Day 12 - Racing at the latitude of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil this morning, British skipper Alex Thomson, leader of the Vendée Globe, today emphasized that he feels under no pressure from his nearest two French rivals Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) and Charlie Dalin (Apivia) who have both cut miles from his lead since their exit from the Doldrums three days ago.

The top trio are each trying to plot their best route down the South Atlantic to catch a fast-moving low-pressure system and the strong, favourable winds which would catapult them eastwards into the Southern Ocean. While the weather situation for them is very enticing right now, offering a fast slide down the face of a cold front, at the bottom of the ride there is a potentially lethal transition zone which might evolve into a period of very light winds.

Should today’s weather modelling work out as predicted, according to the Vendée Globe’s weather expert Christian Dumard, the three leaders would gain such an advantage that they might be as much as two days ahead of fourth place and the chasing group by the time they pass the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope.

Asked on this afternoon’s LIVE race show Thomson said, “I am trying to find my way to the Southern Ocean, I am not really being affected by what they are doing. I am clear what we have to do over the next couple of days, I am positioned well so I don’t feel too much pressure. I don’t feel under pressure.”

He responded to suppositions that life in the tropics, living and working inside his boat all the time as opposed to on deck, might be hotter and more tiring, “In terms of the heat I would say it is cooler in here than it is outside. Much the same as the others I am probably drinking four litres of electrolyte a day. It was a struggle to stay hydrated but over the last day or so it is becoming better. I am trying to sleep as much as possible, I am still in debt for sure, so wherever I feel the urge, whenever I can I get my head down and get to sleep. Eating is a constant process for me. I am constantly going to the cupboard and grabbing a snack or a meal.”

Asked about the small miles Thomson has lost in recent days, the naval architect from VPLP who co-designed HUGO BOSS with significant input from Alex Thomson Racing’s own design team, Quentin Lucet suggested, “I think Alex has been sleeping a bit more recently and just not feel the need to push too hard for the moment. Maybe he is more in a controlling aspect on his followers. And maybe in terms of design there might be some slight performance differences due to the real wind they have just now. For now we have no alarm saying Alex has any issues. Probably he just does not see a real need to be accelerating just now.”

Double Vendée Globe winner Michel Desjoyeaux on the French show confirmed that he is a big fan of Thomson’s option to the west, 115 miles closer to the Brazilian shore than Ruyant.

“For sure the changes near the lead are due to a combination of the packages the various leaders have. Foils, sails and hull shape. Also there is a difference to what we see here on land as per the forecasts and what the sailor might actually get on the ocean. I think the further West you go the better the angle you will have to then come back and catch up. And so for me the two behind Alex really need to put their foot down to try and catch him now because the passage towards the Cape of Good Hope is going to give Alex quite a lead. If you look at the projected routing it is now that they need to make the most ground up because after the lead will extend a lot.”

Indeed as the angles have opened to broader reaching ones HUGO BOSS has been quicker than Apivia and LinkedOut; Thomson averaging more than 23 kts. Once again there are some anomalies on the official rankings because the positions are taken from a moving, rather than fixed waypoint. The late afternoon rankings maybe show Ruyant as leader but Thomson continues to be about 40 miles further south.
The breakaway trio are now more than 160 miles clear of fourth placed Jean Le Cam, who has the fast moving Saint Malo skipper Louis Burton on Bureau Vallée approaching in his wake. Burton is racing the IMOCA 60 which holds the current 74 days 3 hours solo round the world record and moved up to fifth today holding definite designs on fourth.

The Vendee Globe comeback kids

Also coming back fast after their own particular technical problems since the start are Sébastien Simon on ARKÉA-Paprec who, in tenth, is chasing Briton Sam Davies hard at 27 miles behind. The 2018 La Solitaire champion, one of four skippers in the race who live in Les Sables d’Olonne, has been consistently fast over the last couple of days since he had to climb the mast of his Juan K design.

Japanese skipper Kojiro Shiraishi is back in the race with an operational mainsail on DMH MORI. Four days of repairs to a tear at the top of his sail and batten repairs are completed, even if the Asian skipper must sail with one reef from now on. He was sailing directly west this afternoon away from the Cape Verde islands which might have provided additional refuge had he needed it.

Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest Amedeo) has nearly completed his comeback after a three-day pitstop back in Les Sables d’Olonne to repair a hairline crack at the top if his mast.

