Route du Rhum

It seems quite clear now from the meteo forecasts that the North door of Azores will be close by head winds and rough sea in the next 2-3 days, and that there will be variable but sufficient wind in South of Azores to maintain the speed and catch the trade winds at latitude 30. The relative position of the boats should be judged with reference to this objective.
The new carto : Cartography | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

 

A little more to the Banque Pop story: Interview de Ronan Lucas, directeur du Team Banque Populaire https://www.voile.banquepopulaire.fr/news/interview-de-ronan-lucas-directeur-du-team-banque-populaire

English:
INTERVIEW WITH RONAN LUCAS, DIRECTOR OF THE BANQUE POPULAIRE TEAM
After being rescued last night by a fishing vessel, Armel Le Cléac'h is currently en route to the Spanish coast he should join by Friday. Ronan Lucas, director of the Team Banque Populaire who was able to talk with the skipper gives us his first information following the damage that led to the capsizing of the Maxi Banque Populaire IX.

How's Armel?
He is well, he is aboard the Spanish trawler who was able to recover yesterday, he is heading to the Spanish coast he should touch Friday. He is in a hurry to find his family.

What were the conditions at sea at the time of the breakage?
At the time of the break, we are where we wanted to be before the departure of Saint Malo. It was the strategy we had. We had set maximum sea and wind conditions that we have not exceeded. We did not take more risk because we made a stopover, by no means.
We were in the forecast tempo we had planned. There was 30/35 knots of wind, 5 meters of sea, Armel mastered his subject perfectly, he was going out of this wind a little tough in the 3 to 4 hours of race that would follow, we had had little time before and everything was fine on board.

Can you tell us the circumstances of the capsize?
From what Armel explained to us, at the time of the capsizing, it was therefore 3 ris J3, the smallest wing that can be had on the maxi trimaran. He was therefore careful not to go too fast with the boat because the sea was 5 meters high and he did not want to take any particular risk. Suddenly, he heard a "crack", he saw the float that was leaving and the boat capsized after the loss of that float .

How was the rescue operation?
We learned yesterday afternoon that a Spanish trawler present in the area was going to divert to recover Armel. The latter arrived in the evening on the trimaran and they made the decision with Armel to carry out the rescue operation. Something that was done relatively quickly. Armel put his life raft in the water and got in it, the Spanish trawler threw a rope to bring it back and hoisted it on board. It was an operation that was carried out smoothly, Armel called us around 22:00 to tell us that the operation was over and everything was fine.

How does the recovery operation of the boat take place?
After the rescue of Armel which was really the priority, we are now dedicated to the recovery of the boat. A team from the Banque Populaire team went to the Azores to join another team chartered by the insurers of Maxi Banque Populaire IX. We hope to be able to sail in 24 hours to reach the position of the boat and be able to tow it to the coast.

 

Both Macif and The Boss are way ahead of second place in their respective classes.

 

Here a good progress point of the race and the new stakes (a new bad weather period expected for the second half of the fleet) :
Things improving for some but more bad weather on the way | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/news/610
… and the cartography :
Cartography | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

 

Gabart-from the article above:
Gabart has revealed that he has incurred some damage to his mainsail battens but otherwise his passage into the northeast trade winds is unhindered and he should be into them by tomorrow.
“Now we are in the transition zone in the north winds which are not too strong, like 10-20 knots,” he reported from a position well to the west of Madeira. “They are quite unstable with a lot of trimming required. The sky is grey. We have one day (until) we catch the trade winds and go downwind. I have been able to check the boat and to make some repairs – I broke two battens in the main.”
====================
Gabart up to 21k, Joyon 19. Joyon is way back but hanging in there. Hope they both stay safe.

