Vendée Globe Day 14
Two days ago, around 0400, I crossed the Equator after eleven and a half days of racing, lying 13th overall on the leaderboard. The past week has been better for my spirits, and the play I made to head west last week finally paid off, resulting in a rapid rise through the rankings to my position today.
The North Atlantic trade winds, as we know them, only materialized after the Cape Verde Islands, then provided a couple of days of exquisite sailing - Medallia in flat water and flight mode.
Flying this 60ft boat can be a brutal, bone-shattering affair in big seas. The unpredictable violence of the bow lifting and then crashing into the waves is something no skipper will ever enjoy. But the sailing we experienced down to the Doldrums was IMOCA flight at its most gentle - just enough wind to sustain flight, but not so much that the ride turned wild. Flat water, bright sunshine, and miles upon miles of empty runway lay ahead.
Two days ago, around 0400, I crossed the Equator after eleven and a half days of racing, lying 13th overall on the leaderboard. The past week has been better for my spirits, and the play I made to head west last week finally paid off, resulting in a rapid rise through the rankings to my position today.
The North Atlantic trade winds, as we know them, only materialized after the Cape Verde Islands, then provided a couple of days of exquisite sailing - Medallia in flat water and flight mode.
Flying this 60ft boat can be a brutal, bone-shattering affair in big seas. The unpredictable violence of the bow lifting and then crashing into the waves is something no skipper will ever enjoy. But the sailing we experienced down to the Doldrums was IMOCA flight at its most gentle - just enough wind to sustain flight, but not so much that the ride turned wild. Flat water, bright sunshine, and miles upon miles of empty runway lay ahead.
I was the most westerly positioned boat crossing the Doldrums and made further gains by picking my way across this area of instability, using real-time satellite images of clouds to skirt around them. For the past two days, I have been sailing south, towards the extreme east of Brazil, the hump of land where Recife is located, and my good luck has somewhat come to an end.
It probably seems strange that on a race east around the world, we would go all the way west to Brazil rather than simply dropping down the African coast. However, just as the weather in the north Atlantic is governed by the Azores high, the weather in the south is driven by the St Helena high, where the winds rotate anticlockwise. This means the fastest route is always to go around the St Helena high, in the same direction as the wind, rather than battling upwind along the shorter route.
Since crossing the Doldrums, the leading boats have been heading south as hard and fast as possible to try and get around the bottom of the St Helena high. I’ve had my foot to the floor, but my pace has not been that of the newer boats and slowly they are pulling away – I just don’t have the horsepower.
Tonight, I think we will see the first big split in the fleet, as the top ten boats have been able to jump on the back of a developing low-pressure system which will propel them on a direct route to Cape Horn – a very unusual weather system to find here, at these latitudes. I’m running to catch it, but I know I will be too late. I expect a lead of 1000 miles will open between me and the front of the fleet in the next five days, as they move with the weather system and benefit from reaching conditions. Meanwhile I will be left in the high pressure behind, waiting for the next system to arrive.
There is nothing to be other than philosophical about this. I knew starting this race that our boat would struggle for speed against new builds and over the last four days we have seen that play out. That’s not to say it doesn’t hurt. Being so close to the front of the fleet for two weeks has been incredible. But the Vendée Globe has always had many races within it. Now, a new fleet will form with my immediate competitors, and we will battle it out together. There is a LOT of the world and a LOT of drama still to come.
Pip x