French veteran Jean Le Cam continues to light up the leading pack of the Vendée Globe who are slogging south-westward, beam reaching into choppy, slamming seas. Alex Thomson continues to lead the 32 boat fleet by about 10 miles at some 110 miles northeast of Recife, Brazil.

But for all that the 61-year-old Le Cam, who is on his fifth Vendée Globe race, played with Vendée Globe LIVE! viewers’ minds today - altering his virtual backdrop to place himself in an empty café bar - the undeniable reality is Le Cam is still showing a posse of younger, fast foiling IMOCA boats and their much younger skippers, the way down the South Atlantic.

Just 10 hours and 13 minutes behind Alex Thomson’s HUGO BOSS, Le Cam crossed the Equator fourth early this morning on the evergreen 2007 Farr design which, as Foncia, won the 2008 Vendée Globe in the hands of Michel Desjoyeaux. He returned Yes We Cam! one more into the Southern Hemisphere only one hour and 54 minutes behind Charlie Dalin on the new Verdier designed Apivia.

Le Cam’s time for the passage from Les Sables d’Olonne this time is 10 days 10 hours 12 minutes, five minutes faster this time than he was on the same boat at the exactly the same point in 2016 when he lay eighth. Clearly, he only improves with age!

After surgery gave the boat more volume in the bow Le Cam triumphed in the 2015 Barcelona World Race round the world race on this same boat – sailing with Bernard Stamm, in so doing won the IMOCA Ocean Masters world title. Along with Spain’s Didac Costa, he is one of only two sailors in this fleet to be looking to complete his third round the world race in the space of five years.

“I was a bit fed up of my bean bag and my environment so I went to the bistro to go and get a coffee.” Laughed Le Cam as he ‘placed’ himself in his café. Asked about his position in the race he chuckled, “As to the foiling boats getting a chance to stretch their lead: I have always said since before the start that I am in the Renault 4 category, not in the Ferrari one, but I realise that the little R4 is very well tuned!” joked Le Cam today, “The good news is that I had a great night’s sleep. I have not had a good night of sleep like last night’s since the start.”

Leader Thomson saw his cushion shrink on the rankings today to less than ten miles, some of that due to the way the theoretical route is calculated on the official charting. His margin enlarged again this afternoon after the moving waypoint to which the leaders are racing, was recalibrated slightly west.

“Every one of these new boats has a slightly different sail and rig set up, different foil packages, different hull shapes and so each will have its strengths and weaknesses and we are all just learning about these boats in different conditions as are the skippers themselves. I don’t think Alex has any problems on board right now, some boats will be quicker in some conditions some boats in others. Right now it is about staying close. You will see the Figaro one design sailors like Charlie Dalin are keen to stay with the pack and play the long game, whereas maybe Alex and Thomas (Ruyant) are prepared to do their own thing sometimes. This is much more about risk management right now.” Commented second placed Thomas Ruyan’s LinkedOut programme manager Marcus Hutchinson on today’s Vendée Globe LIVE! show today.

Germany’s Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco) crossed the Equator in seventh place at 0650hrs this morning, 2hrs and 54 mins behind Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée 2) and 37 minutes before Britain’s Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur). As was expected the battle from fifth placed Kevin Escoffier (PRB) to ninth placed Yannick Bestaven (Maitre CôQ) among the boats which formed the vanguard of the 2016-17 race is very engaging, just five hours exactly between Escoffier and Bestaven in terms of time across the Equator.

Otherwise the fleet are all making decent progress, tradewinds sailing, even Kojiro Shiraishi on DMG MORI, has been doing reasonable speeds under headsails as he tries to repair the battens for his mainsail. Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest – Art et Fenêtres) has 120 miles to catch backmarker Clément Giraud and Jérémie Beyou has passed Cape Finisterre this afternoon and was making 19kts on Charal.

And Nico Troussel, who lost the mast of CORUM L’Épargne on Monday morning, finally reached a mooring in Mindelo in the Cape Verde Islands this morning.

Thomas Ruyant's Advens Cybersecurity-sponsored IMOCA 60 LinkedOut is steadily whittling away at Alex Thomson's lead with Hugo Boss in the Vendee Globe 2020 as the front runners cross the Equator through Wednesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, LinkedIn became the first boat to break the 500-miles-in-24-hours barrier, logging 508.2 miles as she streaked southward past the Cape Verde Islands, thereby putting Jean le Cam in the veteran Yes We Cam astern, while keeping Charlie Dalin in near-sister-ship Apivia firmly in Ruyant's wake.