 

From the last cartography 22h45 :
* Ultim : in the current 12 knots wind, Idec cannot go as fast as Macif, speed difference is about 1,5 knots.
* Imoca : Hugo Boss, SMA , PRB and UCAR St Michel are actually aiming the same access door to the Trade winds, between Madeira and Longitude 20°. It seems that at the west of this longitude, there is a risk light winds < 6 knots in the next 24h, that should explain why Alex don't put more west in his route although being at twa 108°.
* Multi 50 : Reauté Chocolat / Armel Tripon seems by far the best positioned for this access door too. He finally did the right (and certainly courageous) choice to stay offshore Portugal coast in a survival mode instead of going in an harbour, so he took the opportunity to restart on a race mode as soon as possible.
* Class 40 : Kito de Pavant, although 4th, is in the best position as its wind will turn West and then N-W, but Yoann Richomme not far anyway. How many Class 40 can go South sufficiently to avoid the new S-W storm coming in the next 24h, that will split the fleet in 2.
Cartography | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

 

A special focus on the Multi 50, as the boats are presently in very different positions :
4 are still in a North routes and are exposed to a return of bad weather : Solidaires en Peloton /Thibault Vauchel Camus, Fenetrea-Mix Buffet / Erwan Le Roux , La French Tech / Gilles Lamire, Ciela Village / Thierry Bouchard.
Arkema / Lalou Roucairol is now in the logic to follow the Morocco coast and to round Madeira by the East to take advantage of the trade winds, but that means a lot of Milles to do.
Reauté Chocolat / Armel Tripon is by far the best positioned, close to the Imoca leaders, and they could expect to access to the trade winds by a more direct route, by the west of Madeira.
Reauté Chocolat is a Guillaume Verdier design, launched in 2009 under the name of Actual, and refit last winter to be equiped with foils. So equiped, the boat is able of 30+ speed, she did a 38 knots run at the Grand Prix de Douarnenez.
Multi 50 de Team Réauté Chocolat http://www.teamreaute-chocolat.com/le-bateau/
The last cartography :
Cartography | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

 

With the last cartography here below, Ultim leaders speaking about their race :
Gabart : Gabart passes halfway point | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/news/669
Joyon : Joyon: Anything can still happen in this race | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/news/675
Carto : Cartography | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

 

More on Gabart from Pressure Drop: Pressure Drop - Almost To The Trade Winds For Macif http://www.pressure-drop.us/forums/content.php?8736-Almost-To-The-Trade-Winds-For-Macif

 

Progress report this morning :
Time for pit-stops in the Azores as leading Multi50s divert | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/news/682
… and the last cartography :
Cartography | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

 

From Banque Pop Newsletter: actualites@voile.banquepopulaire.fr
---
THE FIRST WORDS OF ARMEL AFTER HIS RETURN TO EARTH
Rescued by the Portuguese crew of the "Sonho de Infancia" Tuesday night, Armel joined this morning the port of Vigo in Spain where expected members of his team. He gives us his first words before joining his relatives in Brittany.

PUBLICATION:

Nov 9, 2018
Banque Populaire @VoileBanquePop

• CONTENTS

"After Ouessant we find ourselves in a somewhat complicated wind zone. There was a transition, we decided to go for a little more wind in the west. Indeed we find ourselves again to catch up with our little comrades who had escaped a little, there are four boats in front of me and very quickly we recover some places, due in particular to the damages of two direct competitors Gitana and Sodebo, and then I found in second place on Monday night in the Bay of Biscay where we went to look for this second depression that we had already well monitored for several days in Saint-Malo on the ground with my team, so we finally continued our strategy as originally planned.

We really had limits in force of wind and sea state, to be able to preserve the boat. Above all, the goal with the team was to arrive in Guadeloupe. We knew we had the potential to make a beautiful place, but first of all the main thing was to arrive. For that we had set limits to the weather conditions.

Despite our departure delay, we have not changed this course of action with Marcel my router with my team ashore, so we continued this strategy, so we had a small counter-board to make in the west to get a wind rotation, in wind conditions and sea a little stronger but not at all dantesque. We went up to 5 meters deep, there were gusts at 35, 40 knots maximum, but it was not going to last very long.

Tuesday morning, I am starboard tack close to the east of the Azores and we continue our road map with our weather team ashore. The conditions were a little degraded as expected, we have 35 knots of wind, the sea was formed a little, I am at that time with the minimum sail on board of Banque Populaire, 3 reefs in the sail mainsail , the so-called J3 the ORC , the smallest sail up close, and the boat advance normally.

