KNox-Johnston Vendee Globe View - Tuesday 22 DecemBer

No change at the front but the winds have eased. They are lower throughout the 5,000 mile spread of the fleet at the moment with only one competitor showing more than 20 knots of wind. So, for the moment, at least, the Forties are not roaring, and the high pressure system near the leaders looks as if it will extend eastwards and south by Thursday. 

The weather so far for the 44 days that the sailors have been at sea on their own in this race has not provided record breaking conditions. The strong westerly winds are further south and beyond the ice restriction line. Maître CoQ has averaged only 10.5 knots for the past 24 hours as Bestaven gybes close to the ice line, as close as he can to the stronger winds, and the others are following him. Apivia has average 12 knots and closed to 94 miles, whilst third placed Linked Out has averaged less than 10 knots and dropped back to 175 miles from the leader, but is 140 miles ahead of Boris Herrmann in SeaExplorer who has averaged 15 knots. Jean Le Cam is 37 miles astern of SeaExplorer and has averaged 14.5 knots over the past 24 hours. So the fleet is concertinaing again.

Louis Burton in Bureau Vallée is back in the race having repaired his mast track and sorted out his auto pilot. Lying 11th but facing headwinds from the high pressure ahead of him. He is relishing being able to set full sail again. Miranda Merron lies 23rd still, 4,100 miles from the leader and Pip Hare holds 17th still, 3,100 miles from the head of the fleet.

One of the things that used to worry me most, when I was running the BOC Challenges in the 1980’s, were the tail enders. If anything went wrong with them there is no following boat to offer assistance and the southern seas do not have a lot of traffic. As we have seen in this race, when Kevin Escoffier got into difficulties, it was possible to divert four boats to go and find him. We were able to rescue Jacques de Roux by diverting Richard Broadhead, and John Martin was collected by Bertie Reed, because they weren’t too far away in the BOC’s. Merci is 500 miles behind the next boat, although at the moment Sam Davis is close to him, but she is sailing a lot faster as she continues her circumnavigation outside of the race. As an organiser, one breathes a sigh of relief when the last boat gets around Cape Horn and back into the South Atlantic.

Knox-Johnston’s Vendee Globe VIew - Monday 21 December

With Cape Horn 4,000 miles to the east, perhaps 8-9 days away, the leaders are now caught between a high pressure system to their north, which is lying well south, and the artificial, but mandatory ice limit to their south. It is a narrow corridor causing them to have to gybe frequently before a moderate westerly wind on the same latitude of Cape Horn. The forecast shows the corridor expanding by this evening, but they will have to get a move on as the high pressure system is moving east and then south by Thursday and this could even put headwinds in their path. 

Yannick Bestaven in Maître CoQ continues to hold the lead, 126 miles ahead of Apivia sailed by Charlie Dalin, with Thomas Ruyant a further 30 miles astern. The next group, lead by Boris Herrmann, are a further 240 miles astern. Jean Le Cam is just 30 miles behind Boris, but they may get slowed if the high pressure extends south and the top three will extend their lead. Bureau Vallée has dropped to 11th as Louis Burton struggles with technical difficulties in the lee of Macquarie Island.

Pip Hare is still in 17th place and Miranda Merron 23rd. Sam Davis has re-started having completed her repairs in Cape Town which disqualified her from the race, but she has decided to complete the circumnavigation and is closing in on the tail ender, Sébastien Destremau, in Merci.

KnoX-JohnSton’s Vendee Globe view - Sunday 20 December

An area of light winds lies ahead of the leaders and they have taken the choice to go south towards the ice limit where the wind is stronger. This weather pattern is remarkably similar to that which we found 26 years ago in Enza. The normal south-westerly winds in the route we had chosen were replaced by easterlies created by a long ridge of high pressure. To find favourable winds we ducked down to 64 degrees south and found ourselves in sight of icebergs. We sailed between two small ones only to discover that they were joined underwater! Boards up quickly and sighs of relief as the rudders missed. 

