Drama for Vendée Globe champion

(December 28, 2024; Day 49) – Defending Vendée Globe champion Yannick Bestaven sits in 11th place in his approach to Cape Horn, but a steering system failure on his IMOCA Maître CoQ V may keep him from the finish line in the tenth running of the solo, round the world race.

At 2100hrs UTC yesterday while sailing in five metre seas and nearly 30 knots of wind, and approximately 450 miles east of Cape Horn, Bestaven incurred damage to the link bar which connects the twin rudders. Struggling with his team to solve the crisis, he has set up a temporary system with a spare gennaker sheet to drive the rudders under mainsail only.

“For sure I can’t get back up the whole Atlantic like this…I need my boat in a good enough state to get back to Les Sables d’Olonne,” noted Bestaven. “My idea would be to find shelter in the islands at Cape Horn and then see what’s possible whether I can repair it myself or to stop at Ushuaïa. I really don’t know.”

Meanwhile at the front to the fleet the two leaders are making good progress up the South Atlantic. Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA) leads Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prevoyance) by 130 miles this afternoon. They face an imminent strategic choice how to deal with the semi stationary cold front at Cabo Frio.

“It has been quite intense since Cape Horn with lot of wind changes, sail changes, it has been pretty full on,” shared Richomme.

“The options I have with this front, there are mainly two options. Either you stick with the rhumb line and try to make the best of it with what you get with the front which is quite active at Rio de Janeiro or you go round to the east and you try to shoot the centre of the high and use the shift as much as you can.

“It is a tough decision to make and I’ll have to make that tomorrow morning with some new weather files. The centre of the high does not look too strong, so there might not be too much option than the rhumb line.”

Following observers’ questions whether Dalin’s boat is at full capacity, Richomme responded, “I am not sure Charlie has got any problems, the situations have looked pretty normal to me. He has been catching up and I have been putting some miles on him related to the weather, there is some logic regarding the weather and so that makes sense, I am pretty sure he is at pretty much 100%.

“Do I feel lucky? Yes I do feel lucky to have had the right weather pattern around me every time to keep on moving forward and to keep on putting miles on the other. But it is definitely intense sailing and it is not all to do with the weather.

“Right now if I were a battery what charge would I read? Well this morning I would have been at about 20% probably and this afternoon 50% after some sleep. But it is very intense sailing in this race. It is very tiring after 50 days at sea. I’ll try and get some rest tonight.”

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Attrition:
Nov. 15: Maxime Sorel (FRA), V and B – Monbana – Mayenne – ankle injury, mast damage
Dec. 4: Louis Burton (FRA), Bureau Vallée – rigging failure
Dec. 15: Pip Hare (GBR), Medallia – dismasted
Dec. 16: Szabolcs Weöres (HUN), New Europe – broken D2 shroud

The Vendée Globe, raced in the 60-foot IMOCA, is the elite race round the world, solo, non-stop, and without assistance. On November 10, 40 skippers started the 2024-25 edition which begins and ends in Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

Armel Le Cléac’h, winning in 2017, holds the record for the 24,300 nm course of 74 days 03 hours 35 minutes 46 seconds. Only one sailor has won it twice: Michel Desjoyeaux in 2001 and 2009. This is tenth running of the race.

Source: VG2024, SSN