Vendee Globe Race Thread

[Hwyl]

A stringer has delaminated in the bow.

[Clinton B Chase]

This was hugely disappointing to hear. I am really curious about what the cause it...delamination suggests builder's flaw...

[John Meachen]

I suppose he might have nudged a piece of flotsam.If it were me,I would be adding a bit of material to the corresponding part on the other side of the hull-just in case.

[Woxbox]

The team reports that repairs can be made and he'll be back in the race.

In the meantime, here's that kid's game, which one does not belong:

LeCam.jpg

Of course, it's the wingless boat. Jean Le Cam, the old man of the race in an old boat. But he's hanging in there in fourth place nonetheless. It will be interesting to see if he can keep up with the foilers around the Southern Ocean. He has fewer parts to break, anyway.

[Woxbox]

Here's a link to the video of Alex pointing out all the cracks in the bow structure. Major damage, and he hasn't hit the rough stuff yet. Yes, I would expect better for 6 million.

[Flobart]

Sorry, didnt see the above. Quite significant. My biggest surprise was it did not set of any of the alarms.

[Clinton B Chase]

I am amazed how positive he is...very inspiring. I would be rip**** angry at the designers or builders!

[Flobart]

I am amazed how positive he is...very inspiring. I would be rip**** angry at the designers or builders!

My biggest question is why none of the sensors picked up the flexing. Apart from that, it was a pared down racing machine, the guy has a carbon fibre shiz bucket as its lighter than a plastic one. In his own positive words,

"
“I’ve got a sail up again!” Thomson said. “I’m sailing in the right direction and I’m back in the race. I’m super happy about that. It’s been a tough couple of days, an awful lot of work – cutting, grinding, sanding, gluing and there’s still a lot more to go. It’s certainly not over yet but the structure in the bow is now stable, it’s not moving any more and so I can sail in these moderate conditions, in the right direction. Happy days”.



“It’s obviously disappointing but I’m not going to dwell on the negatives here because I think there are way more positives.” Thomson continued. “It’s positive that I found it before it was catastrophic, it’s positive that it happened in the conditions it happened in, which meant the leaders and the rest of the fleet weren’t moving away at 500 miles a day. So I’m just super happy that I’m still in the race. It could so easily have been the end of the race for me”.



Given the lead boats are less than 500 miles in front, given he has a boat that is capable of a projected 40 knots and given that this boat was especially designed to excell in the down wind part of the race; it is maybe not so surprising that he is able to put everything in a positive light.....the race is far from over.

I was wondering exactly how much weight they saved on those bow stiffners, and how much extra weight a full cored structure from keel to deck head without the holes would weigh, but this is racing at the very top, and whatever stress models they used to design that bow structure, obviously needs a bit of tweaking.

[RFNK]

There's a very good French movie based on the VG race, called Turning Tide

[Flobart]

weather.jpg

Not sure if that weather picture will post correctly. Complicated weather pattern for them to get through.

[kpenokie]

I wonder if the pounding he took sailing so close to the center of Theta caused the failure. Perhaps the risk/reward calculation didn't pay off.

[peter radclyffe]

the designers are up against each owner wanting the boats lighter for speed, and gambling on how weak they can make them

[amish rob]

Racing vehicles are often built on the razors edge. I’ve suffered failures in ultra high end race equipment.

It’s part of the dance.

Just way scarier off soundings, I’d imagine.

[Flobart]

Good to see Thompson back in the race.

I was interested to see how the big scow boat was going to perform in this race, but as yet nothing to suggest its shape has any benefit. Things may change once it gets down into the Southern Ocean, but i expect the lead boat will possibly be 2,500nm adrift.

[John Meachen]

L'Occitane did have a delay a short time after the start when a halyard lock was causing trouble.I don't think the hull shape made any difference.In fact with the foilers,so little of the hull is immersed it becomes a lot less relevant than having good foils and structure that keeps it all in place.

[Woxbox]

Last report Thomas Ruyant cracked a foil. I don't know if he can make repairs. The foil doesn't retract fully on his boat. But my man Le Cam is hanging in there!

