Thomas Siniecki, Media365: published on Friday November 29, 2024 at 11:19 p.m.
While Sébastien Simon has just taken the lead of the race, the first four have crossed into the Indian Ocean.
We already knew that Charlie Dalin would not beat the record of Alex Thomson, who reached the Cape of Good Hope in just under 18 days during the 2016 edition of the Vendée Globe. Please note that the exact reference is taken at the level of Cape Aiguille, slightly further east and which represents the real southern tip of Africa, but it is of course its counterpart of Good Hope which is retained in reference as the first of the three capes of the solo round the world trip, before Cape Leeuwin (Australia) and Cape Horn (South America).
Ruyant: “The albatross will arrive”
The leader has “the impression of having been teleported from the equator, it’s really impressive”! The skipper of MACIF explains that he “lost track of time a little”: “I don't really know what day it is anymore, we have to try to go even faster than fast.” We're also off for a second ocean with this passage from the Atlantic to the Indian, the beginning of the entire straight line of the southern southern waters and… the albatrosses. “They are going to arrive, there are quite a few birds around the boat and it is a real marker of the Indian Ocean, confirms Thomas Ruyant. It is the first course mark and the entry into a large piece of this race, both symbolic and important.”
In addition to the Antarctic exclusion zone, which we must of course pay attention to, we must also manage the currents caused by this sacred piece of land, as Jacques Caraës from the race director explains: “The wind must or in the same direction as the currents. The more the north current is contrary, the more it will raise a significant sea and that can be quite dangerous. We are talking here about a phenomenon having an influence over several hundred kilometers to the south, across India.
