Soloists Descend South with Vendée Globe Underway

A slow start followed by a busy 48 hours netted a lead to British sailors Sam Goodchild in the opening salvo of the Vendée Globe Race. Vendée Globe

Britain’s Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) took the lead today in the Vendée Globe solo race around the world as the leaders of the 40 boat fleet descend south down the Iberian peninsula. Passing the length of Portugal today, Goodchild, pursued by French ace Charlie Dalin, who was 22-nautical miles behind at press time, was passing Lisbon and should be at the latitude of Gibraltar tonight.

The British skipper, who is racing his first Vendée Globe, has benefited so far by taking a course slightly closer to the coast than Dalin and those chasing him, he has been dicing with possible calmer patches, but sailing fewer miles and making slightly fewer maneuvers than his rivals. This afternoon he was repositioning himself to try close the separation from the French skipper who is widely tipped as the pre-race favorite.

The 40-boat fleet have now largely passed the strong winds and big seas off Cape Finisterre, the gnarly northwest corner of Spain, and are heading south today the temperatures are rising and the wind conditions becoming easier meaning rest will be possible.

For the moment it seems like Goodchild might have outsmarted the wily Dalin, one of the master meteo strategists in this fleet. The Brit has gone well in both light and strong conditions which have marked the first two days of the race which started on Sunday out of Les Sables d’Olonne.

But ahead the breezes are set to be lighter as they jibe down a narrow corridor of pressure and it seems there might be the chance for the boats behind to bring down the wind from behind. Nonetheless it is an important morale boost for the 35-year-old Goodchild who attended his first Vendée Globe as an 18-year-old nipper working with British skipper Mike Golding.

The challenge facing him to hold the lead is a big one, the conditions contrasting sharply with the last edition which Brit Alex Thomson also led after battling through Tropical Storm Theta to cross the Equator with the race lead after 9 days 23 hours. Thomson also led the 2018 race and set the existing record to the Equator at 9 days and 7 hours.

Conditions through the second night at sea were tough, winds to 40 knots and crossed, confused seas which meant another night with very little sleep.

Speaking on the Vendée Globe LIVE show in French this morning second-placed Dalin said: “There was quite a bit of wind and maneuvers. Fortunately, it’s not like this every day on the Vendée Globe, I would not like live too many days like the last two. There was quite a bit of wind, very unpleasant and very short sea, but now it’s starting to get better…It’s quite nice to gain speed after a rather slow start. It has been quite hard work doing these short jibes downwind because you barely have time to recover and then it is time to go again.”

Vendee Globe pre-race favorite Charlie Dalin is at the front of the fleet once again, pacing himself through the busy opening stages along the Iberian coastline. Vendée Globe

Germany’s Boris Herrmann (Malizia Seaexplorer) has continued to climb through the fleet, he has had stronger breeze letting his powerful boat start to do its thing and this afternoon was in ninth place, the fastest of the Top 10.

The choice of going outside the Traffic Separation Scheme, to the west at Finisterre , was a prudent one made by several skippers, notably Switzerland’s Justine Mettraux (TeamWork-Team Snef) and Nico Lunven (HOLCIM PRB).

Lunven is now furthest to the west, more than 180 miles behind the leader, and reported, “I wanted to do something simple, I wasn’t very comfortable with the idea of passing inside the DST of Cape Finisterre with the coastal traffic, quite a lot of wind and seas, gybing. I preferred to take a simple route, even if it meant losing a little. Unfortunately, I had a little problem with my rudder last night, the rudder bar ripped off, so I had to do a bit of fixing and I lost a bit of time.”

That said current routings predict enough of a gain offshore that they may catch right back up with the leading peloton.

Britain’s Pip Hare (Medallia) admitted on Vendée LIVE that she, as have almost others, struggled to rest and is now low on energy after this punishing calm then windy opening phase.

From 24th position today Hare commented, “It has been pretty relentless to be honest, having drifted across the line we have then had 48 hours of really intense sailing, lots of maneuvers lots of jibes, plenty of sail changes, sneaking through between the TSS and Finisterre the sea state became quite big this morning, but it feels like I have only been napping for 20 minutes and then having to get up and do something I have burned a lot of energy for sure. To be honest I am not thinking too much about my position in the fleet too much. I did not get away as well as I would have hoped and it is really easy to dwell on that and get dragged down. I just really struggle at the start of races, I struggle to find my pace, and we have the whole world to go.

A true sign of a busy 48 hours with a lot of maneuvers; the pit of Benjamin Ferré’s IMOCA 60 “Monnoyeur.” Vendée Globe

Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur) is also working up the fleet in 17th and reported, “I think I had something round my keel and then I just went the wrong way but I think there will be some compression ahead.”

Making her debut on the French LIVE was the 23-year-old sensation of the race so far, the youngest-0ever skipper Violette Dorange (Devenir) who is sailing the boat which her mentor Jean Le Cam raced to fourth on the last race, best known as Hubert. “I took off my spinnaker a bit early, I lost a bit, I wanted to be very safe, but I’m regaining distance, I’m really concentrating on my race,” Dorange said. “There was a lot of crossing in the fleet. Passing to the west of the TSS seemed easier, so it really didn’t make any difference to the routing.  Hubert is a great boat, she’s my little home, I feel good aboard, I know her well! I was a bit apprehensive before the start, when the wind picked up, but now I’m starting to get into the rhythm. It’s great training to find your bearings in the wind before the south.”

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