[Flobart]

I wouldnt be too upset if all the foilers had issues and LeCam won it .
Must be a first to have 18 boats exiting the South Atlantic due to falling into high pressure, all ready for a drag race across the Southern Ocean.

PICT6690.jpg

[Chris249]

Yes, it would be great to see Le Cam do well.

The hype thrown around concerning foilers ignores some basic issues, such as the enormous cost of foils and boxes and the effect of such increasing costs on the sport of sailing.

Sure, they make an Open 60 go quicker - but a foiling Open 60 is still slow compared to a 60 foot tri, and to what extent is pure speed important anyway?

[amish rob]

I wouldnt be too upset if all the foilers had issues and LeCam won it .
Must be a first to have 18 boats exiting the South Atlantic due to falling into high pressure, all ready for a drag race across the Southern Ocean.

PICT6690.jpg

Are you sure that’s the right screenshot? This looks like a local race in a bay somewhere! Hahaha.

Crazy that they are so close.

[RFNK]

Yes, it would be great to see Le Cam do well.

The hype thrown around concerning foilers ignores some basic issues, such as the enormous cost of foils and boxes and the effect of such increasing costs on the sport of sailing.

Sure, they make an Open 60 go quicker - but a foiling Open 60 is still slow compared to a 60 foot tri, and to what extent is pure speed important anyway?

You make a really good point about trimarans, and cats too, I expect. Sailing has often been plagued by rule-bending and foiling 'monohulls' just looks like another example of that. Foils are flimsy, devastating to wildlife, and hideous. They've taken all interest, for me, out of the Americas Cup and now they're ruining this otherwise wonderful race. I wish all the sailors well, they are brave and very skillful, but I hope the winner is not simply the last foiler left standing. A multihull race would be much more interesting than this nonsense.

[Woxbox]

But the fast tris all ride on foils now, too. If the rules allow foils, there will be foils.

[Woxbox]

...and now Thompson has a broken rudder. The sea gods clearly don't like him.

[sp_clark]

Thompson's out.

Limping to Capetown, will leave the race there and his boat.

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/...e-vendee-globe

I have to wonder if he didn't break his s'board rudder on a UFO too....

[Mark0]

It's amazing how fast they are moving. We are thinking about adding foils to our boat.

Cheers,
Mark

[Hwyl]

Thompson's out.

Limping to Capetown, will leave the race there and his boat.

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/...e-vendee-globe

I have to wonder if he didn't break his s'board rudder on a UFO too....

He's 45 now, I wonder if he has another one in him. He certainly has a propensity for hitting stuff.

[John Meachen]

It isn't just the Vendee Globe thats being affected by breakages.The Jules Verne contenders set off during the week and Gitana 17 has broken a rudder and foil.I have to believe the damage is simply a function of the speed when I remember the equation for kinetic energy is greatly changed by V squared and these boats have a huge amount of V.

I find it a bit sad that there is so much antipathy here to the boats and the race.These people are pushing the boundaries and the fact that 800,000 competitors are involved in the online race should show that lots of people are interested.The competitors are superstars in France and there are lots of younger sailors who aspire to get into this form of racing.Other countries revere other sports,see if you can find any French interest in your own preferred sport.There are,to the best of my knowledge,no French NASCAR drivers.

[Rich Jones]

Not antipathy, John; much like 'trickle-down economics' really doesn't trickle down, I see much ado about an advanced technology that I just don't see having practical application to those of us who aren't professional racers with massive budgets to spare. Time may prove me wrong, but like another poster said somewhere above, the stampede to foilers for big race series is providing stark evidence that the common man cannot afford to play in sail racing. Also, because of their narrow field of use, the boats are not likely to be useful for any other purpose after their racing careers are over, so they have a very short and hugely expansive useful life, unlike, say, older monohull racers of fifty or eighty years ago that are still in use having been repurposed to pleasure boats.

True that. The big J-boats of yesteryear can still be used for racing and chartered day sails as are the Twelve Meter boats. Any America Cup boat built since then is nothing but scrap as soon as the racing is done.

