Back To The Future, Bestaven First Across The Antimeridian
Breeze favours the leader.....Burton repairing at Macquarie....Hare Punching Hard....Autissier On French Live
Yannick Bestaven, who has been at the front of the fleet for four days, passed the Antimeridian at 1337hrs UTC this Sunday afternoon with his lead now extended to 120 nautical miles over second placed Charlie Dalin.
Of the mental milestones that the Vendée Globe skippers tick off along the 24,410 nautical miles solo race round the world, the Antimeridian – or 180th Meridian – is a significant boost to morale.
It is there that they see their longitude start to drop from 180 and emotionally each degree feels closer to home and to the Les Sables d’Olonne finish line at 1.799 W.
Vendée English Live #43 : Ken Read & Boris Herrmann
Ken Read, American sailor, was the guest of the Vendée English Live at noon today. Twice Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, nine-time world champion, America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race skipper, he has also risen to the top of his profession as President of the North Sails Group. Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco) was live.
Miranda Merron has been in the wars a little these last couple of days , "A rollercoaster 24 hours or more. As the starboard hydrogenerator doesn't charge very well, I use the generator to charge when on port tack when the batteries get to low. The night berfore last, mid-charge, the gernerator stopped charging. It was just one thing too many for me, and of course involves the black art of electricity. I thoroughly ruined Halvard's day. I checked all the wiring and fuses, and disconnected and reconnected bits, and last night, it was working perfectly. Such a relief. All that panic for what turned out to be a loose connection.
Damien Seguien recovering after an unexpected squall
During the radio call session this Sunday morning Damien Seguin (APICIL Group) revealed he has a big problem with a headsail and is battered and bruised recovering from an unexpected squall.
Caught up in the lighter winds at the back of a front during the hours of the European night, daytime for the leaders, has seen second placed Charlie Dalin concede handful of miles to leader Yannick Bestaven. Looking briefly at comparisons with the 2016-17 race – this edition is more than six days slower – Dalin observed this morning, “I am I'm looking at Armel's track of four years ago and, yes, he's way ahead of us. So we are not going fast, are we? I would prefer it to be a little more 'sporty' and a bit less comfortable ”.
W.
