée Globe at the 04:00 ranking, alerted his team later at around 19:00 UTC of a possible structural issue onboard the HUGO BOSS boat.

“At the time Thomson’s position was approximately 800 miles east of Rio de Janeiro in the South Atlantic ocean, and was 13 days into the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race,” said his team in a statement. “Thomson and his team, together with their appointed naval architects and structural engineers, are now working together to assess the extent of the structural issue and to determine a repair programme and timeline.

“Thomson is safe and well onboard, and in regular dialogue with the team. The Vendée Globe race organization has been notified and is being kept well informed.”

In the meantime, it’s Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) at the head of the 32 boat as the breakaway top trio enjoy a fast slide south eastwards towards the Indian Ocean. Being in first place on the rankings will be a pleasing moment for Ruyant, the 39 year old skipper from the north of France who had to abandon the 2016-17 race, and for his very supportive group of investors from his home region who financed the build of his boat.

LinkedOut made 511.4 miles over the 24 hours to 0400hrs TU this morning. The leading trio now have a significant gap over a group of seven IMOCAs which Jean Le Cam tries to keep under control. But at the front of the fleet the battle is set to become more intense late tomorrow as the leaders start a sequence of manoeuvres which will almost certainly decide who gets to the Indian Ocean first.

Behind them the southbound train of boats stretches back across the Equator to the Cape Verde islands. With 13 days of racing since the start and more then 20000 miles still to sail the feeling for the rookies can, at this stage, feel quite overwhelming, almost like a kind of vertigo.

Since they crossed the Equator the IMOCAs sail on a relentless, monotonous port gybe in SE’ly trade winds, trimming the sails but not making any changes in direction or manoeuvres, An almost monotonous aspect for Maxime Sorel: “I’m not used to it, we will be on this same tack for several days. It’s the first time that I’ve been on the same tack for so long. I think this is a stage of the Vendée Globe when I now start to realize the real duration of the race.”

Ranking – 21:00 (GMT)
1. Thomas RUYANT, LinkedOut – 19886.1 nm DTF
2. Alex THOMSON, HUGO BOSS – 40 nm DTL
3. Charlie DALIN, APIVIA – 63.94 nm DTL
4. Jean LE CAM, Yes We Cam! – 303.27 nm DTL
5. Kevin ESCOFFIER, PRB- 348.19 nm DTL
DTF – Distance to Finish; DTF – Distance to Lead

Race details – Boat types – Tracker – Ranking – YouTube

The Vendée Globe is the only sailing race round the world that’s solo, non-stop, and without assistance, and it was all systems go for the 9th edition on November 8. Beginning in 1989 with 13 entries, the start line in 2020 had 33 skippers taking off from Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

The development of the IMOCA Class toward foiling will see these boats hurl themselves around the world, teetering on carbon skates through inhospitable regions, chasing the record set in 2016-17 by Armel le Cléac’h of 74:03:35:46.

2020-21 Attrition
Nov. 16, 2020 – Nicolas TROUSSEL, CORUM L’EPARGNE – dismasted

Participation history:
1989-90: 13 boats at the start
1992-93: 15 boats
1996-97: 15 boats
2000-01: 24 boats
2004-05: 20 boats
2008-2009: 30 boats
2012-2013: 20 boats
2016-2017: 29 boats
2020-2021: 33 boats

2020-21 Entries
Fabrice AMEDEO: NEWREST – ART & FENÊTRES
Romain ATTANASIO: PURE – BEST WESTERN
Alexia BARRIER: TSE – 4MYPLANET
Yannick BESTAVEN: MAÎTRE COQ IV
Jérémie BEYOU: CHARAL
Arnaud BOISSIÈRES: LA MIE CÂLINE – ARTISANS ARTIPÔLE
Louis BURTON: BUREAU VALLÉE 2
Didac COSTA: ONE PLANET ONE OCEAN
Manuel COUSIN: GROUPE SÉTIN
Clarisse CREMER: BANQUE POPULAIRE X
Charlie DALIN: APIVIA
Samantha DAVIES: INITIATIVES-CŒUR
Sébastien DESTREMAU: MERCI
Benjamin DUTREUX: OMIA – WATER FAMILY
Kevin ESCOFFIER: PRB
Clément GIRAUD: COMPAGNIE DU LIT / JILITI
Pip HARE: MEDALLIA
Boris HERRMANN: SEA EXPLORER – YACHT CLUB DE MONACO
Ari HUUSELA: STARK
Isabelle JOSCHKE: MACSF
Jean LE CAM: YES WE CAM !
Stéphane LE DIRAISON: TIME FOR OCEANS
Miranda MERRON: CAMPAGNE DE FRANCE
Giancarlo PEDOTE: PRYSMIAN GROUP
Alan ROURA: LA FABRIQUE
Thomas RUYANT: LINKEDOUT
Damien SEGUIN: GROUPE APICIL
Kojiro SHIRAISHI: DMG MORI
Sébastien SIMON: ARKEA – PAPREC
Maxime SOREL: V AND B – MAYENNE
Alex THOMSON: HUGO BOSS
Armel TRIPON: L’OCCITANE EN PROVENCE
Nicolas TROUSSEL: CORUM L’ÉPARGNE

Source: Vendée Globe