While the gap to leader Alex Thomson in Hug Boss had at one stage opened to 130 miles and more, by Wednesday evening, with LinkedOut on the Equator, it had been pruned back to 70 miles, with LinkedOut on a VMG of 19.2 knots while Hugo Boss – seeking a better angle with a more westerly course – had a VMG back at 12.4 knots.

LinkedOut shore manager Marcus Hutchinson of Kinsale reports some problems with the J2 halyard system which may require Ruyant going aloft when he finds a calm spot in the doldrums, "but for now, there's no sign of Doldrums or calms spots, and it's all systems go".

The tie-in between Advens Cybersecurity and alternative contact and hire network LinkedOut came at a late stage of the Vendee Globe countdown, so it is only this week that LinkedOut began processing the cohort of offers and job-seekers which has resulted from this spate of publicity. Despite France being in the throes of high COVID-19 incidence and extreme lockdown, 70 fresh offers are in the pipeline, 11 interviews have been held, and four positions have already been filled.

Tracker chart here

While Nicholas Troussel is motoring slowly into a lumpy sea, his Vendée Globe abandoned after his mast was broken early yesterday morning, this afternoon in bright sunshine and light winds off Les Sables d’Olonne Jérémie Beyou was resuscitating his own race, restarting some 2,700 nautical miles behind leader Alex Thomson who was negotiating the first hours of his Doldrums passage on HUGO BOSS.

Promised a smooth passage through the 300-350 miles wide Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone by the weather gurus, Thomson should be first across the Equator in the middle of Wednesday morning. On current routing models, he is likely to be around one day slower than the record he set at 9 days 7 hours when he led the 2016-17 race into the Southern Hemisphere.

There is a certain symmetry compared to the 2016-17 race. Four years ago Thomson led Armel Le Cléac’h by a little more than 50 miles. He is in front again this time but it is the hard driving Thomas Ruyant who has cut the British skipper’s margin by 40 miles to around 88 miles. Coincidentally at this same time four years ago it was Tanguy De Lamotte whose hopes for his Vendée Globe were dashed by the race’s first broken mast.

Beyou was full of hope and positivity when he set off on a balmy, almost Mediterranean afternoon in Les Sables d’Olonne, sent on his way by hundreds of well wishers. But he admitted that re-calibrating his mindset which for four years been hard wired towards winning the Vendée Globe would be in itself the biggest challenge, “It’s not going to be easy because I’m leaving so much later. But now I just have to go. No more thinking. I just can't wait to get back to sea. Having managed to mobilize myself is in itself a first win. After that I hope there will be more things to keep me going as I progress. But I don't really know what these things will be. I don't know how to put it in words. I'm going to explore myself a bit. I'm completely away from all my reference points here. For four years I have been just in the condition, in the state of mind to give 100 per cent all the time to preparation, to give everything on the race course. Now we are in a different game the goal posts have moved I have to forget everything and then find a new way of doing things. I’m definitely no longer in my comfort zone here.”

He seems assured of a fast passage south on the first days of his pursuit of the 31 boat fleet, his nearest ‘target’ being Fabrice Amedeo at 1000 miles range. At Cape Finisterre he should be able to hook into a low pressure system which will catapult him south to benefit from favourable winds on the east side of the Azores high pressure system.

Meanwhile Troussel who this morning had some 180 miles still to motor to Mindelo in the Cape Verde Islands, voiced his misery. On a video call this morning, his eyes hollow, his face drawn, he confirmed that he was below decks asleep when his mast crashed down in the gusty tradewinds,”It was just before sunrise and I was asleep and went up on deck and saw the damage. My priority then was to get the mast off and away from the boat because the sea was quite choppy. Then you realise that it is all over.”

The Doldrums look like they might offer Thomson and the lead group a free pass. The skipper from Gosport and his nearest rival Ruyant have seen their speeds ease to 14-15kts but the zone between the NE’ly and SE’ly trade winds is quite narrow.

"It's not just a transition between two winds, it's also a transition between two seas," said Sébastien Josse and Christian Dumard, the weather consultants for the Vendée Globe. "The seas will not be as smooth as you may think. Speeds will be more erratic and courses more varied. To get out of here you have to cross directly at right angles and... stay calm. Each metre gained south is one metre gained towards the exit of the tunnel” continues Sébastien Josse.

From Madeira to the Doldrums, the 2020 Vendée Globe wagon train spans some 1,600 miles (2,900 km) of ocean. Now, finally, almost the entire fleet is in the trade winds and making decent progress. But to the west of the Canaries in a localised ‘doldrums’ of persistently light winds five competitors are continuing to have their patience tested.

