Vendée Globe Race – Day 21: Mix of good and bad news for leading competitors
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 1 Dec 14:12 PST
1 December 2024
Charlie Dalin – MACIF – IMOCA – Southern Ocean – December 1, 2024 © Charlie Dalin
Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) maintains his lead on Day 21 of the Vendée Globe 2024 Race, having slightly increased his advantage over second-place Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance).
The top four racers are deep into the Southern Ocean, collectively 150 nautical miles ahead of fifth-place competitor Jérémie Beyou (Charal), who trails the leader by 250 nautical miles.
Just a day ago, the race leaders had limited options in the face of an impending storm, which forecasted gusts of 60 knots and 7-meter waves according to two weather models available in Predictwind’s routing system.
A widening of the low pressure system’s center has allowed the leaders to position themselves ahead of it, experiencing somewhat lower wind speeds (albeit with peak gusts exceeding 50 knots).
Nevertheless, the sea state has worsened to 9 meters, potentially reaching over 10 meters when factoring in wind-generated waves.
The performance of the fully foiling IMOCA60s in these severe conditions will be closely monitored, as observers await the outcomes of the different navigational strategies employed.
We will provide updates this afternoon based on new position reports from the 0200 UTC schedule, also assessing how the Southern Ocean’s weather systems are impacting the 39-boat fleet, which now spans over 3000 nautical miles from front to back across two oceans.
