The Azores anticyclone decides the solo race around the world, with the estimated arrival time more than four days below the record. The only Italian, Pedote, is back
If the name of the winner is not yet certain, it is almost a given – even the meteorologists say so – that the record for the Vendée Globe, the solo race around the world, is about to fall. This is because the Frenchman Charles Dalin, leader of the race as we write 1800 miles from the finish line, has an estimable one-week lead on the record set by Armel Le Cleac’h in the 2016-17 edition. The ETA (estimated time of arrival) at Les Sables d’Olonne is well under 70 days when the record is 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes. Dalin remains favorite, sailing with an advantage of between 150 and 180 miles on Yoann Richomme. But now he has to face the decisive passage, that of the Azores anticyclone which almost always slows down (temporarily) those in front of him. If he makes a good route with Macif, however, he will also be the first to set off again and the loss of miles will only be an ‘elastic effect’ in the windless sea area. The final rush is not a given, however: it looks like it will be in challenging sea and wind conditions. If Dalin were to get there with a good advantage he could manage, perhaps not always pushing the boat at 100% to avoid trouble in the home straight. If, however, the anticyclone burns part of his advantage, it will be a battle in the last mile where Richomme can count on an IMOCA 60 like Paprec Arkea which has proven to be the best in harsh conditions.
PEDOTE
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Certainly, the second participation of Giancarlo Pedote, the only Italian in the race, will not remain in the annals of our ocean sailing and will leave a negative memory for the solitary Florentine. Beyond an initial burst, he was never able to get into the right gear to recover positions. He currently leads the small group that battles from 18th to 26th position in less than 300 miles of sea. But we are in the rearguard, considering that Pedote has accumulated a delay of 4400 miles from Dalin: in practice, when he rounded Cape Horn on January 6, the leaders were near the Equator. However, he was good at not losing his composure in the face of a series of complicated technical problems in the previous days: first with the foil and the rudder, then with the engine which on an IMOCA 60 is more important than the sails because it provides the necessary energy to all on-board systems. With 13 hours of very hard work, Giancarlo did it and ultimately avoided retiring by asking for help. He told the story in his diary, with a non-trivial consideration. “This is the gift of the Vendée Globe: it strips you of everything, puts you in front of yourself, and makes you discover a strength you didn’t know you had. My boat and I will get home together.”
WHITE FLAG
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Meanwhile, Sodebo 3’s attempt to win the Jules Verne Trophy which goes to the fastest boat around the world has ended – for the second time. Thomas Coville’s maxi trimaran has made its retirement official after sixteen days in the ocean. Blame the loss of the central rudder in the section between the Kerguelen Islands and Cape Leeuwin. “There was no violent shock, everything is ok for the crew but we cannot continue in record mode nor do we think we should continue in the South Seas” explained the skipper via satellite. Sodebo headed to Australia to replace the rudder: in any case he has to return to France. “It’s a shame: the boat is in good general condition and we managed to manage it well. We have built something incredible. The pace was fast and intense.” In fact, Sodebo 3 was sailing great: in the passage to the Cape of Good Hope it had an advantage of 28 hours and 17 minutes on the time to beat, that of Idec Sport, holder of the trophy since 2017: 40 days, 23 hours and 20 minutes. Moral: you can have an extraordinary maxi-boat, create an expert crew, prepare as best as possible but the problem always happens when you aim for extreme records. And Sodebo had to surrender to the god of the oceans twice in the space of a month.
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