"I’m starting to get the first hint of the Doldrums as we approach them. We’re almost there and already a few squalls can be seen on the satellite images. I am looking at them regularly to try to find a narrow passage through. They don’t look too active, but you never know what you’re going to get. There is always a surprise each time.

I’m starting to get really hot. These aren’t the conditions I enjoy most. Inside the boat, it quickly becomes a furnace with the generator charging up. But we have a good angle to sail quickly, so it’s perfect for sailing now. I have 18/20kts and am at 110/120 degrees from the wind. Conditions are pleasant, even if at times it is a bit wild, as we accelerate away quickly. The Doldrums are 300/350 miles wide. So we can hope to get out of there tomorrow evening, if everything falls into place, but it could take much longer. It’s complicated getting accurate forecasts.” - Thomas Ruyant, second, LinkedOut

Jérémie Beyou, the 44-year-old French Vendee Globe skipper who had to sail 600 miles back to Les Sables d’Olonne after damage to his Charal on the second evening of the solo non-stop around-the-world race, has confirmed that he will re-start the race on Tuesday afternoon despite the leaders being around 2,500 nautical miles south, approaching the Doldrums tomorrow.

Beyou, who was the outstanding favourite to win the race, hit a floating object on the third evening of the race. The impact damaged one of Charal's rudders, its mounting and control mechanisms, he broke a backstay and there was sundry composite damage to the deck of his IMOCA.

A round the clock team effort by up to 20 people who have been working flat out ever since the bitterly disappointed Beyou docked his boat back in Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday afternoon, has returned the boat to 100% of its full potential, according the solo racer who finished third on the last Vendée Globe. Speaking during an online press conference from his apartment in Les Sables d’Olonne, he said: “It’s strange to be replying to your questions away from my boat, Charal. But I’ll soon be back there, as thanks to the work carried out after the past few days, we now know the boat will be ready tomorrow morning and ready to take off on the tide in the afternoon. Excellent news. I would like to thank the whole team, as they have given it their all since I arrived back here in Port Olona. The Vendée Globe is a team effort and if everyone pulls together, we can work miracles. The main problem, the one that made me turn back, was the issue with the rudder. Technically, however the most problematic to repair was the traveller, but actually, it was the rudder mounting and the control arm which had broken, and it is a structural part of the boat. We had to survey the damage first to see where the water had leaked in to and up to where we needed to repair this on both sides. We had to work with a whole series of experts to figure this out and all within the time constraints. We also had some wind vane issues, mainsail damage from the series of gybes when the rudder hit something. I really have to thank the whole team.”

Beyou has been locked down in isolation with his partner since arriving back. He purposely detached himself from all race updates and social media.

“It was very hard for me to not be there (during the repairs) but also I had to take my head out of the race and I did not look at the rankings. I shut out and did not look at any social media, all this whilst I was trying to stay close to my team and support them remotely. Since the start, we have been working as a very close-knit team. On the first night they sent me a message to say that they did not think they would manage to fix it within the time limit, but deep down I knew they would. So it was probably a good thing that I was not with them so I could get time to recover and really figure out the whole meaning behind the project. How everyone feels about it, the public, the Charal employees, the press, friends…I just did not answer any messages, but I knew that I had to go back to the race. I did hear about Nico’s dismasting...I know I said I cut myself out of the race coms, but I did hear that and I am so so sorry for him and his whole team. I know how much energy it takes to do a Vendée Globe and what is needed to get a project off the ground and going."

"There were 10 to 15 people who put all their combined efforts together to get the job done. The architects from VPLP, Gurit composites, Manu Le Borgne, and behind them you have the logistics team, the team who did the hardware components, the splicing and ropeworks guys, the team at North Sails ready to do repairs to the mainsail, the Pixel electricians. The list is endless. When I got to the pontoon the other day and saw what a team of experts was there waiting, I said to myself, my goodness! You also feel you need to be there and to be on site and respect all the work that has been done, that is being done and you just have to go. I have often said that the Vendée Globe is a race that is carried out by a team, and here you go, that is demonstrated by these people. Miracles can happen when you really try.”

Speaking about leader Alex Thomson he said, “I am happy for Alex being in the lead, I know he has a really good boat, and I am happy for him. He did a great move a few days ago. All I know is that Jean was in the lead for a bit and now that Alex is leading the charge. I did just try to disconnect a bit. After all that we will see what happens back on the sea. I really prefer to have no expectations, I don't want to set any goals. I don't know what we will discover. So we will see.”

