A very genuine lady

Next Pip update

www.sail-world.com/news/233169/Nicolas-Troussel-(CORUM-L%C3%89pargne)-dismasted

Another one out. Must be soul destroying after so much work.
Le Cam at 61 on an old boat still in second. Bloody legend.
Clarisse Crammer spilt hot tea on her private bits! Right in the middle, she said in the vid. She had to call the medical team she was in so much pain!

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tarquin1 said..
www.sail-world.com/news/233169/Nicolas-Troussel-(CORUM-L%C3%89pargne)-dismasted

Another one out. Must be soul destroying after so much work.
Le Cam at 61 on an old boat still in second. Bloody legend.
Clarisse Crammer spilt hot tea on her private bits! Right in the middle, she said in the vid. She had to call the medical team she was in so much pain!

Le Cam is a legend. Most normal souls decided to skirt the low, the logic being it was early in the race and high risk considering it had 50-60 knots and the resultant seas. Jean and Alex Thomson used it to slingshot their way to the front of the pack and as you mention, Jean is in one of the older non foilers.
Awesome stuff.

Yes they can dial down the routing software if they want. Wave height,wind strength, comfort factor percentage etc. Obviously these 2 just turned all that off and said give me the fastest route.
Its actually really hard to hit a moving depression like that,just on the back edge. Hit it too early and you get head winds,not good in 40+ knots. Hit it too late and you don't get the slingshot out or get left in light airs behind it. Some boats are still sitting very little breeze because they tried to avoid it.

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tarquin1 said..
Yes they can dial down the routing software if they want. Wave height,wind strength, comfort factor percentage etc. Obviously these 2 just turned all that off and said give me the fastest route.
Its actually really hard to hit a moving depression like that,just on the back edge. Hit it too early and you get head winds,not good in 40+ knots. Hit it too late and you don't get the slingshot out or get left in light airs behind it. Some boats are still sitting very little breeze because they tried to avoid it.

I wish I was that good.
Thomas Ruyant on LinkedOut just set this years fastest 24 hour distance record with a 500nm surf from slotting into the ideal zone.
Didac Costa on One Planet by comparison managed just 108nm in the same period.

has Alex been outside yet? :)

I liked the drone footage, trying to land it back ondeck and avoid the backstay.
Ouch about the hot tea!

Great writeup on Armel Tripon going up the mast to repair an inner forestay to keep his mast up, turns out they are structural. Please excuse the Franglais translation.

Armel Tripon climbed into the open sea on the mast of L'Occitane en Provence, at an altitude of 15 meters (anchoring of J3), today Friday, November 13. He was thus able to put in place a sail which secures its rigging and prevents its mast from falling backwards. Successful perilous operation: now she can again use her full mainsail and set up foresails that go to the masthead, in other words sail normally.
He sent the spinnaker.
"I just went for an altitude tour and I confirm that the man descends from the monkey! The sea was moving a lot, I was rocked in all directions for an hour: at 15 meters high I clung like a chimpanzee around a tree. So much so that I just came back down completely paralyzed, all the muscles loose. I didn't have too many sores I had put on knee pads, protections. But I succeeded, I have just returned all my mainsail and the large spinnaker. Even if the repair is not quite finished, I can sail normally again and that's a victory. I am happy !"

The J3 hook.




Understanding today's essential damage and repair
To fully understand the operation, what was done and why - as well as what remains to be ideally done - here is the summary of the successive stages of this racing event.
1) The damage: the Hook of J3 gave way as the boats sailed towards a front off Portugal. This sail, whose forestay plays a structural role in the rigging, fell on the deck. L'Occitane en Provence could no longer navigate with sails at the masthead without risking dismasting! Armel turned around to preserve the boat then he considered finding an anchorage in Spain to attempt repairs.
2) The same day, and after reflection, a repair solution at sea was chosen! Armel then resumed his course on the Vend?e Globe route, out of caution, under reduced airfoil and therefore at relatively low speed in order not to risk dismasting in a gust or an overspeed departure.
Deprived of this "J3", the mast can go astern at any time. Stressful!
3) First mast climb successful! This is the very important step today, Friday November 13th. Armel Tripon managed to re-establish a sail which now holds the mast of the boat preventing it from going astern (which was the function of the broken J3). Armel can sail normally again and return the sail to the masthead. And that is what he does immediately: high mainsail and large spinnaker to get out of an area of ??light winds (8 knots of wind in the area at the time of repair today).

And this is just too good not to share

Some awesome vision coming out isn't there, I've been lapping it up too. My partner isn't into racing with us in real life, but is totally hooked on this race. I come out in the mornings and get a full report!

The race to the roaring 40's is a beauty Linked out in front now by 21 miles These guys are flying...Apivia not far behind either 66miles. Ive been following it on Alex Thompson Racing...the Hub...Does anyone know of any other websites that are following the race...???
Also...does anyone know of a good cruising Trailer Sailer for sale in WA...????