I really reduced the speed so as not to hurt the boat because we know it's a little bit complicated to pass that behind the conditions in the evening will improve significantly, and that eventually it will be really the descent, the slide to the West Indies.
All goes well, I managed to sleep a few hours the previous night to just pass these conditions a little difficult, and then the boat is moving normally. I am at this moment in standby at the level of the piano to be able to be able to shock the plays because there were from time to time small windings .

All of a sudden, the boat rocking to the side, in a few seconds, I do not really realize what's going on, the boat is completely gitted, I realize that we are capsizing. I see the float in the wind that is detached from the boat, so I tell myself that there must have been something that has failed, I do not know what, in any case, I am rather in the urgency of managing the crisis, especially for me to try to find a solution to be safe and find myself if possible inside the boat in the central hull when the boat has finished turning around.

I do not know what happened, it was very fast, the float , or something that broke loose. There for once, it was so brutal and so fast that I was surprised, I did not expect that of course.

Already I had to get into the boat, it was not easy. I managed somehow to reach the central hull and to return by the porthole which is planned for that, in the back, and thus to find myself inside the boat, in safety, to be able to trigger the relief and especially distress beacon . I operated it quickly enough, then I was able to open the survival bag that is on board to be able to immediately have the first tools to be able to put me in safety and finally contact the ground.

I called my team to tell them that I was on board and that it was okay even if I had sore ribs, I was a little stunned but I was in the boat safe and sound and I now waiting for help to pick me up. It took a little while.

After the organization of the rescue was set up with the various security agencies, the French Navy, the Portuguese Navy, the Race Direction and the Team Banque Populaire. Things were done gradually, I was in contact with the earth regularly, they gave me news.

Already, they had the position of the boat, which was pretty good. Then it was necessary to divert one or more boats. I knew later that there was a cargo ship and a fishing boat that would join the area I was on and that a French plane would take off to fly over my position and that a second Portuguese plane was also going to come on area. It took 6-7 hours before the arrival of the first French plane, with which I made contact by VHFto clarify my position, to say that all was well on board, and at that moment they informed me that a Portuguese fishing boat had been baffled and that it was going to arrive on zone at the beginning of the night around 8 pm 21h (French time), to be able to help me.

First I was picked up by the fishing boat, it was still a pretty hot time, because the conditions of sea and wind had not really calmed down. On the zone, it was always well shaken, it stirred a lot in the boat. The fishing boat arrived around 20h. We had set up an organization for my rescue: I had exchanged with the two planes to tell them how I could get out of the trimaran and join the fishing boat. I had planned to put my liferaft into the sea, get in it, and if possible join the fishing boat at that time to get on board. This is what I managed to do around 21h.

It was a little complicated because the sea was difficult, it was dark but fortunately, the fishing boat and especially the Captain was very well maneuvered, the crew was great, they really helped me in this maneuver .
Very quickly I managed to board this Portuguese fishing boat where I was very quickly welcomed, they offered to take a shower to give me clothes because I only had my survival suit , and worried about whether I was fine. Really very nice crew.

At that time, I was able to tell my team and the various means of rescue to say that I was on board and that the rescue operation had gone well and that we would then go to Vigo (Spain). but it would take a little bit of time because it took two and a half days to reach the destination port.

The whole team is mobilized to try to recover the boat, today things are set up. It's not easy, because the boat is between the Azores and Cape Finisterre, the conditions of sea and wind are a little agitated at the moment, it is necessary to find the good boats, there is normally a boat which will leave in the coming hours with a part of the team Banque Populaire to go get the boat as soon as possible. "

 

Extremely short video from Macif:

 

Official list of abandonment or temporary pit stop:
-------
OFFICIAL DECLARATION OF ABANDONMENT
• Sébastien Josse (ULTIMA- Maxi Edmond de Rothschild ) in A Coruña. Damage: starboard float ripped off about ten meters.
• Louis Burton (IMOCA - Valley Office ) in Saint-Malo. Damage: waterway through the starboard foil pit.
• Samantha Davies (IMOCA - Heart Initiatives ) in Lorient. Damage: structural problem on the hull.

PROBABLE ABANDONMENTS
• Armel Le Cléac'h (ULTIMA - Maxi Solo Banque Populaire IX ) off the Azores. Damage: capsize after breakage of the port float. Skipper recovered.
• Isabelle Joschke (IMOCA- Monin ) en route to Lorient. Damage: dismasting.
• Sam Goodchild (Class 40 - Narcos: Mexico ) is heading towards the Brittany tip. Damage: dismasting.
• Fabrice Payen (Multi- Team rum standing wind ) off Porto. Damage: dismasting.