French skipper Nicolas Troussel, who was lying in seventh place in the Vendée Globe, has dismasted on CORUM L’Épargne this morning. He was racing south in brisk NE’ly trade wind conditions some 260 nautical miles NW of the Cape Verde islands.

Troussel, 46, was not injured and is in the process of securing the boat before further assessing the situation.

As he leads onto the trade winds motorway down the Atlantic, between the Canary Islands and the Cape Verdes, British skipper Alex Thomson is expected to increase his lead at the head of the Vendee Globe fleet as his foiling Hugo Boss hits its stride.

Accelerating through the day Thomson has shaken off veteran Jean Le Cam, averaging two knots faster, and is the only skipper in the race to have sailed more than 380 nautical miles in the last 24 hours.

NEE’ly Trade winds of 20-22kts are expected to blow for Thomson and the leading peloton over the coming days. Sunday, one week into the race, has offered many skippers in the top group to take essential time to look after themselves, to wash, to make a ‘treat’ meal or drinks, to change into fresh clothes, as they prepare for what will still be a demanding, active period, even if it is a boatspeed drag race on port gybe for several days.

“You can’t forget the trade winds are not as stable as you maybe think, the direction still changes ten to fifteen degrees and the wind will go up and down, there are still gusts and so you have to be attentive and there will be a lot of trimming to do.” cautioned Seb Josse, who is serving as one of the Vendée Globe’s meteo advisers.

Skippers today expressed their admiration for Thomson’s race so far.

“He has mastered the start of this race perfectly with his ingenious, efficient and well-prepared boat,” commented guest of the Vendée LIVE French show this afternoon. “Alex is going to take the fast train south and that can quickly turn into a big lead,” notes Thomas Ruyant from fourth placed LinkedOut at over 120 miles behind Thomson. “And Alex is hungry for it, but so am I.”

One of the pre-race favourites Charlie Dalin, in sixth at 168 miles adrift of HUGO BOSS, wants to stay in the match but acknowledged: "My decision to move out west was because the storm was too early on into the race to take any risks and I did the calculation of what I could afford to lose and try and make up, Alex went full on in the Theta depression and that can give him to make a big margin". Dalin, the Apivia skipper chuckled on the live show "Wait for me guys, I am stoking up the coal, I'm coming! "

HUGO BOSS is due at the latitude of the Cape Verde islands tomorrow and is expected to pass the doldrums on Tuesday. According to Vendée Globe weather specialist Christian Dumard the leaders may be treated to a relatively straightforward crossing into the Southern Hemisphere.

At the Port Olona pontoon in Les Sables d’Olonne, the technical team of experts have been working round the clock onboard Charal, the damaged IMOCA of Jérémie Beyou, aiming to have it ready for Beyou to return to the course. A press conference is planned for 1700hrs CET Monday to announce the decision.

Japanese skipper Koji Shiraishi has managed to lower his damaged mainsail on his DMG MORI and is evaluating the options to repair the tear.

TREATS ALL ROUND

Skippers have been rewarding themselves as they break into warmer climes. "It has been the first day with some time for me, it feels good," admitted third placed Benjamin Dutreux (OMIA - Water Family). “I have been on the terrace (cockpit) having a good coffee”. Each has enjoyed their own way of treating themselves, Alan Roura (La Fabrique) had his first shower, 1 litre of salt water then 1 litre of fresh water. Yannick Bestaven (Maître CoQ IV) took the time to listen to a "rock" playlist, Boris Herrmann "had a little aperitif and called up his friends".

Damien Seguin, slept seven hours last night, treated himself to a small feast with Parmentier hash and Beaufort cheese. Sunday morning, Manuel Cousin (SÉTIN Group) started the day with a good roasted coffee - “just like at home” - and a piece of chocolate from a chocolate maker sponsor. Clarisse Crémer (Banque Populaire X), too, looked more relaxed. On the deck of her IMOCA she was appreciating the beautiful seascape, "This is the picture-postcard image that you have in your mind of ocean racing.” Said the skipper who admitted to being ‘a bit freaked out’ by the prospect of dicing with the storm Theta, “It feels good to have a lighter heart! "

On a chill, grey November afternoon a drawn and disappointed Jérémie Beyou was touched by the size and warmth of the welcome afforded to the French Vendee Globe skipper on his premature return to Les Sables d’Olonne with his damaged Charal.