Maître CoQ has increased its lead to just over 100 miles from Apivia which is 50 miles ahead of LinkedOut. Boris Herrmann has moved into 4th place a further 210 miles West, 50 miles ahead of Jean Le Cam. Bureau Vallée has dropped to 10th place and now has auto-pilot problems. Pip Hare has moved into 17th place and Miranda Merron still holds 23rd.

Damage and breakages should not be a surprise at this stage when the leaders of the fleet are over halfway, having sailed 15,000 miles, non-stop. In fact is that only six boats out of 33 have had to pull out because of damage. There will be an assessment as to why some boats sustained structural problems but there is no greater test for modern materials and equipment than a solo, non-stop, circumnavigation through some of the most ferocious seas on our planet. The lessons learned filter down to the whole world of sailing. 

Also teaching us something new about sailing, racing in the America’s Cup series in New Zealand had to be cancelled yesterday (overnight for us in Europe) through insufficient wind. The first race, between Emirates Team New Zealand and INEOS Team UK could not finish within the 45 minute time allowance and both boats were off their foils at the end. INEOS has problems. Her foils are different to the Kiwis and don’t seem to be able to provide lift as easily at low speed and the lesson that is coming out of the racing so far is that you must keep on the foils. 

Thanks to those who sent messages regarding the abrupt loss of power to my house yesterday which closed down the Wi-Fi, as well as removing heat and light. The electric company has installed a temporary generator outside my garages whilst they investigate the source of the problem, and I am buying more candles. I have a couple of paraffin pressure lamps somewhere, back to what was standard in solo sailing 50 years ago!

Elsewhere the Sydney to Hobart race has had to be cancelled because of the virus.

KNOX-JOHNSTON'S VENDEE GLOBE VIEW - Friday 17 December

The leaders are halfway around their global course as they enter the Pacific Ocean but well behind the timings of the 2016 race.

They have been greeted by a patch of light winds which enables the second group to close up. Yannick Bestaven’s Maître CoQ still holds the lead but it is down to 100 miles this morning. Charlie Dalin on Apivia appears to have made repairs on his foil problem and has gone back to fast sailing. He has moved into second position taking 48 miles out of Maître CoQ in the last 24 hours. LinkedOut has slowed right down after her forward hatch opened and flooded her bow compartment. Louis Burton in Bureau Vallée is going to get into the lee of Macquarie Island on Saturday evening so he can climb his mast and effect repairs to his mainsail track which secures his sail to the mast. He has tried to do it whilst racing but found the constant Southern Ocean swell threw him around too much and made the task impossible. Now lying in seventh place he is clearly frustrated at having to sail with two reefs in his mainsail. As anyone who has climbed a mast at sea knows, the real trick is to secure yourself to something that prevents one being thrown around, but it is not an 100% solution. Jean Le Cam lies fourth, almost 417 miles behind the leader, reduced from nearly 500 miles yesterday.

Pip Hare is still holding 18th and Miranda Merron 23rd

In Auckland, INEOS Team UK had sorted out its problems and raced twice against Team New Zealand. They lost both, but were showing some signs of good speed and Ben demonstrated his abilities at the start of the second race by completely out playing the Kiwis. Still development work to be done, but they got nothing from the first two races. The racing was fantastic to watch, real match racing, but watching it is doing nothing to alleviate my sleep deprivation!

KNOX-JOHNSTON'S VENDEE GLOBE VIEW - Thursday 17 December

LinkedOut has discovered flooding in her forward compartment and hove to to find out the reason, so Maitre Coq has sailed into a 127 mile lead. However LinkedOut is back sailing fast according to the latest reports. Apivia seems to be back on pace in 3rd place, 158 miles from the lead. So Charlie Dalin must have satisfied himself that his port foil housing is alright. This leading group, 340 miles ahead of the next group of 8 boats spread over 300 miles being lead by Jean le Cam, are passing south of Tasmania now with the wide Pacific ahead of them to Cape Horn, the last of the three Great Capes that separate Africa, Australia and South America from Antarctica.