[sp_clark]

He's 45 now, I wonder if he has another one in him. He certainly has a propensity for hitting stuff.

Considering the present state of our planet's oceans, the risks these individuals take on when they put to sea in these extreme watercraft has to be a major concern.

Anyone care to guess what the annual losses of shipping containers is? To say nothing whatsoever of the other flotsam & jetsam afloat out there, besides any naturally occurring objects at or near the surface.

[Clarkey]

I have heard these boats described as 'billionaire's toys' but it doesn't strike me that any of the men and women actually racing (or indeed building them) are in that league of wealth? It seems that they are, for the most part, there on merit having served tough apprenticeships in feeder classes. Like in most top end sports they have had to develop the skill of attracting sponsors so that they can get into the best equipment. Actually I think the budgets seem pretty reasonable for an elite sporting event.

I guess that Alex Thomson could have 3-4 more Vendees in him if Jean Le Cam is anything to go by. He does seem extraordinarily unlucky though, to the point where you have to wonder if some of it is down to his approach?

[sp_clark]

...the boats are not likely to be useful for any other purpose after their racing careers are over, so they have a very short and hugely expansive useful life....

You meant perhaps to put expensive there instead?

Either way, these things are about as 'recyclable' as those FRP wind turbine blades that're getting buried in landfills across the globe.

I doubt Greta T's gonna be hitching a ride on any of 'em any time soon, if she's even aware they exist.

[RFNK]

Is there a WBF rule that says 'If you're not a fan of whatever I choose to start a thread about then don't participate" or isn't there? I think there isn't. I think foils are a novelty that'll disappear. I hope it's soon.

By the way, there are online games where virtual warriors slaughter each other endlessly. Some of these have millions of participants. I find those games really ugly too.

[RFNK]

Considering the present state of our planet's oceans, the risks these individuals take on when they put to sea in these extreme watercraft has to be a major concern.

Anyone care to guess what the annual losses of shipping containers is? To say nothing whatsoever of the other flotsam & jetsam afloat out there, besides any naturally occurring objects at or near the surface.

Like whales, sunfish, turtles, whale sharks ...

[John Meachen]

I doubt Greta T's gonna be hitching a ride on any of 'em any time soon, if she's even aware they exist.

There you would be wrong as she sailed back to Europe from her preaching tour of the USA on board Malizia-which is competing in the Vendee Globe as "Sea Explorer".As has been stated by myself and others these boats are the pinnacle of a professional racing career for a huge number of European sailors.They are good for a number of editions of the race and one of this year's crop is around twenty years old.Maybe not with a realistic chance of a good result,but as a means to establish a reputation and perhaps turn up a sponsor for a better boat for a future race.

I wouldn't attempt to argue that there is any sort of trickle down as most of us wouldn't have the fitness or determination to cope with such a boat-just as we couldn't necessarily cope with a Contender and we wouldn't have the portfolio of results to get a sponsor to pick up the bills.If the sponsors lose interest the class dies.Those of us who have no ambitions beyond a PDR are quite free to stay in our comfort zone.I quite like seeing the best in the business pushing the boundaries and showing what can be achieved.For what its worth,I took no notice of the Golden Globe race last year and while I appreciate that the participants will have regarded it as a great personal achievement,it was just that.

[Hwyl]

Considering the present state of our planet's oceans, the risks these individuals take on when they put to sea in these extreme watercraft has to be a major concern.

Anyone care to guess what the annual losses of shipping containers is? To say nothing whatsoever of the other flotsam & jetsam afloat out there, besides any naturally occurring objects at or near the surface.

I've never seen a shipping container adrift in 150K. I've hit a dolphin that cut it a little too close and seriously wrapped a ghost fishing net around the prop.

[Dave Hadfield]

I'll be a sailor until 2 weeks after I'm dead, but my interest in foiling boats is zero. I don't care about any race that features foiling boats, at all. Their influence on any aspect of the sailing I admire is microscopic.

Mind you, if they employed 2 masts, I would be intrigued. Three masts would be even better... Four and I'd be a slave.


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