Vendée Globe Race – Day 12 – Keel Issues and Rapid Journey Towards the Southern Ocean
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 20 Nov 18:37 PST
21 November 2024
Sam Goodchild – Vendée Globe © Pierre Bouras / TR Racing
Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable) maintains his lead in the Vendée Globe Race for the second consecutive day.
He seems to have cleared the Doldrums, which have compressed over the past day and now appear to be significantly larger than before when there were navigable routes through the typically windless area.
According to Predictwind weather routing, Goodchild is experiencing light winds, but they are not below 5 knots.
His teammate in TS Racing, Thomas Rouyant (Vulnerable), is 2 degrees of longitude west of Goodchild, placing him farther back according to the distance-to-sail-to-finish method used in the event leaderboard favored by the Vendée Globe organizers. However, using Predictwind’s weather routing, Rouyant and Goodchild are expected to reach the virtual waypoint set between the Cape of Good Hope and the virtual Ice Gate surrounding Antarctica in about 8.5 days.
Predictwind estimates both sailors will encounter some fast-tracking sailing soon, with Goodchild projected to spend 83% of the route reaching. Winds are anticipated to be in the 8-20 knots range for 49% of the journey, and 20-30 knots for the remaining 51% of the leg to the Southern Ocean.
Fabrice Amedeo on Nexans – Wewise is facing a keel issue.
The Vendée Globe organizers have reported that Fabrice Amedeo, currently racing in 34th place due west of the Cape Verde Islands, has been sailing in a safe mode at a reduced speed since yesterday evening due to a keel problem. He is actively seeking a resolution to his situation. Further updates are expected when Race Control staff arrive later today.