Alex Thomson Racing

At approximately 19:00 UTC on Saturday 21st November, British Skipper Alex Thomson notified his team on shore of a possible structural issue onboard the HUGO BOSS boat.At the time, Thomson was located approximately 800 miles east of Rio de Janeiro in the South Atlantic ocean, and was 13 days into the Vend?e Globe round-the-world yacht race.Thomson and his team, together with their appointed naval architects and structural engineers, are now working together to assess the extent of the structural issue and to determine a
repair programme and timeline.Thomson is safe and well onboard, and in regular dialogue with the team. The Vend?e Globe race organisation has been notified and is being kept well informed.We kindly ask that members of the public refrain from attempting to contact the team at this time. A further update will be released on Sunday 22nd November.

www.alexthomsonracing.com/the-hub/2020/11/22/team-statement/

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FreeRadical said..
Alex Thomson Racing

At approximately 19:00 UTC on Saturday 21st November, British Skipper Alex Thomson notified his team on shore of a possible structural issue onboard the HUGO BOSS boat.At the time, Thomson was located approximately 800 miles east of Rio de Janeiro in the South Atlantic ocean, and was 13 days into the Vend?e Globe round-the-world yacht race.Thomson and his team, together with their appointed naval architects and structural engineers, are now working together to assess the extent of the structural issue and to determine a
repair programme and timeline.Thomson is safe and well onboard, and in regular dialogue with the team. The Vend?e Globe race organisation has been notified and is being kept well informed.We kindly ask that members of the public refrain from attempting to contact the team at this time. A further update will be released on Sunday 22nd November.

www.alexthomsonracing.com/the-hub/2020/11/22/team-statement/

Noooooo.

Double Nooooooo.
I had noticed he had been a bit slower for awhile now. His speed is right down now!

A render from the on board boat data on HB's website...
Bow down by -1.3m, that does not look good.

Damaged longitudinal beam in the bow. He is going to fix it. There is an article on the Vendee site.
Even if he can fix it he is about to go into the Southern Ocean. It would always be in the back of your mind.
He is not sure how it happened. Slamming into 5-6 m waves and 40 kts might have had something to do with it.

Alex's team seem on their way to an effective? repair, these guys and gals would have to have the boat sink out from under them before they raise the white flag, it's just not part of their psyche.
My favourite part of the race so far is Jean Le Cam's infamous "clack clack clack" in his vids. He is my sort of dude.
There are too many stellar sailors to pick a favourite though, they all deserve every accolade.
What other sport is there where the game lasts three months? 24/7 at that?
Respect to all of 'em.

Aand in other news...
Alex Thomson is not the only one to worry about bow damage. The new foilers have become so quick that the loads from running the bow into waves when it's 3m above the surface are causing a few worry lines.
It used to be the forrard/mid section of the hull that was beefed up to absorb the slamming, now it appears we have a new physics problem, maintaining hull integrity when the whole hull is airborne.

she'll be right.
Just crank on the forestay a bit more.

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nbjs said..does anyone know of a good cruising Trailer Sailer for sale in WA...????

Keep an eye on this thread ... trailersailerplace.com.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=7719&start=16450

Thanks Achemar yes that's a good site I'll keep an eye on it for TS's in WA Cheers

Hi all

There are now 2 videos on the hub showing the failures and the repair process
www.alexthomsonracing.com/the-hub/latest-videos/

regards Don

There is another vid where he does the first inspection as well. It looks pretty major to me. To have cracked in that many places there must have been some major movement. Once carbon cracks like that it has lost all its structural strength. Maybe should have added an extra layer of carbon in the layup or made the lightening holes smaller. Easy to say now.
And whilst this was going on Le Cam cuts the corner and is back into 3rd. He should be able to hold them in the rough conditions so it will be interesting to see what happens in the Southern ocean.

That's a ballsy move by Louis Burton (yellow with green insert), the only one to cut away from the pack and head SW trying to get to the next low pressure coming through.
If he pulls this off he could look like a genius. I'm actually surprised no-one is following him? They were all in the same high pressure belt, and yet his 24 hour averages look better than the rhumb line boats.
He is on the previous winner Banque Populaire VIII, so nothing wrong with the boat pedigree, just not quite latest tech.

And for those looking for a race favourite, Pip O'Hare has as part of her team the indefatigable Mr Paul Larsen, Aussie sailing legend and current? world sailing speed record holder.
And one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet to boot.

Quick vid on what Alex is eating.
Alex Thomson Racing at the Vend?e Globe: Provisio.:

Oh no. As he said Alex came second with only 1 foil last time. So he's not giving up
www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/20555/ruyant-damages-port-foil-on-linkedout-dalin-has-first-sniff-of-the-big-south

Oh no. As he said Alex came second with only 1 foil last time. So he's not giving up
www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/20555/ruyant-damages-port-foil-on-linkedout-dalin-has-first-sniff-of-the-big-south

Gitana about to pass Jeremy. All of 1 day 8 hours since departure and sitting on 35 knots boat speed, perhaps he could catch their slipstream?