There is no let up on the Bay of Biscay and the north Atlantic. The depressions seem to keep rolling in, one after another. And so the last few miles to the finish are no time to relax for the skippers coming in to finish their Vendée Globe. Vigilance and focus need to be at the maximum.
Heading for 12th place Clarisse Cremer is expected to cross the line this afternoon and it is not at all easy for here on the Bay of Biscay. Under very reduced sail area (3 reefs and no headsail), she moderates her passage and modulates her speed to let the worst of the system pass. The wind should have eased by the time she crosses the line and heads up the channel, with the satisfaction of having completed her first Vendée Globe and that soon to be the fastest woman solo around the world non stop on a monohull.
At about three days from their finish, Jérémie Beyou and Romain Attanasio continue to have some tough times by the Azores archipelago. “We had an average windspeed of 35-40 knots, but with huge squalls. I had up to 55 knots. And the sea was bad. I was under three reefs and J3, but sometimes it was borderline. I talked a lot with Jérémie, we stayed connected last night just in case. It is true that the end of this race is proving long and difficult "admitted Attanasio this morning.
Rather than shortening with every day, the route has lengthened for Arnaud Boissières, Stéphane Le Diraison, Kojiro Shiraïshi, Alan Roura, and further back Pip Hare and Didac Costa. These six competitors are making a huge detour around the broken up Azores high pressure, passing 1,000 miles west of the island. Right in the middle of the Atlantic, Arnaud Boissières jokingly wondered about his destination:
“Today, I am closer to the West Indies than to Les Sables d'Olonne… given the weather in Les Sables, I hesitate which route to follow! … ”
And after the detour west they will have a big depression to deal with which will hit them this weekend. It will put them under pressure right to their finishes between the 10th and 12th of February, so the weekend after this.
Behind them the trio Manu Cousin, Clément Giraud and Miranda Merron crossed the equator and got out of the doldrums. Here they are upwind in the Northeast Trade Wind.
Finally, Alexia Barrier and Ari Huusela are the only skippers still in the Southern Hemisphere. The duo are passing round the Saint Helena high pressure system. They are expected in Vendée at the end of the month and should be accompanied by the two indefatigable female sailors who are not racing any more Samantha Davies and Isabelle Joshcke.