The lead has been changing over the last few days, but in each case the leader has developed a problem that has forced them to slow of even stop. Its very frustrating when even a small problem can lose a few hours, especially when a 5 hour loss can equal 100 miles thrown away

Pip Hare is still in 18th place and Miranda Merron in 23rd.

The Jury have announced the redress to be awarded to the boats that went to the assistance of Kevin Escoffier. Yannick Bestaven in Maitre Coq receives compensation of 10 hours and 15 minutes, Boris Hermann in SeaExplorer, received 6 hours, and Jean le Cam, who actually picked up Escoffier, received 16 hours 15 minutes. These times will be deducted from their finishing times.

For those interested in the first America's Cup races, American Magic had the best of the four races held, winning both her matches. Prada and Team New Zealand won one each. INEOS Team UK had problems with her foils from the start and with these boats if you cannot control your foils you are out of control. The foils are a standard issue so all the boats have the same, but clearly INEOS Team UK has some control problems to resolve. But it's early days.

KNOX-JOHNSTON'S VENDEE GLOBE VIEW - Wednesday 16 December

LinkedOut , averaging 17 knots, still leads by 8 miles from Maître CoQ. Apivia has dropped further back and is now 160 miles from the lead, averaging 13 knots. The damage to the port foil appears to be in its housing and Charlie Dalin has taken his foot off the throttle at the moment. There is a large area of high pressure south of Australia which will move eastwards and south in the next day, right into the path of the leaders before it disappears on Friday. In a completely different weather pattern Pip Hare holds on to 18th position and Miranda Merron is back in 23rd. Sébastien Destremau, lying 26th, has auto pilot problems and may have to pull out of the race. Without his auto pilot operating reliably he cannot continue.

One of the questions that needs to be addressed is that the Ocean Race, ex Volvo Race will include these Open 60 yachts in 2022. Since they will be crewed It is likely that they will sail even harder than the solo sailors are doing in this Vendée Race. Looking at the retirements through damage so far, is the engineering of the current boats going to be able to cope with even harder pressure when the boats are crewed? We can all understand the quest for speeds and lightness to reduce resistance, the Open 60 class has always been a development class since we produced its first rules back in 1983 after the first BOC Challenge. So we must expect failures as sailors, designers and engineers push the boundaries. But has strength been sacrificed too much in the search for speed?

The Vendée has been fortunate so far. The only real danger to life was dealt with by Jean Le Cam picking up Escoffier after his boat folded. The remainder of those who have retired so far have realised that they cannot race effectively any longer and have damage that could be a threat to their lives and their boats. They have been able to make a safe port and not needed any assistance from the nearest rescue services. That is a credit to the sailors themselves. But with the Ocean Race there are going to be 5 lives at stake in each boat. Can we always rely on other competitors to rescue the crew from a damaged boat?

Sailors, whether we be solo or with crew have a responsibility to take care of ourselves so we don’t need to ask for assistance.

Yes, of course it was simpler 50 years ago when we did not have the communications that are available today. If we got into trouble it was difficult to ask for help anyway. It’s a different world today. If we have problems we can make instant satellite calls for help, (there were no satellites 50 years ago) and that assistance will be forthcoming. But surely we have a responsibility to ensure that we have the right boat, strong enough for the extreme conditions you experience in the Roaring Forties, and properly prepared so we don’t need to call on outside assistance? There will always be exceptions, and the rescue services will understand that, but they should always be the exceptions. We sailors who take on these challenges have a duty to make sure we are not an exception.

KNOX-JOHNSTON's VENDEE GLOBE VIEW - Tuesday 15 December

Charlie Dalin on Apivia has reported damage to his port foil. There was a load cracking sound last evening and he promptly slowed down to explore the reason. Water is not entering the boat and he is in consultation with his team ashore in France to assess the damage so we await further reports. He does not think he hit anything though so this may be another structural failure in the fleet. It is devastating for Charlie Dalin who has lead all the way across the Indian Ocean with a lead of over 200 miles at one time.