Forced to return 600 miles back to the start port after his IMOCA was damaged on the third day of racing, hundreds of local fans turned out to see the 44-year-old return down the famous channel. At a brief, carefully choreographed, distanced reunion with selected media, Beyou made it clear he wants to return to the race course if the damage to his boat can be 100% repaired.

“If technically it can be done, the plan is to go. That is the objective.” Stated an emotional Beyou beside his black and silver hulled Charal. “I really want to go, that is not the issue, I want to maintain this frame of mind. I will be 3,000 miles behind so it is no longer a race, but we will see.”

Underlining the urgency to have the boat ready as quickly as possible there was a diver in the water as the IMOCA docked to evaluate the underwater surfaces following the strike by a floating object, the cockpit was quickly covered to facilitate the composite repairs required and the damaged rudder was quickly removed.

“I am convinced that we will try and fix it, but the devil is in the detail. I see that everyone is here. The designers, the builders, all the experts and shore team will collaborate and so we will know within 24 hours. Then we will take a decision.”

The start line closes on Wednesday 18th at 1420hrs, ten days after last Sunday’s start.

“Stopping was brutal for me.” He recalled, his voice shaking at the memory.

“I hope Jeremy re-starts and I hope it is good for him. You just never know on this race.” Commented Mike Golding on the Vendée Globe LIVE show today. Golding was dismasted hours into the 2000-2001 race and restarted a week behind the fleet going on to finish seventh, setting several records in the Southern Ocean, some of which still stand today.

Foilers To Stretch?

At the top of the fleet Jean Le Cam (Yes We Cam!) still holds the lead by 21 nautical miles from Alex Thomson (HUGO BOSS) as the pair open the route into the Ne’ly trade winds.

“Everything is good on board with Alex. He has been resting a bit. He was quite happy through the low (Theta) really. He has seen plenty of big winds before, 50,60 knots, and so if there is a gain to be made he will go there. I think we will start to see the foilers dominate now a bit more. With the winds around 100 degrees true they should be quick for the next 4-5 days.” Commented Ross Daniels, Alex Thomson Racing’s Technical Director this afternoon.

Located furthest to the west, Charlie Dalin (Apivia) was the first to gybe followed by Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) and Kevin Escoffier (PRB). 150 miles to the southeast of them, Le Cam and Thomson gybed early in the afternoon on to a more favourable angle and more wind, and therefore a slightly more direct course.

“It's going to be a long gybe straight into the doldrums and the foilers, who haven't yet had the chance to show their potential, will finally be able to do it. We should fly" Thomas Ruyant added on Vendée Live, “We will get good reaching angles and start to accelerate."

But vigilance will be required, explains Sébastien Josse, with three Vendée Globe's under his belt: "It will not be a cruise with the force of the wind - 20 to 25 knots - and on the crossover of a sail choice between Code 0 and fractional gennaker."

Mainsail Damage For Kojiro

In the middle of the afternoon Kojiro Shiraishi’s DMG Mori Global One team reported a rip at the top of the Japanese skipper’s mainsail and damaged battens. After a gybe to exit the Theta depression, Shiraishi, 19th at 3pm, suffered an autopilot malfunction. During a 3rd gybe, his mainsail tore above the 2nd batten. His team commented: "The skipper is not injured and the boat is not in danger. We will be offering different solutions to repair the mainsail and continue the race."

Meantime the peloton has raced off and left a group of competitors in next to no wind, Ari Huusela (Stark), Miranda Merron (Campagne de France), Alexia Barrier (TSE - 4myplanet), Clément Giraud (Compagnie du Lit / Jiliti), Sébastien Destremau (Merci) and Armel Tripon (L'Occitane en Provence). "The corridor of wind between the depression and the front above has narrowed down, and they are in the heart of a windless zone and behind thate there is not much with either.” Christian Dumard, the Vendée Globe meteorologist explained.

Passing the Azores, some 100 miles to the east of São Miguel island, Britain’s Alex Thomson leads the Vendée Globe fleet this afternoon on Hugo Boss. He moved south away from his closest rivals on the water early this morning, choosing a time when he thought they would be at their most tired, perhaps resting, to slide away.

Pacing himself against the newest generation of foilers like his HUGO BOSS, he is 13 miles up on Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) and Charlie Dalin (Apivia) as the lead group slide south on the western side of a low-pressure system, described today as a ‘baby low’ when compared with tropical low Theta which lies in wait for them from tomorrow Friday.

