you are looking for on a multihull, not to mention with a temperature that drops sharply on the way to the Kerguelen Islands. As Thomas said, ‘The Indian Ocean is made for birds, not men.’ For safety he rolled the jib and sailed under just the two-reefed main. The cherry on the cake happened entering the Pacific, where
Sodebohad very good conditions and continued to surf further ahead of her virtual rival. On day 24, having passed the longitude of New Zealand, the boat was two days in front of Idec, and even in front of where the fully crewed Groupama 3had been on the same day.
‘That makes you confident,’ said a happy Thomas, who is already concentrating on his fastest way to round the Horn, in a time that could be another fantastic record. The story will have drawn to a close by the time you receive Seahorse in your mailbox. With a little help from Mother Luck, Thomas could finish the voyage in around 50 days – a record for a solo navigator! He deserves it since he has been trying to break this record for many years.
Francis [Joyon] remembers his own record solo voyage: ‘I had
to sail quite far to the south in the iceberg zone and faced extreme weather conditions. Then sailing up the Atlantic between the Horn and Brest was complicated, with all sorts of problems on the boat. But you still always have to push hard to go fast. That is my best record, the one with the strongest souvenirs.’ It sounds like Francis should go back to solo work soon to reclaim the record… Just after the Jules Verne Trophy please!
Next winter the new generation of 100ft trimarans are getting in on the round-the-world circuit, starting with François Gabart and Macif. Fifty days could be the breakthrough.
Main picture: Alex Thomson and Hugo Boss fly past the Kerguelen Islands. In pressing the Hugo Boss designers for a boat with maximum top speed as opposed to average speed, Thomson was first to adopt an idea touched on by VPLP here last month, that with better foils Imoca 60s will become narrower and lighter again. With her larger, straighter DSS-influenced foils Hugo Boss can often run with less keel cant than her marginally beamier design cousins. Kito de Pavant (top) joins his host after being taken off his sinking boat (above); de Pavant’s keel (right of photo) ripped out of its main bearings (top of photo) leaving a gaping – growing – hole. Not a good look in the Southern Ocean
Half-time
At the time of writing the two leaders of the Vendée Globe were virtually halfway round the course. They completed that distance in only 32 days, much faster than the fastest Imoca ever on this part of the course. They flew along the whole way and were never slowed except in the Doldrums. Even there British skipper Alex Thomson reckoned he’d never crossed the Equator so smoothly. Heading south the two VPLP/Verdier designs rapidly pulled away from their closest rivals. Pretty soon Hugo Boss, which is lighter, narrower and uses slightly more DSS-like foils which are straighter with more distinct vertical tips than the curvy French Dali foils, showed better speed downwind. She was 130nm ahead of Armel Le Cléac’h and Banque Populairewhen Alex’s starboard foil failed part-way along its length.
It looked as if it might be the end of the story for Alex. But not
at all! He stayed ahead for several days, partly thanks to sailing mainly on starboard in the Roaring Forties with the port foil doing the work. And when it was not foiling conditions Alex’s more slippery boat would again sometimes slip back in front.
SEAHORSE 15 w
KITO DE PAVANT/DPPI
ANNE RECOULEZ/TAAF/DPPI
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