The two leaders of the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe, Charlie Dalin and Sébastien Simon, have rounded Cape Leeuwin. Aboard his MACIF Santé Prévoyance, Dalin did so this Monday afternoon after 29 days, 2 hours, 10 minutes and 58 seconds of racing since the start of the round-the-world race in Les Sables d’Olonne on November 10. And after 9 days, 22 hours and 27 minutes since it rounded the Cape of Good Hope, which represents a new record for the fastest Indian.
Until now, the French navigator Michel Desjoyeaux was the one who held the record for the Buena Esperanza – Leeuwin section, set in 2008 with a mark of 10 days, 7 hours and 37 minutes. Dalin was 9 hours and 10 minutes faster than Desjoyeaux 16 years ago.
About 11 hours and 12 minutes after Dalin, Sébastien Simon also crossed the length of Cape Leeuwin, early this Tuesday. Just over 180 miles separate the two leaders, the only ones who have left the Indian Ocean so far.
An Indian Ocean that in this tenth edition of the solo, non-stop round the world trip has proven to be particularly difficultwith a train of large chained depressions that quickly pushes the IMOCA 60 towards the East, but that also forces precautions to be taken to avoid breaks… which cannot always be avoided.
Simon, without starboard foil
Precisely Sébastien Simon has been affected by one of these breakswhich in principle could be quite serious. Last Saturday afternoon, while sailing in the South Indian Ocean, Simon notified his team that his starboard foil had just broken.
The skipper of Groupe Dubreuil was sailing at night at 49°S, between the Kerguelen Islands and South Australia, in difficult but manageable conditions (25 knots from the northwest and 5 meters of swell from the west), when «suddenly the ship started to lurch«. He immediately set about loosening the sails to right the ship, but he quickly realized that it was no longer responding in the same way.
After a first inspection of his boat at night which confirmed the absence of collateral damage, Sébastien Simon made a more in-depth inspection during the morning. «It’s really very hard to accept, but it’s part of the game, it’s a mechanical sport.. “Now it’s about staying focused and having fun,” said the French skipper, who said he will continue with the same determination that he has shown since the start of the round-the-world trip. At the moment he is just over 150 miles ahead of third place, Yoann Richomme, who in recent days has been getting closer, since Simon sails without starboard foil.
Celebration of the first month of regatta aboard TeamWork – Team Snef.
First month of regatta
If Dalin and Simon are already sailing in the Pacific, the last competitors have just left the South Atlantic, with a difference of more than 5,000 nautical miles between the head and tail of the fleet when the first month of the regatta is over.
Despite the harsh conditions and frenetic pace, There have only been two abandonments so far in the fleet of 40 participantsthose of Maxime Sorel (VandB – Monbana – Mayenne) and Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée), which highlights the progress made in terms of the reliability of the boats and the effectiveness of the reinforced classification program. By way of comparison, in 2020, after a month of racing, there were already five abandonments of 33 boats. In 2016, also five abandonments of 29 participants, and in 2012 seven abandonments of 20 boats.
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