Vendée Update

Author:
Lydia Mullan
Publish date:
Nov 17, 2020

It's been an exciting weekend for some of the participants in the Vendée Globe and for others, not so much. The front of the fleet, led by Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) is headed for the doldrums and may be in for a slow couple days as they cross the equator.

Jérémie Beyou (Charal) is bringing up the rear, slated to leave Les Sables d'Olonne and get back on the course today. Beyou had a cascading series of breakages last week that forced him to return to the start for repairs. He remained in port for about three days during which he says he remained relatively cut off from the rest of the world, focusing on his own boat and team. "I just have to sail my own race now," he said in a press conference on Monday. He is currently 2,600nm behind his former rival, Thomson.

Despite the major setback, Beyou is lucky that the damage wasn't bad enough to end his campaign. Nicolas Troussel (CORUM L'Épargne) was not so fortunate, falling victim to the first dismasting of the race. He is safe and currently underpower on his way back to shore. He had been in 12th at the time of the dismasting.

To follow the race, visit vendeeglobe.org/en/tracking-map

November 2020

Related

promo-2048x

With so many manufacturers dreaming up bigger production boats, more and more mid-sized cruisers fall on the smaller end of their lines. However, “smaller” does not mean less, and the tricks for optimizing larger models have helped with squeezing more enjoyment into less LOA. As ...read more

05-DSC_0638

A sail on Lake Tahoe has been on my bucket list since the day I first laid eyes on it, and come hell or high water, I decided I was going to someday charter a boat there. North America’s largest and deepest alpine lake, Tahoe sits at 6,225ft above sea level and straddles the ...read more

East-River-Rapids

I was never supposed to take my boat through New York City. After getting sucked backward through the Cape Cod Canal on my way south from Maine, when the speed of the current exceeded the maximum speed of my little electric auxiliary, I wanted nothing to do with Hell Gate and ...read more

LEAD-Celeste-in-the-Tuamotu

As a classic-boat sailor, I’ve long held that simpler is the better. I still think this is true: a simpler boat is cheaper, she has less gadgets to break down and there’s a certain satisfaction in knowing you’re able to handle a bit of discomfort. Thus, for a long time, I sailed ...read more

01-LEAD-IDECsport_180919_032

Design and Technology

Although the 1903 defender of the America’s Cup, Reliance, was deemed a “racing freak”—the boat pushed design rules to their limit and couldn’t be beaten, at least in very specific conditions—designer Nat Herreshoff was nonetheless onto something. A century later, purpose-built ...read more

BVIFeetup

Three tips on managing the madness First-time charterers and first-time sailors aren’t at all the same thing. One group may struggle with beginner chartering issues, like sailing a multihull, catching a mooring or dealing with base personnel. For the other group, though, ...read more

AdobeStock_455372159

Sailboat Cruising

Even the dome of light glowing above the city behind us had disappeared as if swallowed in a gulp by Noah’s whale. The moon was absent. Not a star twinkled overhead. The night was so dark we could have been floating in a pot of black ink. The only artificial lights to be seen ...read more

00-Lead-549215sJL2uLEa

Every year, countless parents find themselves navigating the do’s and don’ts of enrolling their children in a summer learn-to-sail program for the first time. While the prospect of getting your kid on the water is exciting, as a sailing camp program director, there are a lot of ...read more

CLOSE

CLOSE

CLOSE

CLOSE