Vendee Globe & Jules Verne Trophy

[Spanks]

Placemarking, to follow this thread. More of a lurker so don't know how to put on a "watch list"? Thanks for a great read. I see bits re Alex Thomson on my local BBC news but hooked now after reading this post. Cheers

Welcome aboard.

 

[Electromagnetic]

It looks like Alex might be heading for Cape Town now. Jean has passed the Cape of Good Hope and the winds between him and the Cape appear to have eased off. No non-race vessels in the immediate area.

A search turned up some commentary in a random blog on what happens next re Jean, Kevin and the race
What will happen to Jean Le Cam in the standings after the rescue of Kévin Escoffier?

 

[Electromagnetic]

Vendee Globe - Where is Jean Le Cam taking Kevin Escoffier?

As of 14:00 there is no big change from the situation at 11:00 other than it looks increasingly likely that Alex has indeed started his route to Cape Town and that it's not another tack.

As before, Jean Le Cam shows no sign of turning for Cape Town, so where might he stop? Sir Robin Knox Johnston suggests that the logical place to stop en route is the French Kerguelen Islands. There are no airports or civilian habitation, just soldiers, scientists and engineers. All travel is by ship and the nearest transport hub is Madagascar. This obviously increases the time it will take for Kevin to get home but then he was already prepared for three months of isolation. There is only one ship every four months and it is extremely expensive. Not as expensive as a Vendee Yacht though. Kerguelen Islands

Glad I found this Knox-Johnston's Vendée View. I'll look through his comments from the beginning later. Is he right though and do they have a spare corner in that remote camp? Certainly there are no more options along the official route between Cape Town and the islands until Tasmania. Very few ships travel this far South, except for fishing. Ironically, chartering a yacht may be an option.

Journeys:How to get to Kerguelen

 

[Electromagnetic]

Vendee Globe - More boat damage, minor injuries and latest positions.

The following news is from the official newsfeed News - Vendée Globe - En

ARKEA PAPREC hits OFNI and damages starboard foil and casing​

At 0820hrs UTC this morning, ARKEA PAPREC hit an unidentified floating object. The collision caused serious damage to the starboard foil. The skipper is coping with the situation with his shore team. Skipper Sébastien simon was not injured.

While sailing in fourth place in the Vendée Globe 436 miles from the race leader, ARKEA PAPREC collided with an unidentified floating object. The incident damaged the starboard foil. The skipper quickly carried out an appraisal of the situation and shared the information with his shore team and the Race Directors to keep them informed about the situation. The starboard foil has been damaged. The lower wedge at the entry point (where the foil rests and is linked to the boat) and the foil housing (where the foil goes inside the boat) are no longer attached to the boat itself. Sébastien is doing his utmost to deal with the situation, particularly given the heavy seas and strong winds expected tonight. He has heeled the boat over to limit the ingress of water. It is not yet known how much water is entering the boat.

He was sailing on the port tack at 17.6 knots in the 0800hrs rankings in a 20-knot Westerly wind and heavy seas with 3-4m high waves.

Next story:

Damien Seguien, Alpicil, 'I have a quite a few things to fix on the boat'​

“All is going well and if truth be told the past 24 to 36 hours have been complicated for me. I have quite a few little issues to fix on the boat, so it is going to take a bit of time, but otherwise all is good. The blue skies are back and that boosts morale. I have the past the Cape of Good hope, so first milestone on my Vendée Globe.
You really have to sail in the South to understand what it is like. The sea is quite rough, and you have to really adapt your sail plan to your boat speed and the sea state because if you just go by the information you get in Europe, you would tend to go with bigger head sails and the full or nearly full main, and really you just can’t accelerate much between waves because you get pushed over. It is not just because of this that I am less fast, but you need to protect your gear, so you have to adapt and really be here to understand.

The cut I did to myself a few days ago is virtually healed. It was not too complicated to dress as the conditions were calm and I spoke to the doctor and followed his advice, disinfecting the wound and putting the stiches on and cleaning it regularly with dressing changes. It was all very easy, and it has pretty much healed up now.

You always have your ups and downs on the race, even on the same day and within the same hour. The morale always fluctuates, but we lucky that we have great means of communication on board with WhatsApp, the telephone, video calls so it allows you to keep in touch with your close ones.”

Passage times at Cape of Good Hope

Monday, November 30
1- Charlie Dalin, Apivia at 11:11 pm UTC (December 1, 12:11 am HF): after 22d 09h 51min of race

Tuesday December 1
2- Thomas Ruyant, LinkedOut at 13:41 UTC (14:41 HF): 14h 30min after the leader
3- Louis Burton, Bureau Vallée 2 at 5:51 p.m. UTC (6:51 p.m. HF): 18hrs 40 min after the leader

Wednesday 2 December
4-Sébastien Simon, ARKEA PAPREC at 02:30 UTC (03:30 HF): 1d 03h 19min after the leader
5- Boris Herrmann, Seaexplorer - Yacht Club De Monaco at 03:35 UTC (04:35 HF): 1d 04h 24min after the leader
6- Jean Le Cam, Yes We Cam! at 04:52 UTC (05:52 HF): 1d 05h 41min after the leader

Meteo Analysis News - Meteo Analysis with Christian Dumard - Vendée Globe - En

Top Eight Positions at 17:00 - The black boat upper left of the screen capture is Hugo Boss (Alex Thomson), heading for Cape Town to rv with his team members for repair to the rudder before sailing home.

Latest official rankings

 

[Spanks]

Vendee Globe - Where is Jean Le Cam taking Kevin Escoffier?

Journeys:How to get to Kerguelen

An avid map reader but until today I had no idea Kerguelen existed, another school day etc

Another foiler damaged, this one by the sounds of parts not being attached to the boat and water ingress it may be difficult to trust the repairs in the Southern Ocean, but I hope not.

 

[Electromagnetic]

An avid map reader but until today I had no idea Kerguelen existed, another school day etc

Another foiler damaged, this one by the sounds of parts not being attached to the boat and water ingress it may be difficult to trust the repairs in the Southern Ocean, but I hope not.

Yes, this race can be a battle of attrition and tends to find any weakness in a vessel. Even a more robust design can be subject to damage by floating objects. Sebastien was the fourth sailor to be requested by the officials to divert to assist the SAR mission for Kevin. Since rejoining the race he made great progress and managed to reach 4th place before the collision with the unidentified object.

The distribution of vessels is not quite so convenient in this case. The nearest boat is Groupe APICIL which is in front of him. Damien Saguin has his own issues, albeit minor. If there was an ongoing concern about water ingress, I expect he would get a request to divert. V&B Mayeene, skippered by Maxime Sorel is making 21 kts behind him.

From the latest news summary for the race: "Simon slowed the boat which had some unspecified amount of water ingress, and had stabilised the situation, this afternoon making between eight and 12kts on port gybe racing towards the back of a low pressure system." News - The Indian Strikes - Vendée Globe - En Nevertheless, he needs to make good repairs before he can commit to the next section.

 

[Electromagnetic]

Vendee Globe - ARKEA PAPREC damage update - Heading North to more sheltered conditions.
First priority is safety. Next priority, when in calmer waters and daylight, is assessing the damage. Only when Sebastien and the team have a better understanding of the extent of the damage can they plan repairs and whether or not the vessel is too compromised to continue the race.

Found a couple of posts by Team ARKEA PAPREC. Translations below, earliest at the top. First though, here is a short video showing the damage. You can change Youtube settings to translate to English, though the speech to text struggles in the conditions at times, so some of the YT suggestions are clearly nonsense but perhaps you will get the general idea.


This morning at 9:20 am HF, ARKEA PAPREC collided with a UFO. This shock caused significant damage to the starboard foil. The situation is taken in hand by the skipper and his team ashore. Sébastien is not injured.
While sailing in 4 th position in the Vendée Globe to 436 miles from the leader Charlie Dalin, ARKEA PAPREC collided with a UFO. The impact took place with the starboard foil. The skipper quickly established an inventory which he shared with his shore team and the race director to warn them of the situation. The starboard foil is damaged. The low wedge (low fulcrum of the foil, junction between the foil and the boat) and the foil well (it is in this well that the foil crosses the boat) are no longer attached to the boat. Sébastien is doing everything he can to get the situation under control, particularly in anticipation of heavy seas and sustained winds to come next night. He laid the boat down to limit the entry of water, the importance of which is not yet known.

Remember that Sébastien was among the baffled boats to go and rescue Kevin Escoffier the day before last night. He was able to resume his route in the race at the end of the rescue operations, at 2:24 HF in the night from Monday to Tuesday. Since then, he has adorned the Cape of Good Hope, the first highly symbolic passage of this solo round-the-world trip. It was 3:30 am HF last night. He was sailing on port tack at 17.6 knots instantaneous speed in the 9:00 HF classification in about 20 knots from the west and rough seas with troughs of 3 to 4 meters.

More information to come.

ARKEA PAPREC heurte un OFNI | Team Arkéa Paprec

Latest update:

ARKEA PAPREC is on the way to take shelter and manage damage to the foil​

December 02, 2020 - 7:36 p.m.

Since this morning and the shock with an UFO that occurred at 9.20 am HF , Sébastien Simon has put the race on hold. It progresses with the mainsail lowered (only the horn remains) and under storm surge (small storm sail). Safety is now the priority on board ARKEA PAPREC.
Given the very tough sailing conditions to come (more than 30-35 knots of wind, 5 meters of hollow), Sébastien, in agreement with his team, decided to head north to get away from the strongest wind. and the sea. For this night, it is a question of being able to secure the boat as much as possible, damaged at the starboard foil. The objective is to use ARKEA PAPREC as little as possible by limiting its speed of progression and the associated constraints during the passage of the front this evening and to escape the bulk of the depression this night. Tomorrow, in an area where the 60-footer will be less battered by waves and strong winds, Sébastien will then be able to study the repair possibilities more calmly and set up the various scenarios under study with his team on land.
More information to follow.

ARKEA PAPREC fait route pour se mettre à l’abri et gérer les dégâts sur le foil | Team Arkéa Paprec

ETA Vendee Globe site has caught up with the above and published the following at 20:31(FR) 19:31 UTC.

Sébastien Simon has his race on hold as he heads north​

Since hitting an object and damaging his starboard foil and the casing Sébastien Simon has put his race on hold. He has been under a deep reefed mainsail and the storm jib. His safety and that of the boat is now the most important thing.
Given the tough sailing conditions forecast (more than 30-35 knots of wind with five metre waves), Simon, in agreement with his team, has decided to head north to get away from the worst of the winda nd the sea. Tonight he is looking only to secure the boat as much as possible and reduce any stress on the damged starboard foil. The objective is to limite ARKEA PAPREC's speed during the passage of the front this evening and to escape the main depression during tonight. Tomorrow, in an area which should be calmer for the IMOCA 60-footer the 30 year old from Les Sables d'Olonne will be able to study the repair possibilities more calmly and hopefully execute the repair plans as discussed with his team
More information to follow.

News - Sébastien Simon has his race on hold as he heads north - Vendée Globe - En

 

[Electromagnetic]

Jules Verne and Vendee Globe
Florian has a new intro theme.

Sea Wolves - Vendee Globe 2020 Report - Arkea Paprec BREAKS foil and rudder + Jules Verne SPECIAL!​

Refer to description on YouTube page for more info:

 

[Electromagnetic]

Vendee Globe - Sam Davie's Initiatives Coeur has hit an object! Sam is heading North and will inspect for damage. So much junk in the sea in so few days!

Sam Davies' Initiatives Coeur Has Hit A Floating Object And Is Heading North​

British skipper Sam Davies informed her team that her IMOCA Initiatives Coeur had struck a floating object at around 1900hrs UTC this evening. She is heading north at reduced speed and will inspect her boat to assess the damage and discuss actions with her team. Sam Davies is unhurt.

News - Sam Davies' Initiatives Coeur Has Hit A Floating Object And Is Heading North - Vendée Globe - En

Sam's boat is the red one due South of the Cape, on the official route line.