Five days into the race and the head of the fleet comprises a slightly unexpected mix of the latest foilers intertwined with older generation non-foiling boats, such as sailed by the wily 61-year-old Jean Le Cam on his fifth Vendée Globe and lying second to Thomson who is also on his fifth race.

Thomson has been no stranger to adversity over his 16 years chasing his holy grail, victory in the Vendée Globe. And so his message of solidarity today for French title favourite Jérémie Beyou, who had to U turn back to Les Sables d’Olonne with rig and rudder damage yesterday, came from the heart.

Dealing with his shattered ambitions of winning, founded on a four-year plan which included building a state of the art foiler Charal, launched one year ahead of the rest of the new boats, he spoke to the French media on a recording for the Vendée Globe LIVE show. Beyou’s pain was palpable today.

Beyou is expected to reach Les Sables d’Olonne on Saturday. His team will make an immediate evaluation of the repairs required and ensure they have the logistics in place.

Repairing man and machine

Sébastien Destremau has survived the stormy hours on his IMOCA MERCI, which he struggled to have ready on time for last Sunday’s race start. Last night, exhausted from the first few days he fell asleep and spent several hours asleep inside the boat heading northwards. His day was then spent tinkering on the deck and climbing the mast to untangle twisted halyards. The list of minor technical issues grows as sailors check the condition of their boats. Maxime Sorel also climbed the mast to retrieve a halyard.

After jumping the start gun last Sunday by a matter of seconds, Louis Burton completed his five hours penalty last night, losing more than 70 miles in the process. In addition to that the skipper from Saint Malo has had to mop up litres of oil (coming from his keel cylinder) spilled inside his boat before grabbing the grinder to repair a small crack on his bulkhead.

All of the skippers have been making sure they are rested as tomorrow morning they will have to tackle the big tropical depression Theta which blocks their way.

Theta, the 29th tropical depression of the year

It is front of mind for all the sailors. It's a big red ball sitting right in the middle of the map. The solo sailors will have to pass round it to the west. Those who come in too close could be severely punished, because this subtropical depression contains winds of 50 to 60 knots and waves of 6 meters. It’s name is Theta. And this is the 29th tropical depression of the year, a record in fact. Tropical and subtropical depressions are named after the letters of the alphabet, and with 21 letters from the Latin alphabet now passed, we switch to the Greek alphabet. Theta is the 8th.

“ Everyone has their own goal. For four years my life has been focused on trying to win the Vendée Globe. I’ve been giving it my all.” Beyou said, “ So when it suddenly comes to an end, it hits you hard. That’s why it took me so long before deciding to turn back. I could have taken the decision earlier, as dealing with the front meant there was collateral damage. It doesn’t feel good waking up to this.

Earlier in the day before the wind got up, the attachment holding the headsail clew came away. That damaged the bulkhead and ripped through the deck. While I was inspecting that, I saw a hole in the rudder that was half up but I told the team that I could cope. I went through the front, tacked and then the runner exploded after losing the gear at the top of the mast a few hours before. The runner was the final straw, so I changed route and turned back.

I haven’t seen what’s been going on around me for four years. My Dad was taken to hospital with a stroke a week before the start. I missed out on all that. So now, I’ll be bringing the boat home and dealing with that too.” Jérémie Beyou - Charal

Thomson, who as he noted today is ‘two from four’ for Vendée Globe starts and finishes, said,

“It is terrible news, and nobody would wish that on anybody, Jérémie has worked harder than anybody probably. He has done an extra year with his boat. He has a great team, a great technical director, he has done it all and he amazed the world when he brought Charal out. He was the first one flying in the sky, so I am devastated for him. I know myself how hard it is to pick yourself up and particularly going back to Les Sables d’Olonne and racing all on your own. But I am sure he will make the right decision. It will probably be governed by the damage and how long it takes to fix it. I guess the worst thing to do would be to set off in the knowledge that you can't do a proper 100 per cent repair and then you are on your own in the Southern Ocean. I feel for him, I feel for his team, I feel for the sponsors. Unfortunately, that is a thing that happens in this race. I am two out of four myself. I hate the feeling. I hate seeing it happen to someone else, particularly Jeremie.” Alex Thomson - Hugo Boss

“I'm glad I got off the ridge yesterday and I’m happy with my placement, not too north and not too south. At the moment we’re going around a small depression that is forming ahead of us, going around it from the north. There are four of us in this small group. There is a little more wind than what was forecast, it's moving pretty fast here! On the horizon is Theta, the tropical depression which is very strong. It will be the last big obstacle to deal with before we get a taste of the trade winds.

