Already in the lead this Sunday evening, Charlie Dalin was still leading the Vendée Globe this Monday at 7 a.m. after the tortuous passage of Cape Finisterre. The British Sam Goodchild, further east, follows closely.
Charlie Dalin (Macif) is still leading the race in the Vendée Globe. The Frenchman was in first place this Monday morning at 7 a.m. with a very short lead (6.3 miles) over the Briton Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable). Yoan Richomme (Paprec-Arkéa) completes the provisional podium (at 9.37 miles) ahead of Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) and Thomas Ruyant (Vulnerable). Dalin and the leading men passed the tricky Cape Finisterre (north-western tip of Spain) while avoiding the DST (traffic separation device) zone reserved for very busy maritime traffic, 18 miles from Spain ( 28 kilometers).
First struggles
The vast majority of the peloton chose the “inner” option between the DST and the odds. Charlie Dalin has since deported to the West, leaving Sam Goodchild further East. Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq V), title holder, is one of those who chose to bypass the DST from the North and West to, perhaps, preserve his boat. A choice which made him lose four places (8th). Nicolas Lunven (Holcim-PRB) chose the wider option.
After a start without too much wind, the conditions got tougher with gusts of more than 30 knots, causing an ordeal for some participants like Éric Bellion (Stand As One, 30th).
“What a shitty night,” he said in a video posted on the Vendée Globe YouTube page.
“I hurt everywhere, I've been fighting for hours, I found myself with the main sail and my small gennaker loose with impossible waves and wind, I didn't know what to do. (… ) I didn't make a great track there, I'm on a small sail but I'm blowing a little because I left some feathers there.”
Sébastien Marsset (Foussier, 19th) encountered the same unstable conditions, both windy and calm. “It seemed very simple to me to go to the south of the DST, and it turned out to be more complicated than I thought,” he confided during the session. “Very gusty areas, and especially areas without wind, not necessarily where we expected them. We are leaving the coast, the sea is a little rough, it's not easy to find the right speed for the boat and above all to be stable, we have between 26 and 36 knots of wind. To tell you the truth, I have just made a big start. I am trying to get out of there with no problems, that's how it is. let me approach it.”
The ranking of the first 10 skippers at 7 a.m.
- Charlie Dalin (Macif) 23,778.62 nautical miles from the finish
- Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable) 6.30 miles from the leader
- Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) at 9.37 miles
- Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dureuil) at 30.29 miles
- Thomas Ruyant (Vulnerable) at 33.58 miles
- Jérémie Beyou (Charal) at 57 miles at 38.38 miles
- Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) at 51.29 miles
- Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq V) at 55.94 miles
- Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée) at 62.44 miles
- Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur – Duo for a job) at 67.57 miles
The skippers will now move away from the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula to begin their descent of the Atlantic Ocean.
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