With Sebastien moving North, Jean Le Cam moves to 6th position.

 

[Electromagnetic]

Vendee Globe - What's going on?!

Latest position update not due until 0400 but what's this?
Isabelle Joshke (MACSF) intersecting with Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Coeur)
Is this a rescue / requested assistance? Or is it just data lag? Full zoom suggests separate but intersecting routes.

Zoom out for pattern at circa 9pm

Marine traffic plots are more recent and don't quite match up. No ID without a satellite account. We have to wait until 04:00 for plots with boat ID.

 

[bobthebuilder]

Yes, this race can be a battle of attrition and tends to find any weakness in a vessel. Even a more robust design can be subject to damage by floating objects. Sebastien was the fourth sailor to be requested by the officials to divert to assist the SAR mission for Kevin. Since rejoining the race he made great progress and managed to reach 4th place before the collision with the unidentified object.

The distribution of vessels is not quite so convenient in this case. The nearest boat is Groupe APICIL which is in front of him. Damien Saguin has his own issues, albeit minor. If there was an ongoing concern about water ingress, I expect he would get a request to divert. V&B Mayeene, skippered by Maxime Sorel is making 21 kts behind him.

View attachment 525638
View attachment 525639
From the latest news summary for the race: "Simon slowed the boat which had some unspecified amount of water ingress, and had stabilised the situation, this afternoon making between eight and 12kts on port gybe racing towards the back of a low pressure system." News - The Indian Strikes - Vendée Globe - En Nevertheless, he needs to make good repairs before he can commit to the next section.

I think there’s still a lot of experimental engineering in large composite structures like Vendée yachts. Sure, we’ve come a long way since Australia 1 folded in two and Pete Goss’ Team Phillips failed, but structural failures on racing yachts are still comparatively commonplace.

To put the loads in to perspective, we carry a 4 ton load on the upwind running back stay on the TP52. It’s winched in by grinding on every tack; the final ton is serious hard work. The backstay load is transferred into the hull by an single dyneema eye splice around a stainless steel bone arrangement to a reinforced area of the stern. The point load is massive, it’s a single point for failure and, whilst it can be designed, it can’t be prototyped and tested except on the boat. We rarely race without having some gear failure or issue; easy to fix when you’re only a few miles offshore and heading to the bar after a day’s racing.

Scale that up to IMOCA power levels and it’s hardly surprising they have gear failures.

 

[Electromagnetic]

I think there’s still a lot of experimental engineering in large composite structures like Vendée yachts. Sure, we’ve come a long way since Australia 1 folded in two and Pete Goss’ Team Phillips failed, but structural failures on racing yachts are still comparatively commonplace.

To put the loads in to perspective, we carry a 4 ton load on the upwind running back stay on the TP52. It’s winched in by grinding on every tack; the final ton is serious hard work. The backstay load is transferred into the hull by an single dyneema eye splice around a stainless steel bone arrangement to a reinforced area of the stern. The point load is massive, it’s a single point for failure and, whilst it can be designed, it can’t be prototyped and tested except on the boat. We rarely race without having some gear failure or issue; easy to fix when you’re only a few miles offshore and heading to the bar after a day’s racing.

Scale that up to IMOCA power levels and it’s hardly surprising they have gear failures.

I would give that a like but it's also informative. Thanks.

Some of the shapes are not intuitively strong looking. For all I know, point to point load calculations probably make assumptions that those nodes do not move with respect to each other. I could be wrong. If a structure is going to flex, that mode has to be tested under stress.

 

[bobthebuilder]

I would give that a like but it's also informative. Thanks.

Some of the shapes are not intuitively strong looking. For all I know, point to point load calculations probably make assumptions that those nodes do not move with respect to each other. I could be wrong. If a structure is going to flex, that mode has to be tested under stress.

I’ve been contemplating this too. Carbon boats are immensely rigid. There’s a very noticeable difference compared with GRP when they slam off a wave. You feel a GRP boat shudder where a carbon boat slams. Surely that has to induce compressive stresses into the structure?