I was in the leading group yesterday evening and for part of the night. So much the better! It means things are going well for me. For the moment, I don't have a lot of worries and I hope I won't have any by saying so. I hope it lasts! I'm trying to find my rhythm between going fast and preserving the boat, space out the manoeuvres to avoid any risks. Since the beginning, we've been in pretty difficult conditions, we haven't yet been able to really use the potential of the foilers. I hope that once Theta has passed, we'll be able to take advantage of more favourable conditions to use the foils. I'm constantly restricting myself, braking in order to save my boat for later, but also to save myself up because the Vendée Globe is long! But I don't have both feet on the brakes for too long. Concerning Jérémie Beyou's damage, well I know all too well the commitment that our projects require – for the skipper, the team, the partners…It's years of work, of deliberation, and it's certainly something we wouldn’t wish on anyone. My stomach turned to knots when I heard the news. My heart goes out to Jérémie and his team." Charlie Dalin - Apivia

The Vendee Globe Race has finally started to get serious after several days of faffing around in flukey winds off northwest Spain and Portugal in conditions so volatile that last night they'd a messy frontal system going through to provide everything from flat calm to 50-knot gusts in the space of half an hour. But now with the weather pattern becoming clearer with a low pressure area to the south of them moving west-east to pass between Madeira and the Canaries, the challenge is to place yourself northwest of this system in favourable winds.

This means that getting well west was the Number One priority for those who thought more in terms of strategy rather then tactics, and none did this more assiduously than Thomas Ruyant with the new foiler LinkedOut, whose shore manager is Marcus Hutchinson of Kinsale. At times LinkedOut was showing a best overall placing of third in her sometimes very solitary progress southwestward, while others took the short term gain of working local winds relatively close inshore off Cape Finisterre.

None did this more assiduously than Maxime Sorel with the veteran daggerboard boat V & B Mayenne, and he did it so successfully that for a day he was showing repeatedly as the overall leader. There's an enormous irony in this, as one of V & B Mayennne's previous manifestations was as Souffle du Nord, which was of course Ruyant's entry in the 2016-17 Vendee. She was doing very well in that, but was invalided out into New Zealand in a decidedly separational state. However, nothing daunted, she was re-glued with Kiwi ingenuity and finished back in Les Sables-d'Olonne on St Patrick's Day 2018 as Enda O'Coineen's Team Ireland Souffle du Nord, and soon afterwards was sold to Maxime Sorel.

Enda O Coineen's Team Ireland Souffle du Nord in 2018. Re-incarnated as Maxim Sorel's V & B Mayenne, she was showing as overall leader in the current Vendee Globe for more than a day

Thus while the hot favourites were trying either to keep a middle course as per former Crosshaven schoolboy Alex Thomson (his dad was a helicopter pilot out of Cork Airport at the time) with Hugo Boss, while Ruyant stayed doggedly further west, there was the old Souffle du Nord to the eastward staying persistently at the top of the leaderboard even if, like all good things, it was just too good to last.

The long-expected meandering front came in with so much peculiarity in in that at one stage it was shaping up to form a completely new low pressure area, which put everybody's strategy haywire for a while. But as things have been settling down today, there are certain boats of very sharp performance starting to emerge at the top of the leaderboard.

Thus now, four days after the gun was fired, we can finally say the Vendee Globe has really started - we have a race rather than a lottery. And it's Kinsale up against Crosser as they start facing up to the next tactical decision of whether or not to cut through among the eastern islands of the Azores, because staying on the right (or rather top left) side of that low is paramount.

And it's certainly time to get a move on. Yesterday afternoon, three days after the start, they still had to pass the point which Armel le Cleac'h with Banque Populaire had put astern after just two days in 2016 when he set the 74 day record which the stars reckon could be brought below 70 days this time round, and 60 was theoretically possible.

"The Kinsale Boat" – Thomas Ruyant's LinkedOut shortly after the start.

For now, though, it's definitely Game On with Alex Thomson in Hugo Boss first at 18.4 knots, Benjamin Dutreux second but only showing 11.1 knots, Thomas Ruyant still well west of Thomson and showing 16.9 knots in third place with LinkedOut, and Charlie Dalin right beside him with near-sister Apivia in 4th place at 15.1 knots.

Tracker linked here