ULTIM
• Thomas Coville ( Sodebo Ultim ' ) in A Coruña. Damage: crack in the arm. Under repair
Two giant trimarans in the trade winds at the latitude of the Canary Islands, a departure from La Coruña on Thursday afternoon, a technical stop in La Coruna.

IMOCA
• Manuel Cousin ( Groupe Tétin ) in Camaret. Damage: Faulty rudder attachment
• Romain Attanasio ( Pure-Family Mary ) in Port-la-Forêt. Damage: explosion of the J3 and mainsail hook.
• Alexia Barrier ( 4myplanet ) in Concarneau. Damage: air sensor problem
• Jérémie Beyou ( Charal ) in Lorient. Damage: transmission of saffron.
• Fabrice Amedeo ( Newrest-Art & Windows ) in Lisbon to repair. Damage: broken bowsprit
Twelve sailors are at sea, plus one who makes a technical stop in Lisbon. The first, the Brit Alex Thomson ( Hugo Boss) is 150 miles west of Madeira, the last, the Finn Ari Pekka Huusela ( Ariel 2 ) is 180 miles west of Porto.

Multi50
• Thierry Bouvard ( Ciela Village ) en route to Lisbon. Damage: defective mainsail trolleys.
Five competitors en route to the West Indies, including the southernmost, Armel Tripon ( Chocolate Rite ) near Madeira, the rest of the fleet halfway between the Azores and Cape Finisterre.

Class40
• Marc Dubos ( Scouting Spirit) in Roscoff.
• Maxime Cauwe ( Azeo-On is large ) in Camaret
• Cédric Kervenoael ( Grizzly Barber Shop ) in Camaret.
• Sébastien Desquesses ( Kersia-Le Guével-Spirit of Saint-Malo ) in Camaret.
• Dominique Rivard ( Marie Galante-April ) in Brest.
• Jean Galfione ( Serenis Consulting ) in Brest.
• François Lassort ( Bijouteries Lassort-Tonton Louis ) in Brest.
• Halvard Mabire ( Colombre XL ) in Bénodet.
• Emmanuel Hamez ( Teranga ) in Bénodet.
• Arthur Gascoin ( Up Sail & Connect ) in Bénodet.
• Nicolas Jossier ( Manorga ) in Concarneau.
• Loïc The Dean ( Saint Cast-The Exotic Land Guildo ) in Lorient.
• Andrea Fantini ( Enel Green Power ) in Lorient.
• Hiroshi Kitada ( Kiho ) in Lorient.
• Olivier Magre ( E. Leclerc-Ville La Grande ) in Lorient.
• Bertrand Delesne ( bertrand-delesne.fr ) en route to Lorient. Damage: genoa impossible to roll on the forestay.
• Morgane Ursault-Poupon ( Fleury Michon Bio ) en route to Spain.
• Sébastien Marsset (CTohapi ampings ) en route to Brittany. Damage: Butternut outriggers.
• Louis Duc ( Carac ) en route to A Coruña. Damage: Jib stay.
• Emmanuel Le Roch ( Edenred ) en route to A Coruña.
• Nicolas Troussel ( Corum ) is heading to Lisbon. Damage: more overhead and engine fastening
• Claire Pruvot ( Civic Service ) is routed towards A Coruña. Damage: delamination of the starboard bow
• Jean Marie Loirat ( Klaxoon ) takes refuge in A Coruña.
• Jacques Valente ( Destination Evian ) takes refuge in A Coruña.
• Jonas Gerckens ( Volvo) takes refuge in Lisbon
• Olivier Rousset ( Obportus ) takes refuge in A Coruña.
• Donald Alexander ( Power of One ) takes refuge in A Coruña.
• Florian Guéguen ( Parkison Sailing School ) takes refuge in Lorient
Twenty-seven sailors are at sea: the first Yoann Richomme ( Veedol AIC ) is at the latitude of Lisbon when Romain Rossi ( Digestscience Foundation ) is in the middle of the Bay of Biscay.