As a general rule, carbon fibre is immensely strong under tension, significantly less so under compression. Under impact, it’s positively brittle. All of this is generalisation; the strength depends on the precursor fibres, the resin, fibre orientation, layup and curing. Probably a lot more! My guess would be that these boats have complex and carefully designed load paths to transfer compressive loads into a tensile component. But it all has to work in an unpredictable three dimensional load map.

I watched the carbon bracket that carries the vang loads into the rig break under load when we managed to gybed with the vang strapped down at the bottom of the a wave. A sudden change from tension to compression and it failed. I’d imagine the foils on an IMOCA are very vulnerable to a shift from designed tension to unexpected compression.

 

[Electromagnetic]

I’ve been contemplating this too. Carbon boats are immensely rigid. There’s a very noticeable difference compared with GRP when they slam off a wave. You feel a GRP boat shudder where a carbon boat slams. Surely that has to induce compressive stresses into the structure?

As a general rule, carbon fibre is immensely strong under tension, significantly less so under compression. Under impact, it’s positively brittle. All of this is generalisation; the strength depends on the precursor fibres, the resin, fibre orientation, layup and curing. Probably a lot more! My guess would be that these boats have complex and carefully designed load paths to transfer compressive loads into a tensile component. But it all has to work in an unpredictable three dimensional load map.

I watched the carbon bracket that carries the vang loads into the rig break under load when we managed to gybed with the vang strapped down at the bottom of the a wave. A sudden change from tension to compression and it failed. I’d imagine the foils on an IMOCA are very vulnerable to a shift from designed tension to unexpected compression.

I think we are on the same wavelength there (pun not intended). Some of the designs borrow from aerodynamics but they don't, as far as I know, consider other elements such as vibration and flex. As you say carbon fibre is very rigid and tends towards being brittle, as it will shatter where GRP will more readily absorb energy and generally return to it's quiescent state, up to a point of course. As you say, the strength is dependant on the lay of the fibres, the resin and the curing process. It's hard to do this in a consistent manner
such as in mass production with steel pressings, aluminium or small plastic and GRP cars and boats.

Bert Rutan's Scaled Composites aircraft were innovative but not without incident. The U2 has exceptional characteristics within very narrow parameters and in a specific near space altitude.

It is amazing to watch the yachts in this elevated mode but it's still bleeding edge and some design aspects may be T junctions. I feel for Alex after devoting so much of his life to this endeavour. However there are valuable spin offs. Materials and design research and ocean debris awareness among them. Space debris came to public awareness some years ago but I think sea debris may have it's turn next year, after this race and the Jules Verne. It's as if a load of fishing debris and containers had been dumped along the Salt Lake flats in Utah.

 

[bobthebuilder]

I think we are on the same wavelength there (pun not intended). Some of the designs borrow from aerodynamics but they don't, as far as I know, consider other elements such as vibration and flex. As you say carbon fibre is very rigid and tends towards being brittle, as it will shatter where GRP will more readily absorb energy and generally return to it's quiescent state, up to a point of course. As you say, the strength is dependant on the lay of the fibres, the resin and the curing process. It's hard to do this in a consistent manner
such as in mass production with steel pressings, aluminium or small plastic and GRP cars and boats.

Bert Rutan's Scaled Composites aircraft were innovative but not without incident. The U2 has exceptional characteristics within very narrow parameters and in a specific near space altitude.

It is amazing to watch the yachts in this elevated mode but it's still bleeding edge and some design aspects may be T junctions. I feel for Alex after devoting so much of his life to this endeavour. However there are valuable spin offs. Materials and design research and ocean debris awareness among them. Space debris came to public awareness some years ago but I think sea debris may have it's turn next year, after this race and the Jules Verne. It's as if a load of fishing debris and containers had been dumped along the Salt Lake flats in Utah.

My understanding of marine composites engineering is dated and sketchy. Mid noughties, I had a designed by Jason Ker amd built (whose brother is an ex cavalry officer in the Amarillo video that went viral). Their “suck it and see” approach to structural engineering rather surprised me. And no, I’m not mega rich; it near broke me!

