Ultim Challenge skipper Thomas Coville is heading to Hobart for a technical stopover, Armel Le Cléac’h is taking a safe, northerly route ahead of a big Southern Ocean storm. Race leader Charles Caudrelier has under 2,500 miles to Cape Horn and will pass Point Nemo in the next 24 hours whilst Anthony Marchand and Éric Péron have light winds in the Indian Ocean.
By the end of this afternoon, Thomas Coville should drop the giant mainsail of his Sodebo Ultim 3 in the Derwent and make his way to Hobart to meet his technical team. A technical stopover of at least 24 hours will start, which should be enough time to deal with his damage, principally his pulpit on the bow and the port trampoline net, as well as his hydraulic foil lowering systems.
Coville spoke of the situation last night: “We are going to stop in Hobart in Tasmania. In terms of safety, going to the foredeck, no longer having the port side net is much too much of a risk. And then there is the work that I have to do to hook the foils and unhook them each time going along the float. These are so very risky when there is a sea. I don't feel capable of covering the entire Pacific like this. So we made the decision with my team to stop and make a technical stopover. It should last at least 24 hours but, unfortunately, two huge depressions are coming and they could keep us stuck at the dock for longer.”
The weather files are evolving and dynamic so maybe Sodebo will find a window to start again quicker than expected. Meantime he told nearest rival Armel Le Cléac’h of his decision: “I needed to warn him of my intention to stop. Because in our sport, a bit like in the mountains, we have this way of thinking, this philosophy, this obligation to provide assistance to someone who might be in danger nearby. So when you're in a race, very often it's your most direct competitor who is your "angel": the person who would be likely to come to your zone.”
Le Cléac'h himself said yesterday he will avoid the storm by passing north of Tasmania into the Pacific Ocean via the Bass Strait which separates Australia and Tasmania. He might also go north of New Zealand “Certainly, it will lengthen our journey, but it is the price to pay for not taking any risks, preserving the boat and continuing with peace of mind.” Said Le Cléac'h.
Out in front Charles Caudrelier continues to profit from good conditions allowing straight line sailing directly east. Skirting the ice zone Maxi Edmond de Rothschild races at more than 30 knots across the Pacific. The race leader should cross the longitude of Point Nemo within 24 hours and Cape Horn is approximately 2400 miles away.
Way, way to the west in the Southern Ocean Actual is making its way towards the Kerguelen Islands in a weather situation which sees two anticyclonic centers merging, which might slow down the skipper Anthony Marchand and, to a lesser extent, that of Éric Péron behind him.
