After 14 days of racing, the skipper Romain Attanasio (Fortinet – Best Western) is currently in 16th place in the ranking general of Vendée Globethe course to the veil solo around the world, without stopovers or assistance. The sailor is currently traveling down the Atlantic Ocean in the southern hemisphere.
The doldrums crossed in less than 24 hours
The sailor from Oise, Romain Attanasio, has overcome the first difficulties in his race around the world. Like most of its competitors, it crossed the doldrums (the inter-tropical convergence zone), feared by sailors for its “calm” (an almost total absence of wind).
Romain Attanasio crossed this area in the middle of the night. “It was still a bit of a stressful moment. Without visibility, it’s impossible to know if a squall or a storm is coming straight at me,” he said on his social networks.
But ultimately, the navigator reports having done very well. “This is the first time that I have crossed the Doldrums so easily, in less than 24 hours and without encountering a huge squall accompanied by torrential rain,” he confides in a video recorded on board and broadcast on his Facebook page.
The perilous offering to Neptune
This Friday, November 22, the sailor passed the Equator. On board his Imoca Fortinet – Best Western, he insisted on respecting the tradition which requires each sailor crossing the Equator to make an offering to Neptune (Roman god of the sea). Mignonette in hand, Romain Attanasio filmed himself sharing this mignonette of calva between the sea, his boat and him. The maneuver was a bit tricky, given the navigation conditions. At that time, the boat was traveling at more than 18 knots (nearly 33 km/h).
Head to the Cape of Good Hope
Since then, the skipper from Francières has shared a video from the cabin of his boat to share “the incredible sensations”. In this short video, Internet users were also able to get an idea of the living conditions on board the boat, and in particular the noise generated by the wind in the foils (these wings which almost allow the boat to fly above the water And we wonder how Romain Attanasio tolerates this noise…
In the general classification, the skipper is still 16th. It is now heading towards the Cape of Good Hope.