I’m sure they’ve got far more effective in the ensuing years, not least because the aerospace industry now builds mega-structures in carbon (et Boeing 787). But I still have this feeling that yacht are built to the Colin Chapman design philosophy; simplify and add lightness. And how many Lotus cars failed?

On your last point; I’m staggered by the number of UFOs stopping yachts on this Vendée.

 

[Electromagnetic]

Vendee Globe - Sam Davies suspends race and heads for Cape Town

Sam Davies is okay apart from bruised ribs but the keel is damaged and so she cannot sail at any appreciable speed. Sam is now making her way to Cape Town.

Sam Davies, 'It was violent'​

Having struck something in the water last night Sam Davies this morning is heading out of the worst of the weather and the sea state to further assess the damage to Initiatives Coeur. She spoke to Vendee Globe HQ this morning.

Sam Davies this morning on the audio call, “I was sailing last night I had gybed in the shift in the front, there was 30-35kts of wind for the gybe and that had gone well, and I was happy with where I was. I was sailing on starboard gybe heading east, and obviously the sea state was quite chaotic which it has been for the last two days. And obviously I know I was in these currents and I know these risks are there but I was sailing really nicely, as well as possible given the sea state. So speeds between 15 and 22kts and I was actually just making a hot meal after the gybe and the stack and everything and it was just starting to get dark. I hit something. I did not see anything. I did not know what it was. It was pretty much dark when it happened. But it was as if I had run aground on a rock at the time. The boatspeed went from 20kts to zero. The boat nosedived on the impact with the keel. I knew it was the keel. I heard a crack coming from there. I and everything else flew forwards, including my dinner which has repainted the entire inside of my boat. Everything moved. I went flying into a ring frame, luckily, because that could have been worse. It was really violent. But luckily I have just hurt some ribs. It is not serious but really painful. But I stopped the boat, dropped the main, and went to check around the keel, the bearings and the bulkhead. The bulkhead, the main bearing bulkheads (which support the keelbox) are intact as far as I can see. The keelbearings are intact. The longitudinal structure around the keelbox is all cracked. That has taken the shock of the impact of when the boat moved, that is cracked on both sides. The keel ram, because the keel ram goes through the sidewall of the keelbox, that had all moved and there is a watertight seal on the ram and that was knocked off. There was some water coming in but I have a really good immersion pump which I got going really quickly and permanently to keep the water down. For me the most important thing is to stabilise the boat. It is still is really bad, 30kts of wind, so I have the boat on a course which will minimise all the strains and effort on the keel and the bulkheads. And then I ran a whole lot of checks with my team who mobilised really quickly, the architects and the structural engineers just to check I was not in immediate danger. We did that really and the news was reassuring, they were really confident that I am not in danger unless I sail fast, so there is no bad noise and the keel is still in its bearings and not moving at all. I cannot sail at any speed, so I am heading slowly towards Cape Town because that is the nearest shelter and we are continuing to assess the damage and what to do with my shore team who are being amazing.”

News - Sam Davies, 'It was violent' - Vendée Globe - En

 

[Electromagnetic]

Vendee Globe

Alex and Sam heading for Cape Town (black and red boats below). Sebastien is in the blue and red boat heading NW at the moment.

Charlie Dalin's lead in APIVIA is not so great as it was. Louis Burton, in Bureau Vallee 2, has taken second position, ahead of Thomas Ruyant in LinkedOut. Jean Le Cam doing really well in sixth place, despite the extra ballast of Kevin ;-p and is closing on Yannick Bestaven in Maire Coq IV.

Isabelle Joshke is in ninth in her MACSF. Pip Hare (Medallia) is in 23rd. Alexia Barrier moves up to 25th in TSE-4MyPlanet.

Screen grab from MarineTraffic at 13:15 UTC - Although there is no ID, It looks like three purple "Pleasure Craft" heading to Cape Town are Alex, Sam and Sebastien. TBC.

ETA - Confirmed. Here is a screen Grab from the 14:00 update. That's three VG yachts damaged and one sunk so far. Nothing new on the official site yet. ETA all three a bit quicker in less lumpy seas. ETA Cape Town possibly Saturday morning.

