February 2017 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 5. Le Cleach Wins Vendee Globe in Record Time


As of 22 January, at 1800 hrs: Skipper/boat


1 Armel Le Cleach 2 Alex Thomson


3 Jeremie Beyou MAITRE COQ


4 Jean Pierre Dick 5 Yann Elies


ST. MICHEL-VIRBAC QUEGUINER-LEUCEMI


14 Rich Wilson GREAT AMERICAN IV


BANQUE POPILAIRE VIII HUGO BOSS Skipper/boat


Country Type FRA Foiler


GB Foiler


Country Type FRA Foiler


FRA Foiler FRA


USA This year’s Vendee Globe has been


indredible to follow. We have had the foil- ers with their unbelievable speed. Two of those we have watched battle tooth and nail right from the start to the end. We also have had the disasters, mostly boats that hit an unknown object in the water causing sig- nifi cant damage. There was also those that battle small issues, but even a small issue could turn into an immense one and sailing through some of the most remote places on earth you might not be able to get assistance. Of the 29 boats that started the race, just 18 are left. Just before he reached Cape Town, Alex


Thomson’s HUGO BOSS struck an object in the water, which broke off the port foil. Despite this handicap he managed to hold onto the lead for a number of days before being over taken by Armel Le Cléac’h and BANQUE POPILAIRE VIII. Once Le Cléac’h had taken the lead it was a constant battle to hold off Thomson. As they neared the fi nish line many wonder just how close the two would be. American Rich Wilson on GREAT


AMERICAN IV was doing well, but he battled some horrendous conditions as he began to climb up in the standings. 19 December (day 44): Thomas Ruy- ant (LE SOUFFLE DU NORD) is under


Finish Time


74D, 3H, 35M, 46S 74D, 19H, 35M, 15S Distance Distance


to leader to Finish 209.7


781 825


5456.2 990.6 1034.6 5818.6


power heading for the Bluff on the southern end of New Zealand, 260 miles away, after a collision with an unidentifi ed fl oating ob- ject. The weather conditions were poor and there was water coming into the boat. There was a crack in the deck, broken starboard rudder and damaged ring frame and some worry that this may become serious and mean an at sea rescue may need to take place. Stephane Le Diraison who lost his mast


has set a jury rig and was heading to Mel- bourne, Australia. The two leaders are in a separate weath-


er system, but Le Cléac’h was in better wind and had stretched his lead to over 500 miles. 20 December (Day 45): Ruyant was


now just a few miles from New Zealand as he nursed his battered racer to safety. Despite the extensive damage he was still doing 9 knots. A shore team was heading out with an IMOCA expert on board to assess the situation. There was still 500 miles between the


fi rst and second place racers who were doing about 20 knots and now just days away from Cape Horn. Thomson’s (HUGO BOSS) was on a more southerly course and this means he would be sailing a shorter distant than fi rst place Armel. Jean-Pierre Dick (STMICHEL-VIR-


BAC) made the most gain sailing 460 miles in the last 24 hours.


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Armel Le Cleach (BANQUE POPILAIRE VIII) just after crossing the fi nish line. © Jean-Marie Liot / DPPI / VENDEE GLOBE


There are fi ve skippers in the longitude


of Cape Leeuwin one of which is American Rich Wilson (GREAT AMERICAN IV). He was with sight of Irish skipper Enda O’Coineen’s KILCULLEN VOYAGER TEAM IRELAND. As the day wore on, Paul Meilhat


(SMA) announced that he had a keel issue on his racer. The keel ram has a crack and Paul is trying to orient the keel in the middle position with blocks. His location is 2000 miles east of New Zealand. 21 December (Day 46): The two lead-


ers are closing in on Cape Horn. Le Cléac’h still has a 500 mile lead over second place Thomson. However, Thomson is going to benefi t later in the day as the wind will shift allowing him to switch to starboard tack and thus use his undamaged foil for better


performance. There are still fi ve racers within 100


miles of each other and one of these is American Rich Wilson. Behind them the remaining racers are headed north to stay away from a low pressure system. Paul Meilhat is still heading his dam-


aged racer northward. His damaged ram has a 15 inch crack and cannot be repaired at sea. Thus Paul does not feel that it would be safe to sail around Cape Horn with his damaged keel. The question is where to make port, and he is considering either Polynesia or New Zealand. This has been a tough issue to deal with for the fi rst time Vendee Globe racer, however he says he as a week of sailing to go to think about it.


Continued on Page 18.


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