Vendée-Artic Imoca race

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by Dolfiman, Jul 3, 2020.

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  1. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

    This race starting tomorrow July 4th was organized at the last minute by the Imoca class to replace the two solo transats Les Sables-New-York and return and to offer a challenging warm-up solo race before the Vendee Globe 2020 in autumn. A 3600 NM Vendee-Iceland-Azores-Vendée triangle with potentially a great variety of weather conditions, ideal to test the new machines and the sailors. From the design point of view, the 2020 generation includes a wider variety with 4 main Naval Architects involved :
    ** VPLP :
    CHARAL - Jérémie Beyou - VPLP - August 2018 (Winner of the Fastnet Race)
    HUGO BOSS - Alex Thomson - VPLP - August 2019 (Hit a floating object - abandon in the Jacques Vabre 2019) - will not participate to the Vendée Artic, Alex prefer training on his side
    DMG MORI - Kojiro Shiraishi - VPLP - September 2019 (essentially a sister ship of CHARAL)
    ** Guillaume Verdier :
    APIVIA Mutuelle - Charlie Dalin - Verdier - July 2019 (winner of the Jacques Vabre 2019)
    LINKED OUT - Thomas Ruyant - Verdier - August 2019 ( from the prototype built by Persico for the new VOR formula, best 24 h during the Jacques Vabre 2019 under the name of Advens of cybersecurity)
    ** Juan Kouyoumdjian :
    ARKEA PAPREC - Sébastien Simon - Kouyoumdjian - July 2019 (foils broke before and during the Jacques Vabre 2019)
    CORUM L'EPARGNE - Nicolas Troussel - Kouyoumdjian - Feb. 2020
    ** Sam Manuard :
    L'OCCITANE - Armel Tripon - Sam Manuard - September 2019 (First Imoca design for Manuard, well known for his Mini 650 and Seascape (now beneteau First) designs) (first Imoca design with a clear Scow bow option, meaning with a deliberate sacrifice on the Lwl)

    All these designs are able to hit the 30-35 Knots zone when conditions permitting, so a real new era for the class.

    But the previous generation, refitted with new foils , are also able of high speeds in average, so the victory is not guaranteed for one of the new generation. By hoping also that the floating objects will not, again, introduce too much injustice, these designs and these sailors , the huge efforts behind each project inc. from the sponsor, does not deserve that.

    To follow the race :
    Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d'Olonne https://www.imoca.org/en/races/imoca-globe-series/vendee-arctique-les-sables-d-olonne
    To participate to the virtual regatta :
    Virtual Regatta Offshore - Virtual Regatta https://www.virtualregatta.com/fr/offshore-jeu/
     
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  2. wet feet
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    wet feet Senior Member

    Thanks Dolfiman,I'm looking forward to following the race.I agree with your conclusion that the older boats with new foils may have a lot to offer,even if they aren't really challenging for an outright win.A good set of foils will lift the sub-optimal hull clear of the water and the rig can drive it at formerly unattainable speeds.Perhaps to the point where a good weather router can make all the difference.
     
  3. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

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  4. philSweet
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    philSweet Senior Member

    The wind is going to shift slowly onto their noses over the next 12 hours. It's going to be a tiring slog into 20 knots with significant tidally driven current eddies on the continental shelf. I think Banq Pop might collect a couple more foilers over the next 24 hours.
     
  5. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

    Occitane /Armel Tripon tacked early to west (241°) to avoid the worst of the sea state in the next 12h. It is fully consistent with his first objective, to achieve his qualification for the Vendée Globe by doing at least 2000 NM in solo, and only secondly to finish the race without sailing too hard. He is very happy that during the short leg of 8NM at the start, he showed his speed potential to rest of the fleet.
    MACSF / Isabelle Joschke , a Verdier design 2007 but refitted with updated foils, does a very good race close to the leaders and just now she is the second to tack to west.
    This long upwind condition with sea state ( up to 4 m) is a good stress test for the foils, unfortunately for Arkea Paprec / Sébastien Simon forced to abandon after the break of its starboard Foil.
    Tracking : https://www.imoca.org/fr/courses/imoca-globe-series/vendee-arctique-les-sables-d-olonne
     
  6. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

    The résumé in english of the last night :
    A tough night off the Irish coast in the Vendée-Arctique- Les Sables d'Olonne https://www.imoca.org/en/news/news/a-tough-night-off-the-irish-coast-in-the-vendee-arctique-les-sables-d-olonne
    Yes Phil , Banque Pop (non foiler) / Clarisse Cremer did great this night, now 9th with numerous foilers behind her, and at just 27 NM from the leader. MACSF / Isabelle Joschke (she is French-German) and Initiatives Coeur /Samantha Davies, are respectively 6th and 7th , the females showed a great resistance to these quite tough conditions. The 4 leaders, Linked out, Apivia, Charal and PRB are still very closed to each other, taking the same options up to now. They are no longer close hauled, but at around twa 60° to 70°, looking for a west route for the following 24h.
    Tracking : Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d'Olonne https://www.imoca.org/fr/courses/imoca-globe-series/vendee-arctique-les-sables-d-olonne
     
  7. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

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  8. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

  9. Dolfiman
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Location: France

    Dolfiman Senior Member

  10. Dolfiman
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

  11. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

    Linked Out / Thomas Ruyant took advantage of the reaching sequence during the night to come back on the two leaders Apivia / Charlie Dalin and Charal / Jérémie Beyou, all three within 2 NM, and the suspense remains whole on who will turn first the IOC-Unesco waypoint in the coming 1 to 2 hours :
    Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d'Olonne https://www.imoca.org/fr/courses/imoca-globe-series/vendee-arctique-les-sables-d-olonne
    The next Gallimard waypoint was repositioned in order to avoid the too light winds of the Azores anticyclonic high ans to stay in a ~ 12 days of race format :
    Repositioning of the Gallimard mark https://www.imoca.org/en/news/news/repositioning-of-the-gallimard-mark
     
  12. philSweet
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    philSweet Senior Member

    Top 3 boats sailing at 22+ knots in 11 knots of wind dead abeam. Then lead 2 fall in a hole and the fleet gains 50 miles on them!
     
  13. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

  14. wet feet
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    wet feet Senior Member

    Fascinating race.The latest foils on Initiatives Couer seem to be effective.Has a condition report for L'Occitane been released yet?
     

  15. philSweet
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    philSweet Senior Member

    Re L'Occitane - just that they suspect that they missed some structural damage that happened in an earlier incident. They had made repairs near where the stringers failed.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2020
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