Pip Hare speaks about ‘hurt’ as newer boats ‘pull away’ in Vendée Globe
While Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance), the race leader, was due to pass into the Pacific last night, and also cross the theoretical half way point of the 23,890 nautical miles course for the Vendée Globe 10th edition, way far to his west – nearer the Kerguelen Islands – skippers in the second half of the 38 boat fleet are struggling with robust conditions generated by a tough low pressure system.
British skipper Pip Hare has spoken openly of her frustration in this year’s iteration of the Vendée Globe.
“Being so close to the front of the fleet for two weeks has been incredible,” she says.
But now?
“Since crossing the Doldrums, the leading boats have been heading south as hard and fast as possible to try and get around the bottom of the St Helena high.
“I’ve had my foot to the floor, but my pace has not been that of the newer boats and slowly they are pulling away – I just don’t have the horsepower.”
She says the first big split in the fleet is happening as the top ten boats have been able to jump on the back of a developing low-pressure system. That will propel them on a direct route to Cape Horn. Hare says that’s a very unusual weather system to find here, at these latitudes.
“I’m running to catch it, but I know I will be too late. I expect a lead of 1000 miles will open between me and the front of the fleet in the next five days, as they move with the weather system and benefit from reaching conditions. Meanwhile I will be left in the high pressure behind, waiting for the next system to arrive.
“There is nothing to be other than philosophical about this. I knew starting this race that our boat would struggle for speed against new builds and over the last four days we have seen that play out.
“That’s not to say it doesn’t hurt. But the Vendée Globe has always had many races within it. Now, a new fleet will form with my immediate competitors, and we will battle it out together. There is a LOT of the world and a LOT of drama still to come.”
Hare continues on her blog: “Flying this 60ft boat can be a brutal, bone-shattering affair in big seas. The unpredictable violence of the bow lifting and then crashing into the waves is something no skipper will ever enjoy. But the sailing we experienced down to the Doldrums was IMOCA flight at its most gentle – just enough wind to sustain flight, but not so much that the ride turned wild. Flat water, bright sunshine, and miles upon miles of empty runway lay ahead.”
In her latest video posted on Facebook, Hare says the weather “feels relentless with no respite,” and details the weather fronts heading her way.
In other Vendée news, the race management has decided to slightly modify the Antarctic Exclusion Zone which allows the skippers not to get too close to the icebergs. In collaboration with CLS (Collecte Localization Satellites) which mobilises satellites and experts to map the icebergs, the ZEA has therefore been slightly lowered to the longitude of Campbell Island, more than 1300 km south of New Zealand.
“Thanks to the CLS surveys, no icebergs have been detected in the zone, which allows us to modify the AEZ,” explains Hubert Lemonnier, race director. “This will help to open up the strategy for the skippers”. Since the start, this is the fourth modification of the Antarctic Exclusion Zone.
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