Updates on the Vendée Globe, Women’s Match Racing World Championship results, and news from US Sailing and SailGP
by David Schmidt 10 Dec 08:00 PST
December 10, 2024
Yoann Richomme on PAPREC ARKÉA – 2024 Vendée Globe © Eloi Stichelbaut / Polaryse
A week may appear brief, yet in the context of the solo round-the-world Vendée Globe Race, it can represent significant forward progress. This past week illustrates this well, as race leader Charlie Dalin, racing on the IMOCA 60 Macif Sante Prevoyance, recently rounded the Cape of Good Hope and was bracing for a strong storm just a week back. Now, Dalin has sailed past Cape Leeuwin in Australia—the second of the three major capes of the race—and, as of this writing early Monday on the U.S. West Coast, was averaging about 16 knots of VMG.
Notably, Dalin made the passage from the race start off Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, to Cape Leeuwin in just 29 days, 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 59 seconds, landing him within 6 hours of the record set by Armel Le Cléac’h in the 2016 Vendée Globe.
While Dalin boasts a lead of approximately 155 nautical miles over Sébastien Simon, who is sailing Groupe Dubreuil, it is likely that the top three in the fleet (with Yoann Richomme on Paprec Arkea included) will have passed Cape Leeuwin in the next 24 hours.
Indeed, Simon and Richomme are beginning to close the gap Dalin established in recent days, posting significantly faster 24-hour speeds than the front-runner.
As the saying goes, a crown weighs heavy—especially when there’s better wind behind.
Further back in the pack, this week’s storm served as a tough training ground for many of the race’s rookie skippers.
“The depression we encountered south of South Africa calmed us all down, us little Vendée Globe newbies,” commented skipper Benjamin Ferré, who is competing aboard Monnoyeur – Duo for a Job, currently sitting in 26th out of 38 entries, in an official race communication.
“We aimed for the shortest path, following the great circle, but were hit by 50-knot winds,” Ferré continued. “Tanguy [Le Turquais] broke his battens, Violette [Dorange] experienced a scare, and I took on water from a wave. Since then, we’ve all fallen back in line!”
Sail-World wishes these brave sailors swift sailing as they navigate east around our lonely planet.
Meanwhile, much closer to shore, the 2024 Women’s Match Racing World Championship recently reached its conclusion in the waters of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After 21 races, the French-flagged Normandy Elite Team (Pauline Courtois, Maëlenn Lemaitre, Louise Acker, Sophie Faguet, and Laurane Mettraux) finished with 21 wins to claim the top prize.
The Normandy Elite Team stood alongside the Kiwi-flagged Team 2.0 (Megan Thomson, Charlotte Porter, Josefin Andres, Anna Merchant, and Tiana Wittey), who secured second place, and Team Wings (Anna Östling, Linnea Wennergren, Annie Wennergren, Annika Carlunger, and Anna White Holmdal), who took third.
In American waters, US Sailing’s Youth and Olympic development programs have been busy ahead of the holidays, conducting three training camps that involved over 200 sailors, 32 US Sailing coaches, 22 regional coaches, and US Sailing leadership.
Olympic-focused sailors competed off the US Sailing Center in Miami, Florida, during the US Sailing Olympic Development Program Camp 1, held from November 23-27, while the bicoastal Youth Thanksgiving Racing Camp occurred at both the Miami Yacht Club in Miami, Florida (November 23-26) and Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, California (November 25-27).
“We kicked off our first official ODP camp of the new LA2028 quad on a high note,” stated Rosie Chapman, Olympic Development Director, in an official US Sailing announcement about the ODP Camp 1 event. “We’re aligning the right resources with dedicated sailors to forge a holistic, full-time training environment when athletes are with us.”
“Every day we emphasize sailing and adjust schedules for optimal wind conditions, while also incorporating gym time, specialist presentations, land drills, briefings, and recovery sessions with physiotherapists,” Chapman added.
This also included a candid panel discussion featuring former Olympians Stephanie Roble, Stu McNay, David Liebenberg, Lara Dallman-Weiss, and Maggie Shea.
Meanwhile, the Miami Youth Thanksgiving Racing Camp engaged 120 sailors, and another 45 took part in the West Coast camp.
“The future of our youth program lies in collaboration with college sailing, professional sailing, and Olympic class sailing,” stated Phil Muller, US Sailing’s Youth Performance Manager, in an official communication. “The unified message for our youth is clear: become a great teammate to be part of a great team.”
Sail-World is optimistic that early coaching and development in the Olympic cycle will enable the U.S.-flagged team to start racking up gold medals again soon.
On the subject of training camps, SailGP recently hosted its inaugural Women’s Performance Camp (November 25-26) in Dubai’s Port Mina Rashid, following the first event of Season 5, which occurred in the same city (November 23-24).
“The SailGP Women’s Performance Camp, organized by DP World, was the perfect launch for the 2025 season, injecting fresh energy and momentum into our vision to transform the sport of sailing,” remarked Fiona Morgan, SailGP’s Chief Purpose Officer, in an official update. “This camp represents a significant step forward in SailGP’s commitment to improving gender equity in our sport. To achieve this, we must keep delivering on-water training programs that present unique operational challenges, yet offer immense rewards.”
Finally, if you’re yearning for some warm-weather sailing on this December day, don’t miss the multimedia report from the 36th Phuket King’s Cup (November 30-December 6), recently concluded in the waters off Chon Buri, Thailand.
May the four winds guide you safely home,
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor
