NewYork-Vendee(Les Sables d'0lonne)

Most of the IMOCA 60's that will race in the upcoming Vendee Globe are racing starting this Sunday.
http://www.imocaoceanmasters.com/

Race Tracker: http://www.ny-vendee.com/en/race-tracker/


Competitor list from Scuttlebutt Europe:

Fabrice Amedeo - NEWREST Matmut (France)
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Jeremie Beyou - MAITRE COQ (France)
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Conrad Colman - 100% NATURAL ENERGY (New Zealand/USA)
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Tanguy de Lamotte - INITIATIVES COEUR (France)
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Jean-Pierre Dick - StMICHEL VIRBAC (France)
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Yann Elies - QUEGUINER-LEUCEMIE ESPOIR (France)
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Pieter Heerema - NO WAY BACK (Netherlands)
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Sebastien Josse - EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD (France)
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Morgan Lagraviere - SAFRAN (France)
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Armel Le Cleac'h - BANQUE POPULAIRE VIII (France)
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Paul Meilhat - SMA (France)
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Vincent Riou - PRB (France)
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Kojiro Shiraishi - Spirit of Yukoh (Japan)
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Alex Thomson - HUGO BOSS (Great Britain)

 

Good list of racers, but it appears they're nearly all French. Nothing against Frenchmen, but one wonders if the race founders care about anyone else!

I also see Bernard Stamm is not on the list. He's always been one of my favorite racers. I recall he was disqualified last time because an unwelcomed Russian visitor jumped onto the bow of his boat or something while he was working on it. No outside support was allowed so he was disqualified by the arm chair race committee. I'll never forget that injustice.

 

Race has begun! Virbac in the lead.....

 

New York Vendee

PRB leads followed closely by Gitanna(Edmund De Rothschild)....

News from Scuttlebutt: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2..._source=Email Newsletter&utm_term=Full report

Several boats have retired due to collisions with UFO's(unidentified floating objects) or other problems:
1-Virbac,
2-No Way Back
3-Banque Pop
4-Safran
5-Espoir(Yann Elies)

 

New York-Vendee

Excerpt from the SA front page:

"......and debris and UFOs have taken out a third of the fleet in just a couple hundred miles – the pic[below] to the right is Banque Populaire headed back to shore after destroying a foil. Just 8 of 14 starters remain on the course, and that doesn’t include at least one boat whose whale strike prevented them from even making it to the line. That’s the attrition rate for a full RTW race, and right now the skippers and designers have to be stressing about the biggest race of their careers in just a few short months. Is there any way to prevent the problem? Is it more whales, quieter foils, or increased speeds that have turned the fairly reliable IMOCA into boats with an 50/50 chance of finishing even a short Atlantic crossing? Does anyone have a solution besides slowing the hell down?"

pix-Banque Pop retiring(SA) :

click-

 

Is there a tortoise in the fleet who may creep over the line to victory sometime next spring? Maybe in an unsinkable ten footer.

 

NY-Vendee

First, Hugo Boss, second Maitre Coq, third Edmond De Rothschild...... see tracker in first post.

 

New York-Vendee

Onboard Hugo Boss! The noise is just amazing....
https://www.facebook.com/AlexThomso...956890851705/1391340754213306/?type=2&theater

 

NY-Vendee

MaitreCoq(1st) and Edmund De Rothschild have passed Hugo Boss . Boss is now third and about 7knots slower than the two leaders!

 

It's shaping up to be an interesting finish if they don't starve before they get to France. Do they carry paddles?

<edit>So the wind map on the tracker is worthless. It was showing 0-4 knot from the east for 72 hours. The leaders have been making about 9 knots due east since then.

 

NY-Vendee

Maitre Coq 1st, Edmond De Rothschild 2nd, Hugo Boss soon to be 3rd.