The nights in the middle of the Atlantic follow one another and are not the same for Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable). New to this Vendée Globe 2024, at 34 years old, the British sailor took back the lead of the race this Friday morning. After falling from 3rd to 6th place the previous night, he hit hard by gradually coming back ahead on Thursday, before now ahead of Nicolas Lunven (2nd), who is at 20.58 nautical miles.
- Boris Herrmann's huge blow
We had left Boris Herrmann (Malice – Seaexplorer) all smiles on Thursday, looking for a spider while showing us around the interior of his boat. Now the German sailor is the author of the spectacular comeback of the night, since he went from 9th to 3rd place, and is now only 40.20 miles behind leader Sam Goodchild. The current podium is ultra-tight, since Justine Mettraux (Teamwork – Team SNEF) is also on quite a dynamic (from 7th to 4th), with 40.44 miles behind Goodchild.
- The ranking this Friday morning
1. Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable) 22,768.87 nautical miles from the finish
2. Nicolas Lunven (Holcim – PRB) 20.58 nautical miles from the leader
3. Boris Herrmann (Malice – Seaexplorer) 40.20 nautical miles from the leader
4. Justine Mettraux (Teamwork-Team Snef) 40.44 nautical miles from the leader
5. Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) 41.06 nautical miles from the leader
- Is there still wind anywhere?
That the 24-hour speed record achieved by Nicolas Lunven on Wednesday will quickly seem far away. The sailors will indeed all irremediably lack the wind to carry them in the coming hours, towards Cape Verde. The skipper of Biotherm Paul Meilhat, currently in 17th position, has chosen to focus on a trajectory towards the West in order to try to better manage this forecasted weak weather.
“The position further west, I have the impression that that’s where we need to go,” he explained this Friday morning to the organization. But I thought there would be many more boats making this choice. I think the weather situation will be a little more favorable in the West, even if there is not much that will be favorable. We are in a really complicated weather situation. I have rarely sailed with such unstable wind. » We're going to have to hang on, ladies and gentlemen.
- Ah, that precious Samantha Davies fruitcake
Everything is going well for the man who is betting everything on the West Nicolas Lunven. Currently second in the race after his trajectory masterclass in the first days, the French skipper (Holcim – PRB) shared a video on Thursday, where he announces that he is going to attack a competitor's gift.
Because yes, Samantha Davies (15th) offered him a fruit cake guaranteed to be 100% British before departure. “I’m really lucky,” he enthuses. It's a recipe from his mother and I discovered this cake on Jacques Vabre in 2021. I'm going to enjoy it! » Mutual help and small pleasures in the world of sailing are still something, right?
The crisis at « Marina Foils » ?
On the fifth day of racing, morale is already a little low on the boat side 20 Minutes on Virtual Regatta. The long diagonal parallel to the Moroccan coast was difficult and seeing the other boats overtaking it, Marina Foils attempted two jibes to try to change the dynamic and head a little further south. A maneuver perhaps a bit rushed, but which still allows us to catch up with the bulk of the peloton and stay around 200,000th place (out of more than 600,000 participants).
Our file on the Vendée Globe
The next few days promise to be complicated with very little wind off the coast of Senegal, plus a biodiversity protection zone which will be located right in the middle of the fleet. Marina Foils not being the finest boat technically, the coming hours will be hectic. We're going to give the family a quick call, it will be good for morale.
