Two retirements and a vision of tomorrow

Meantime, the head of the race is powering back up again now after a less bracing day than previously, but it has rounded Fastnet and is beginning the climb up to the Arctic Circle.

ARMEL TRIPON RETIRES FROM THE RACE

For those sailors who are suddenly forced to take their foot off the pedal and stand down, it’s a cruel blow and one you have to learn how to overcome. It was 13:15 French time in Les Sables d’Olonne when Armel Tripon hove to, dropped his sails and alerted his shore team, who promptly contacted Race Management. A structural issue had just curbed the progress of L’Occitane en Provence: two longitudinal stringers located to starboard, aft of the zone repaired after the vessel collided with a UFO (unidentified floating object) on the weekend of the 21 June, had cracked.

The shore crew is not yet in a position to assess the source of the incident, but it suspects that there was some collateral damage linked to the misfortunes back in June. For Armel Tripon and L’Occitane en Provence, the Vendée – Arctique – Les Sables d’Olonne represented the opportunity to qualify for the Vendée Globe 2020. The fact that the skipper took the start of the race, means that he is entitled to refer to article 9.3 of Amendment 3 of the Notice of Race for the Vendée Globe, an amendment dated 2 June 2020. This enables a skipper forced to retire from a spring race to have the right to sail a replacement course spanning 2,000 miles, the route of which must be validated by Race Management and completed by 15 September.

DAMIEN SEGUIN WITHDRAWS

A few hours earlier, Damien Seguin had also made the decision to retire from the race. Late afternoon on Sunday, the skipper of Groupe APICIL had noticed that the mounting on his alternator had broken, restricting his ability to completely recharge the on-board batteries. Having made his port of registry of Port-la-Forêt late morning this Monday, the double gold medallist at the Paralympic Games took the time to make a thorough mechanical analysis before declaring his retirement. Damien Seguin does have some room for manoeuvre in this situation since he has already qualified and officially signed up for the Vendée Globe 2020,  but it will still be frustrating for this born competitor and he will now have to find another way to get in some training.

ISSUES AND DAILY TRAVEL COMPANIONS

Back on the racetrack, the IMOCA fleet has had to get out their tool bag and roll up their sleeves. This is a fairly logical state of affairs after two days of offshore racing upwind, a point of sail that puts pressure on the boats and justly prepares the skippers for the upcoming round the world race by helping them to make sure their boats are reliable and able perform well in some testing conditions. For the Japanese skipper Japonais Kojiro Shiraishi (DMG MORI Global One) it was a mainsail hook that was cause for concern. Aboard Prysmian Group, Italian skipper Giancarlo Pedote had some electronic problems, while Kevin Escoffier (PRB) had his work cut out repairing his mainsail, which forms part of his old suit of sails. The latter sailor from Saint Malo has made some initial repairs and is hoping to reinforce these once the fleet is slowed by a ridge of high pressure that will have to be negotiated in the coming days.

SCALING THE NORTH FACE OF THE EYJAFJALLAJÖKULL

This tear in the mainsail forced Kevin Escoffier to put two reefs in the mainsail whilst in contact with Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut), Charlie Dalin (Apivia) and Jérémie Beyou (Charal). In the time it took to effect a makeshift repair, he was relegated to nearly 30 miles astern of the leader, Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut), who at 13:00 hours was the first skipper to turn his bow northwards.

The weather models have proven to be particularly unstable over recent days. Indeed, Jérémie Beyou ‘only’ encountered a 35-knot gust as he negotiated the heart of the first low-pressure system to loom over his route, yesterday evening. This instability was further evidenced by the sailors having to choose between a bumpy northerly route and a longer but gentler westerly route. The north face was the favoured option in the end, though that led to another dilemma regarding what balance to strike in the knowledge that the skippers are required to hunt down a westerly wind shift, which should enable them to position themselves to the south-west of this week’s second depression.

Was it worthwhile for the chasing pack to venture along the same course? “No thanks”, seems to be the response from Briton Miranda Merron (Campagne de France) and French sailors Manuel Cousin (Groupe SETIN) and Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline - Artisans Artipôle) who, having fallen behind somewhat, have all invested heavily in the west. “We’ll see”, replied German Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer – Yacht Club de Monaco), Franco-German Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) and Briton Sam Davies (Initiatives Cœur), who are bunched together and are respectively ranked from 5th to 7th place. 

French skipper Clarisse Crémer (Banque Populaire X) has made the most of mainsail hook problem aboard DMG MORI Global One to snatch 8th place. Aboard the winning monohull in the Vendée Globe 2012-2013 and still equipped with daggerboards, the skipper of Banque Populaire is showing that she learns fast. Very fast.

Ranking on Monday 6 July, 16:00 French time - 17 skippers still racing

1 – Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) some 3083.2 miles from the finish
2 – Jérémie Beyou (Charal) 10.4 miles behind the leader
3 – Charlie Dalin (Apivia) 13.8 miles behind the leader
4 – Kevin Escoffier (PRB) 29.7 miles behind the leader
5 – Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer – Yacht Club de Monaco) 36.3 miles behind the leader
6 - Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) 38.3 miles behind the leader
7 - Sam Davies (Initiatives Cœur) 39.9 miles behind the leader
8 - Clarisse Crémer (Banque Populaire X) 42.3 miles behind the leader
9 – Yannick Bestaven (Maître-CoQ) 43.9 miles behind the leader
10 – Maxime  Sorel (V and B – Mayenne) 45.8 miles behind the leader
…
retirements: Armel Tripon (L’Occitane en Provence), Damien Seguin (Groupe APICIL), Sébastien Simon (ARKEA – PAPREC)

QUOTES FROM THE BOATS

Kevin Escoffier (PRB)

“I made a small hole in the mainsail on the climb up to Ireland in the depression. As such, I’ve had to do a spot of DIY and keep in two reefs for a little longer than my playmates, which is why they’ve got ahead of me. I’ve done an initial repair and now I’m waiting for the ridge of high pressure to drop the sail again and complete my repair. On the menu is the negotiation of a ridge of high pressure, a transition zone between two low-pressure systems (the one we had with us on the climb up to Ireland and the one we’ll have to the west of Ireland), then we’ll be slammed by 30/35 knots again before we can make headway towards Iceland.”

Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer – Yacht Club de Monaco)

“I’m very happy with the boat, which is performing well upwind with her new foils. It’s funny: we’re sailing neck and neck with Isabelle who has the same foils as us, and our speeds are similar. Yesterday, in the gale, I could have sailed at 5 or 25 knots. I opted to err on the side of safety and targeted a speed of 13 to 14 knots. Even at that speed, upwind, the boat was beginning to lift up out of the water, even in the big seas! She’s very seaworthy and she feels solid, which was yesterday’s good news.”

Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut)

“I’m still finding my bearings aboard. A short period of adaptation is always necessary before you can be completely at ease on a boat. I’m not completely on my game yet, but it’s gradually coming and I’m beginning to feel good in this race. We’re still taking a real hammering though, but the problem with these boats is that we’re going to get shaken about the whole time I think! This morning, I looked at the weather to get an idea of how to manage the section between Ireland and Iceland, where we’re going to have a lot on. The wind is set to build today, so we’re going to have to put in some reefs to reduce the sail area, switch sails and then I’m expecting to see a fair amount of swell as we approach the Scillies and Ireland. It’ll be a full-on day!”