Whilst Apivia has slowed to 8 knots the other two in the leading group have continued their headlong progress. LinkedOut has taken the lead followed closely my Maitre Coq. There is now a distinct leading group of LinkedOut, Maitre Coq and Apivia just a few miles apart, and then a large gap of between 346 and 378 miles to the next group of five yachts which have run into much less wind of 4 to 6 knots and slowed right down. Jean Le Cam, the hero of the rescue of Kevin Escoffier, is in the second group lying 5th and will learn tomorrow what redress he will be given for the time he lost performing the search and rescue `long with the other boats that stopped racing to assist at the time.

Pip Hare is holding onto 18th position averaging just over 14 knots for the past 4 hours whilst Miranda Merron has dropped one place to 24th. Charal, skippered by Jeremie Beyou, a firm favourite with Alex Thomson at the start, but who had to return at the beginning of the race to make repairs, has moved into 22nd place now and is sailing some 8 knots faster than the boats around him.

KNOX-JOHNSTON'S VENDEE GLOBE VIEW - Monday 14 December

The gap between the leading 3 boats has tightened with LinkedOut now only 55 miles astern of Apivia and Maître CoQ just 22 miles further back; all have averaged 19 knots over the previous 4 hours. The next seven boats are between 280 and 450 miles behind and are slowing slightly. This leading group are behind a depression to their south which is moving rapidly eastwards and will be south of Tasmania tomorrow. As it moves ahead lighter winds will follow in the Great Australian Bight and speeds will fall. The fleet is already running 6 days behind the previous race in 2016 and the chance of catching up on that time now seem remote.

Pip Hare has dropped a place to 19th and Miranda Merron still holds 23rd place.

KNOX-JOHNSTON'S VENDEE GLOVE VIEW - Sunday 13 December

On the 36th day into the Vendée Race the leading group continue to close up on the leader Apivia, as it has experienced lighter winds, but is now averaging 17 knots. Its lead over 2nd placed LinkedOut is down to 62 miles and Maître CoQ is only 6 miles further behind. Then there is a gap of 180 miles to 4th placed Apicil which is showing slower speeds along with the rest of the front group. Pip Hare is in 18th position and going through a calmer patch and Miranda Merron is averaging some 11 knots in 23rd position 3,500 from the leader.

But all the remaining participants have now passed the Longitude of Cape Town, just as the three leading boats will pass the Longitude of Cape Leeuwin later to-day. The fleet is well spread out and the gap is now an ocean!

It has been some week for the Vendée. Starting with Jean Le Cam’s excellent rescue of Escoffier, a great piece of seamanship and determination to find and recover a fellow sailor. Jean Le Cam is still up there with the leaders despite the fact that he does not have foils like all the other leading boats. You cannot help wanting him to do well. It’s not just down to his determination. He is also showing that foils are not necessarily the solution. You have to survive in this race, and Jean le Cam is showing that he is a survivor.

The fleet is now down to 27 yachts from its original starters of 33 yachts. So far so good, but as usually about half the starting fleet finish and we are not halfway through the route yet; there is plenty to watch over the next few weeks. The chances of setting a new record for the race are becoming steadily less. The chances were made very difficult by the South Atlantic weather systems earlier in the race and now after 36 days the fleet is not even halfway.

KNOX-JOHNSTON'S VENDEE GLOBE VIEW - Saturday 12 December

Fabrice Amedeo sailing Newrest art et Fenetres has decided to retire. His onboard computers have failed and so he cannot read the weather and feels he can no longer continue. There are now 27 boats left out of the original 33 starters.

I have some sympathy for him. Of course he could sail on, that is what we had to do 50 years ago, but the game is different these days. This is a race and when everyone else has weather information and you don’t, you are not racing level. Back in 2007 I had the same problem, due to the “Experts” giving me the wrong Pin Number for my Iridium phone and my Fleet 77 satellite system jamming.. The only Information I could receive for some weeks was the positions of the other boats. If they were going faster than me, then I needed to head to where they were. It was totally frustrating. I overtook the others 3 times, but I did not have the luxury of knowing where I ought to be placing my boat to make real progress. I had to pull into Ushuaia to get my satellite systems sorted out. One of the most “useful" pieces of advice I received was to take the dome off my system to sort it out. In the Southern Ocean???!!! We sorted it in Ushaia but the “expert” put in a new weather system, without explaining how it worked, so I now had a system working but no useful information as I continued north up the Atlantic. It was so totally frustrating which is why I have sympathy with Fabrice.