Multi Rum
• Franck Sainte-Marie ( Branec IV ) in Camaret.
• Erwan Thiboumery ( Gold.fr for Bioniria ) in Brest.
• Gildas Breton ( Bo Square ) in Loctudy.
• Bertrand De Broc (C reaual) in Bénodet.
• Christophe Bogrand ( Sterec Aile Bleue ) in Bénodet.
• Christian Guyader ( Guyader Gastronomie) in Bénodet.
• Charlie Capelle ( Acapella-Soreal-Proludic ) in Concarneau.
• Pierrick Tollemer ( Resadia ) in Lorient.
• David Ducosson ( Air Caribbean-Caseneuve Maxi Catamaran ) in Lorient.
• Gérald Bibot ( Zed7 ) in La Trinité / Wed.
• Alain Delhumeau ( Rayon Vert ) is routed towards Vigo. Damage: waterway.
Ten skippers are at sea: the first (Pierre Antoine-Olmix ) sails with the Multi50; the last (Yann Marilley- No Limit BMP ) tackles Cape Finisterre.

Mono Rum
• Bob Escoffier ( Kriter V-Socomore-Quéguiner ) in Roscoff
• Willy Bissainte ( C 'La Guadeloupe ) in Roscoff. Towed following a grounding resulting in a waterway.
• Eric Bellion ( Commeunseulhomme ) at Aber Wrac'h.
• Laurent Jubert ( Breath Space ) at Aber Wrac'h.
• Christophe Souchaud ( Rhum Solidaire Cap Handi ) in Camaret
• Olivier Leroux ( Real Estate Art Construction ) in Camaret.
• Jean-Luc Bizien-Jaglin ( Groussard Transport ) in Camaret.
• Andrea Mura ( Vento di Sardegna ) in Lorient.
• Nils Boyer (The funeral choice ) in A Coruña.
• Nicolas Magnan ( SOS windshield ) en route to Lorient.
Eight Mono Rum are at sea: the first (Sidney Gavignet- Café Joyeux) is at the latitude of Lisbon; the last (Dominique Dubois- Ghéo ) is 200 miles west of Brittany Point.

 

Michel Desjoyaux interview about the Ultims and the race in general, I translate his idea about what happens to Banque Pop (and Gitana) : it is the windward float which is weakened by receiving sea packets at high speed :
" Question : What happened to Armel Le Cléac'h according to you?
Michel Desjoyaux : I have my idea. I think that for these Ultims it is related to the shocks in the waves, and with the windward float. Not the leeward one in the water. Everyone thinks it's the one that breaks, but I think it's the other one. With the sea packets that come to explode on it. You can ask any engineer, he will not be able to tell you what's going on, but it happens ... Banque Populaire, he may have broken his windward float, i.e. the port one, when he has tacked off Spain and made West. And when he tacks back to South, leaning on the port float, the float broke and the boat capsized. It's an assumption, but I'm trying to sketch a plausible scenario."
Source : https://www.ouest-france.fr/route-d...faut-accepter-une-phase-de-regression-6055690
From the last cartography at 9h45 :
Ultims : great resistance of Idec / Francis Joyon who is even a bit faster than Macif, but Macif/ Francois Gabart control the situation by placing his boat between Joyon and the arrival. The arrival itself, to round the Guadeloupe Island before cutting the line, can be troublesome and full of surprise with erratic winds, so the match is not finished.
Multi 50 : Reauté Chocolat / Armel Tripon has a solid advance of 400 NM on Arkema / Lalou Roucairol, so a great option for the victory now that they are both on the same trade winds route.
Imoca : Hugo Boss / Alex Thomson shows his speed potential to its closer rivals, will be hard for them to contest that.
Class 40 : Veedol / Yoann Richomme shows a great regularity , now the challenge for him and his closer followers is to aim the right door to cross the anticyclonic transition zone. To note that he is also a Naval Architect himself, educated from Southampton Solent University : Yoann Richomme http://www.yoannrichomme.fr/portrait/
Cartography : Cartography | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

 

Thanks-interesting theory by Michel Desjoyaux. If I understand correctly, that would mean that the speed technology of two boats by two different designers exceeded the engineering understanding required for structural safety?