February 2017 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 19. Le Cleach Wins Vendee Globe


HUGO BOSS screaming over the waves Photograph: Cleo Barnham/Hugo Boss/Vendee Globe


activated when his boat partially fi lled with water.


30 December (Day 55): Thomson is


now back just 28 miles from Le Cléac’h, but the leader has found some wind in an easterly breeze and is gaining separation again. Later in the day he was now ahead by 130 miles as Thomson was going just over 2 knots. Jean-Pierre Dick rounds Cape Horn at


0634 UTC in fourth place. He is followed around by Jeam Le Cam at 1548 UTC and Yann Elies at 1656 UTC. 31 December (Day 56): Thomson’s


speed is now up to 15, but Le Cléac’h is at 17 knots and still pulling away. They both are nearing the equator and bask in much warmer weather. Enda O’Coineen has made a stop at


Pegasus Bay, Stewart Island, but cannot get his anchor to hold. Rich Wilson is trying to avoid a violent


low pressure system by sailing northeast, but will still encounter 30 to 40 knots of wind. Nandor Fa (SPIRIT OF HUNGARY)


sailed below the Antarctic Exclusion Zone and according to race rules had to retrace his course out of the zone. 1 January (Day 57): Le Cléac’h has


now a 180 mile lead over Thomson and could better this as he enters a better weather system than his rival. Also it is expected that Thomson was going to have to tack on port and thus not have the use of his foil. Beyou is gaining on the leaders and is


859 miles back of Thomson and is about ten quicker. Rich Wilson is getting buff eted by high


winds and these could get heavier latter. He said, “Now, we start counting down longi- tude, toward Cape Horn, toward France, although at the moment, both seem very far away. And that is also because we face two big storms in the next week, one going through into today. Our whole group of boats has taken some eff ort to head to the north. We have gone the furthest so far, but we will not be able to escape it. Perhaps we can reduce the worst of it. Needless to say, I am anxious about it. We are pushing right now to sail northeast, with mainsail +1 reef, and the fractional gennaker, to make good speed. When the wind starts to shift to the West-North-West, and push us further East, it should also diminish for a period. In that time, we’ll take down the fractional gen- naker, put it away in the forepeak, get the storm jib rigged and hoisted, and perhaps get ahead of the game by going to the second reef. Ultimately, we’ll get to either 3rd reef, or 4th reef, plus the storm jib.” O’Coineen was back sailing after mak-


ing repairs in 35-plus knots of wind when disaster struck and he was dismasted. It was related that the wind had overpowered the autopilots causing two crash gybes and


with no time to get to the running back stays for the needed support the rig snapped. He cut the rig away, but did not save anything, meaning he will be challenged creating a jury rig. He was 180 miles southeast of New Zealand and plans to head back to Dunedin, New Zealand. Of the 29 boats that started the race there are now just 18 still racing. 2 January (Day 58): Le Cléac’h is still


putting miles between him and Thomson. Thomson should get to better wind later in the day and gain back some of the miles he has lost as he heads north to the Doldrums. O’Coineen after his dismasting an-


nounced that he had offi cially retired from the race. Rich Wilson is still battling the low,


saying, “We are in the gale. We have 35-40 knots of wind now and it looks as though this will last for another 18 hours. Then we get to the center of the storm, and then the same, about 24 hours of storm from the south. Depressions rotate clockwise here in the Southern Hemisphere, thus the two directions on opposite sides of the storm. We have three reefs in the mainsail and the storm jib up. We are trying to be very conservative to save the staysail that was laboring in the beginning of the storm with a higher wind angle. As the wind has shifted from North to North Northwest, we have continued to go east, and so the angle to the wind has gotten bigger, which helps. The waves are about 12-15 feet, and now starting to get angry. One wave just hit the boat and pushed it to starboard about 3-4 feet, almost hammering my face with the port side of the chart table.


NEED TO MOVE YOUR BOAT? CALL YORK'S BOAT TRANSPORTATION


I have my helmet here and may use it at the chart table.” Conrad Colman (FORESIGHT NATU-


RAL ENERGY) has suff ered damage to his standing rigging. He will need for the winds to calm so he can check the damage. Another rig issue is on Sébastien De-


stremau racer and he is heading towards Tasmania so he can check it. 3 January (Day 59): Colman makes a


temporary fi x to his forestay despite being in 40 to 50 knots of wind. The forestay pin was lost in heavy winds and this unfurled the foresail, which shredded in the high winds. He has another pin, but getting it into place


The IMOCA 60 MAITRE COQ. Photograph by DR/Maitre COQ


will be challenging. Destremau made an attempt to stop in


Esperance Bay, Tasmania, but could not pick up the required mooring. So he turned around and headed back out to sea. He was fortunate and was able to climb the rig and note that he needs to make a carbon repair to one of the spreaders. As for the leaders Thomson has gained


back some, but is now a knot slower than Le Cléac’h. Both are about fi ve days away from the equator. Beyou in third has gained more than 400 miles on the leaders.


Continued on Page 20.


YORK'S MARINE 11 Gordon Drive Rockland, Maine 04841 (207) 596-7400 www.yorkmarineinc.com


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