Several skippers competing in the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe were trapped when passing the Doldrums, feared for its always very capricious weather.
It is one of the most feared passages. A little over two weeks after the start of the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe, the skippers tackled the passage of the famous Doldrums, located in the middle of the Atlantic and feared for its weather as uncertain as it is capricious. And some of them found themselves trapped.
This is the case of Sébastien Simon and Antoine Cornic, who experienced complicated moments when crossing this zone where the trade winds of the northern hemisphere and those of the south buffer each other. “I think we can redefine hell. It's been like this since 1am. I’m going crazy,” said Antoine Cornic, in slow motion aboard his monohull. “Come on, we’ll get through this…” he added, not without a certain annoyance.
Sébastien Simon also shared his exasperation. “Here comes the Doldrums… The shit pot!”, he blurted out, while he was confronted with complicated climatic conditions. “The wind has changed 80 degrees, it has increased to 25 knots, it’s raining… There’s the Doldrums. You would think the weather was nice, but no, not always,” he regretted.
Leading the solo sailing race without assistance and without stopover, he fell to 4th place in the ranking after this difficult passage. For his part, Antoine Cornic was sailing in 34th position at the last score. And if some sailors have experienced difficult times, Thomas Ruyant knew how to negotiate this passage perfectly to take control of this Vendée Globe.