 

[Electromagnetic]

Both Vendee Globe and Jules Verne Trophy competitions have been adversely affected by Unidentified Floating Objects, with seriously damaged boats being forced to retire from or interrupt their race for repairs and in one case sinking. Here is an article from Yachting World which addresses the subject of floating shipping containers and the Vendee being affected in 2016.

Could a floating shipping container sink your yacht? How real is the danger?​

Helen Fretter May 17, 2017
Could a floating shipping container sink your yacht? How real is the danger? - Yachting World

 

[Electromagnetic]

Vendee Globe - Latest official episode and transfer arrangements for Kevin.

Jean and Kevin


Today's Vendee Live - That was worth watching for additional information.

From the video we learn that there are few possibilities for getting Kevin off the boat. One possibility is by a French Navy ship which left the Kerguelen Islands yesterday., sailing for North Crozet Island, Isles Crozet.
Crozet Islands - Wikipedia
Alfred Faure - Wikipedia
Organisers are discussing between the two parties to determine if a transfer is feasible and were it can take place. If Jean needs food to complete his race, that can be arranged if he requests it. Sea conditions have improved somewhat.

The ranking table currently shows only two retirements. I expect this is likely to increase by Monday, when three yachts will have arrived at Cape Town but nobody is counted out yet, whilst there is the remotest possibility of repair. (ETA 17:05 - replaced table with latest 17:00 release)

Zooming in on the three boats heading for Cape Town. From the list on the left hand column, these are 12, 13 and 16.

Here is the leading field, the top ten:

Zooming out and looking at the whole fleet and the wind systems:

Some yachts (purple) may encounter fishing boats (generally orange).

Latest episode of Sea Wolves. Florian makes some good points about trees and the hardness of water under certain conditions. I don't think he means what he says about dual skippering. Jean is doing everything he would have done including cooking but for two. Kevin has been operating the camera. Clarification welcome if anyone knows otherwise.

Sea Wolves - Vendee Globe 2020 report - Sam Davis Initiatives Cœur damaged! + Lets talk UFO's!​

 

[Electromagnetic]

Vendee Globe - Sebastien explains his situation; Race update summary from official site.​

First a quick update on approximate distances to Cape Town in nautical miles and speeds. Note that distances and speeds are estimates from the 21:00 position updates and may not reflect current speed.
Alex <130 nm @17.1 kts Sam <260 nm @ 7.8kts Sebastien <340 nm @7.4 kts
It looks like Alex will arrive in the Harbour on Friday morning. Sam should arrive Saturday morning and Sebastien on Saturday evening.

Sebastien Simon "I don’t think I deserve this and find it to be incredible unjust"​

Sebastien Simon Akea Paprec explains the damage around his foil box

I am a bit disappointed and down, I don’t know what to say. I want to continue this trip around the world. I don’t think I deserve this and find it to be incredible unjust.

The foil is damaged, not the structure in itself, but the foil is damaged, so I can’t use it as it is. The lower part and the foil box itself, which means there is a leak. The bottom part has come away from the foil and so water is coming in. The only way of repairing this is to cut the foil into small pieces, because believe it or not, the foil in itself weights nearly 300 kilos. and I can’t cut it from the outside, I need to do this from the top so to try and fix this I am going to have to cut the foil into bits and then go and repair the boat, well block up the leak from both the outside and the inside.

To do that I need to hang over the side of the boat and to do that I need stable conditions, which I do not have now nor in 12, 24 hours. On top of this I have damage the bulkhead behind the cockpit. I am not sure if this is due to impact, if it is collateral damage or not. I noticed this when I went ot get some water out. I know this bulkhead was not damaged yesterday and today it is.


To top things off, as if one problem was not enough the tiller connecting harm has been ripped off and every two hours I have to go and spend 40 minutes pumping the water out from under the cockpit, which is not nice place to be in.
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News - Sebastien Simon

Burton Pressing Hard, Davies and Simon Seeking Shelter To Assess​

I'm not copying out all of this, as some of it you already know but it's worth a look so here is the link:
News - Burton Pressing Hard, Davies and Simon Seeking Shelter To Assess - Vendée Globe - En