Vendee Globe 2016

Vendee--ufo

Romain: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/16861/romain-attanasio-has-hit-a-ufo-and-is-heading-for-cape-town

 

Vendee--foil damage

More on Gitana(Edmund de Rothschild) : http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/...stien-josse-temporarily-puts-his-race-on-hold

 

Vendee

Trackers:
-- http://tracking2016.vendeeglobe.org/hp5ip0/


-- http://tracking2016.vendeeglobe.org/gv5ip0/
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Vendee

Alex is picking up speed again-4 knots faster.....

 

Serious problems for Kito de Pavant. The French Frigate is heading his way, approx 10 hours to get to him. Lets hope he stays afloat long enough. Yet another UFO but this one has ripped out one end of the keel bearing.

 

Vendee

What a drag! Thanks for the heads up: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/16889/huge-concern-for-the-skipper-kito-de-pavant

 

Such a shame that this really highly technical 'sailing machines' are experiencing these problems. I love their capabilities in expanding the art of sailing fast,...and single-handed...just marvelous.

But you would always have to be wary of carrying those extended appendages in our clutter oceans these days.

 

Not sure about Josse either at -3kn backwards (well westwards) on the tracker. Maybe he has got more serious problems with that foil box than at first thought. At least not in imminent danger, though really big seas might overcome him.

Many years back I was in a quarter tonner stopped dead from about 9kn west of Les Minquers (south of the Channel Islands) mid afternoon. Both the owner and I immediately looked inside to see if she had started to leak. She did'nt but we never saw what we hit. Maybe a basking shark, large submerged log, whatever and we looked for a long, long time. One of the most 'interesting' moments I've ever had offshore sailing. Boat did not suffer any long term damage and she was inspected at the end of the season. In fact she is still sailing.

One problem with the IMOCA designs is they have the bulb of the canting keel extended forward as well as aft, making it harder to slip over an object. Perhaps raking the keel or curving the leading edge and not having a forward projection might help. Bit trickier to get the balance for canting, but it might help if hitting a whale?, fishing net? or other objects that might slide off.

 

Vendee

Interesting that most of the boats that have retired have done so because of keel damage not foil damage. But there is no way this carnage can continue with even faster full foiling boats. Something has to be done to allow this stuff to be seen by sonar. Some of the sonar units are close to having the required capability but are not there yet.
I wish Kito the best and hope he gets rescued soon!

 

All boats have appendages of some sort so all are vulnable. These guys spend 80% of their time down below so they are not going to see anything they may hit, and even if they were keeping a proper watch ( ie, a full crew) they would likely not be able to pick out debris from a wave in time to avoid it at the speeds they are travelling at so the outcome of the race could well come down to good old fashioned luck. We are seeing this at the head of the fleet with one well sailed boat without damage and another well sailed boat that is partially crippled. It doesn't mean Armel is a better sailor but so far he has been luckier, but there is plenty of time for that to change.

Steve.

 

Vendee

Update: the rescue boat has arrived in the vicinity of Kito Pavant.
UPDATE: Kito is safely aboard the rescue boat: https://www.facebook.com/madeinmidivoile

Kito Pavant shows the damage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgGbcdXT2tg

 

My earlier suspicions confirmed as Josse (Edmond de Rothschild) retires with a badly damaged foil/housing. This one is the foil not the keel....at least the boat and Josse should be able to get to a safe haven.

 

Vendee-- On Board Hugo Boss

Thanks for the update, Suki-that's a shame.
Here is a new video from Alex Thomson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Np_04c9teY

 

Bummer to hear about Kito's boat. I must say HOLY COW at all the boats listed as "Abandoned" now. 7 boats abandoned and counting.

There's going to be some serious soul searching by the time the race is over that's for sure.

 

I have to agree that there will need to be some serious consideration given to the nature of these boats after the race.But what fantastic machines they are! To get half way round the world in a little over four weeks is incredible.The eventual victor will have worked hard for the result and should be saluted-along with the designer,builder and the rest of the support team.