Do you know the song? “I have a spleen that is dilating / I have a liver that is not straight / I have a stomach that is turning in / I have a pylorus that is becoming colored”… Listen to the messages of the night of our Vendée Globe sailors, there would be enough to make an adaptation of this heady refrain from Gaston Ouvrard, presented in an offshore style. Because on board, despite all the technology designed to help them, the main driving force remains – and fortunately – people! And as wonderful a machine as it may be, the body subjected to such efforts for so long inevitably begins to show signs of weariness, even frank ingratitude…
© Vendée Globe
And yet, we have to get them started on the subject so that our tough people finally start talking about it… So used to gritting their teeth, the Vendée Globe solo sailors talk more spontaneously about the ailments of their boats than about their own inconveniences! Like Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE, 9th), whose loss of J2 slows him down by “15-20%”, and who begins by telling us how much he “bites his fingers to see the speeds of the other boats next to it”… But speaking of fingers, he also mentions his own to us, and the rest as long as we do:
“The hands are expensive, they are swollen, I have a little carpal tunnel problem so my hands are damaged, they hurt a little. And then physically, my legs have melted, I already don't have big basic thighs, but we sit a lot, lie down, and when we are standing we don't stay that way for long… on the other hand I took a little shoulders! From doing the spine… But otherwise I don't have any particular ailments, so I'm happy, a little back pain all the same! » Thomas Ruyant, VULNERABLE.“We feel that they are worn out”This is because they endure shocks, between waves, buffet stops, thermal differences, sleep deprivation, repeated maneuvers… And it's not over! Just above the northern skipper, the depression seems to form like a boxing glove ready to deliver his final uppercut. Progressing towards the ring, the contenders are still in the corridor, with at the head of the gondola Jérémie Beyou (Charal, 4th) and Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE, 5th) who will be the first to embark on the struggle. Their opponent will be formidable, with dips of more than 7 meters expected, and a powerful wind which will make any dodge difficult, even if putting the East in his trajectory like Paul Meilhat (Biotherm, 6th), obviously worried about his weakened rigging . Concentrated, Thomas Ruyant anticipated:
“We are going to have seas and strong winds, especially it will end upwind at Cape Finisterre. Tomorrow evening we could have quite serious seas, 7 meters with strong winds, we will have to turn our backs and be careful. We feel that the boats are worn, it is time to bring them back to the stable, the noises are not the same, the ends are rougher, the fittings no longer make the same noise, we feel wear in the duration…” Thomas Ruyant, VULNERABLE.
Photo sent from the boat GUYOT Environnement – Water Family during the Vendée Globe sailing race on January 19, 2025© Photo by skipper Benjamin Dutreux / Vendée Globe
Behind the skipper of VULNERABLE, four boats are still in the ridge, and Benjamin Dutreux (Guyot Environnement – Water Family, 10th) took advantage of the small one-hour penalty carried out by Clarisse Crémer (L'Occitane en Provence, 11th) to take an advantage as light as the current wind. The cause for the sailor: a weight that jumped on her “grab bag”, this emergency bag which is very useful in the event of evacuation from the boat…
-More than a thousand miles away, for Romain Attanasio (Fortinet – Best Western, 14th), it is not a penalty that slows him down, or at least not one issued by the jury! It is in fact nature that has decided to complicate his life by placing a particularly thick doldrums for him, and much further south than usual. In his misfortune, he sees his direct competitors slowed down just as much – from Isabelle Joschke (MACSF, 15th) to Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian, 19th) – but not sure that this does not completely console him, especially since he does not seem to be to be out again… “I climbed my mast for the seventh time”In these conditions, when the body is still holding on but it is the nerves which are about to give out, we must then succeed in being satisfied with the small victories which allow us to stay the course. For Guirec Soudée (Freelance.com, 23rd), it was a small glimpse of Earth that brought salvation, with a passage close to Trindade Island, and a climb to the mast that became – almost – an agreed routine:
“This weekend, I climbed my mast for the seventh time, if I'm not saying anything stupid! So I might as well tell you that I'm starting to understand how to make a quick and efficient climb! I took care of my J2, I stuck several patches, it was the mission because with the heat the sika dried so quickly! I started with the highest one, I put a lot on my hands, a lot everywhere. The third patch I take it out, it falls on the deck… So I went down, I came back up, and the last two they didn't even want to stick because the sika had already dried so much, that's the game…” Guirec Soudée, FREELANCE.COM. Should we consider awarding a polka dot jersey to the best climber of this tenth edition? Jean Le Cam (Tout Commence en Finistère – Armor-Lux, 22nd) may have heard of this new event, he who made two climbs this weekend to repair his stay… At 65 years old, the dean of the edition definitely shows us that there is no age to get laid, and also has the satisfaction of having successfully repaired it!
Keeping your back rounded, not breaking down despite the cracks that you inevitably feel, this is the daily challenge of our sailors, which unfortunately is not done without some scares. So goes Sébastien Marsset (Foussier, 25th) who takes advantage of a “magnificent starry night” to send us a little spontaneous message, and tell us about his latest misadventure. “Yesterday while maneuvering, I pulled on the lanyard and the lifeline remained in my hands, the strap broke! Luckily I wasn’t thrown off balance! You must be extra vigilant, keep in mind this proverb “one hand for yourself, one hand for the boat”, even when tied up! “. Betrayed by one's own lifeline, it is truly a sign that in adversity, everything hangs by a thread that is just waiting to let go…
Photo sent from the boat L'Occitane en Provence during the Vendée Globe sailing race on January 19, 2025.© Photo by skipper Clarisse Crémer)
Find our daily weather analysis of the race with METEO CONSULT Marine in our special report Vendée Globe.And for all the marine weather forecasts from METEO CONSULT, go to ici.
