the skippers are getting their bearings after three days of racing, and some are suffering

Having left Sunday, November 10, from Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée), at midday, the fleet of the tenth edition of the Vendé Globe is currently gliding in the Atlantic towards Madeira, along the coast of Africa. The West for the first and the Portuguese coast for the slower. After more than three days of racing, the 40 competitors – including 6 women – and their 18.28 m monohulls (Imoca) are starting to get into the rhythm and experience the ups and downs inherent to this solo round-the-world race, non-stop and without assistance.

For Yoann Richomme (Paprec-Arkéa), morale is rather good, even if he described the navigation as “ hyperintense », during the session on Wednesday November 13. Having taken control of the event thanks to an option further west, during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the 41-year-old skipper who is competing in his first Vendée Globe admitted to having “ really whipped when passing Cape Finisterre “, at the tip of Spain, to compensate for the ” bad choice » of his first night of racing.

« I hope I didn't take too many risks with the boathe continued, while the winds did not weaken, still around 30 knots (between 50 and 60 km/h). I hope it will calm down, I'm trying to have a rhythm that's a little more “Vendée Globe”, a little smoother, but it's not easy, the boat accelerates quite a bit in the waves and ends up crashing . » Difficult, in these conditions, “to eat, and even less to go to sleep”breathes the new leader, happy to have returned to Charlie Dalin (Macif Santé Prévoyance), impressive host of this start of the event. “ We're not going to let him go, though! », Warned Yoann Richomme.

Like him, Dalin is a favorite for this 45,000 km solo round-the-world race. During the previous edition, in 2020-2021, he crossed the finish line in the lead before being demoted to 2^e place behind Yannick Bestaven (Master-CoQ), after the granting of time compensation to several navigators sent to rescue Kevin Escoffier after his shipwreck off the Cape of Good Hope. The skipper of Macif Santé Prévoyance quickly took control of the race.

Record for the longest distance over 24 hours in an Imoca

On Wednesday in the 3 p.m. rankings, Dalin was in 2nd position, 12 miles from the leader ahead of the formidable Briton Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable), at 22 miles, who has hardly left the leading trio since the start. But a quartet composed of Nicolas Lunven (Holcim-PRB), Jérémie Beyou (Charal), Thomas Ruyant (Vulnerable) Thomas Ruyant victim of a “ small waterway » which he says he can control at the front of his monohull, and Louis Burton (Valley Office), leads the chase about fifty miles

By taking the westernmost option of the fleet to negotiate Cape Finisterre, Nicolas Lunven set the 24-hour solo record on an Imoca with 546.60 miles (1,012.30 km) covered. A newcomer to the Vendée Globe but a very experienced offshore racer, he has thus improved the mark of 540 miles, previously established over the distance by Thomas Ruyant, in December 2023.

In the middle and at the back of the fleet, others face the first physical, psychological or material setbacks. Like the Chinese Jingkun Xu (Singchain Team Haiku), who had his left arm amputated below the elbow following an accident with fireworks as a child, who suffers a sprained left ankle but grits his teeth.

Struggling with a recalcitrant mainsail hook (system allowing a sail to be hoisted to the desired position), Maxime Sorel (V and B- Monbana-Mayenne) also injured his right ankle during the night from Monday to Tuesday. Early on Wednesday, November 13, he announced that he was diverting to Madeira. After climbing the mast in a sea “ stoned » who left his arms « paralyzed » and did not « not fixed his injury », he intends to take shelter on the outskirts of the Portuguese island to climb the spar more calmly and resolve the problem.

At the very rear of the fleet, the Hungarian Szabolcs “Szabi” Weöres (New Europe) followed in his footsteps towards Madeira in order to also climb his mast in the hope of assessing the damage to his mainsail and a headsail which were badly damaged during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Clarisse Crémer (L’Occitane in Provence) for his part, spent an infuriating night from Tuesday to Wednesday. She lost her largest sail off the coast of Portugal after it deployed without warning. “ I was quite happy with my race, quite proud of my maneuvers and my trajectories, even if some were mainly guided by caution. Without this sail, the next few days downwind in light airs are not going to be very fun. I lost a lot of energy but the race is still long! », explained the navigator in the session, 12^e from the previous edition.

For the days to come, Basile Rochut, weather consultant for the Vendée Globe, predicts “ a fairly straight road, with stable conditions and few maneuvers to perform “. The meteorologist still reports a “ huge vent » [manque de vent] around Madeira and, for the former, a possible slowdown from Thursday November 14, with weak conditions between the Canaries and Cape Verde.