Back on the course, Charlie Dalin in Apivia is bleeding more miles to those behind. His lead is now down to 73 miles from Linked Out, but others are also closing in as well. This was to be expected as Apivia ran into lighter winds before they did, slowing him down and those behind could sail faster whilst they closed up. But not everyone has benefitted. Bureau Valle has dropped to 224 miles behind in 6th position, overtaken by Jean Le Cam who is only 3 miles behind Group Apiicil sailed by Damien Seguin, in fourth. Amongst this leading group the positions have been changing daily as they charge eastwards averaging distances in the past 24 hours of over 430 miles. Pip Hare and Miranda Merron have both moved up one place owing to Newrest art et Fenetres retirement.

More bad news from the Roaring Forties as the giant trimaran Ultim Sodebo damaged her starboard rudder and has had to withdraw from its attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy. She is sailing towards Reunion island to make repairs. A shame, as she did look as if she had a chance of taking the trophy but not this time, not with a damaged rudder.

KNOX-JOHNSTON'S VENDEE GLOBE VIEW - Friday 11 December

Groupe Sétin, lying 19th has had to slow to repair a crack in her port rudder. Yes, more damage, but it is worth reflecting that the average yachtsman probably does not sail 3,000 a year and re-fits each winter. So these boats have already sailed the equivalent of 4 years average sailing without any attention. The skipper, Manuel Cousin worked all night to remove his rudder and effect repairs and hopes to resume racing shortly.

Out in the lead Apivia, which is now halfway between the Kerguelen Islands and Cape Leeuwin, is losing miles on second placed LinkedOut as she has only 12 knots of wind, 4 knots less. Maître CoQ and Bureau Vallée with the following group have also closed on the lead with stronger winds. Another depression is approaching the Kerguelen Islands further south and this will gradually bring more wind to the fleet from the back forwards. Much further back, some 2,600 miles, Pip Hare is still in 20th and Miranda Merron 22nd over 3,000 miles astern.

The huge Trimaran Sodebo, which is making its attempt to win the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest non-stop unassisted circumnavigation with her crew of 8, has also slowed. Her last 24 hours she has only made 560 miles which puts her over 100 miles behind the record she is trying to beat, but she will have overtaken the entire Vendée fleet by this time tomorrow.

KNOX-JOHNSTON'S VENDEE GLOBE VIEW - Thursday 10 December

No change at the front where the depression that has given the leaders some strong winds and awkward cross seas the past couple of days and has now moved off to the South East. This has given the boats some respite, albeit at the cost of speed and there are some calmer areas ahead of them. The straightforward Highs to the North, Lows to the South has been interrupted by some mixing which makes routing choices more complicated. Apivia still leads, although Linked Out has closed sightly to 186 miles. Bureau Vallee, the southernmost boat in the fleet, is a further 100 miles astern, 10 miles ahead of Maitre Coq 1V. Pip Hare still holds 20th place, 2,600 miles behind the leader and Miranda Merron is in 23rd 3,360 miles back. Yes we cam is lying 6th, 382 miles behind Apivia but has made good 359 miles in the past 24 hours.

The maxi trimaran Sodebo has gone much further south than the Vendee fleet as it is not restrained by the ice limitations put in by the organisers of the Vendee race, where it is finding stronger winds. It has a crew of 8 so can keep a constant lookout for ice although ice bergs do not show up as well as land on radar. We found that in those latitudes a lookout had to be relieved every 20-30 minutes because of the cold, and frequently visibility was down to less than 50 yards. Sodebo has covered 693 miles have been covered in the past 24 hours, which is an average speed of 28.875 knots compared with the 253, or 10.5 knots of Apivia