Knox-Johnston’s Vendee Globe View - Sunday 17 January

The first Ameria's Cup race had to be re-started due to a massive change in the wind direction and Luna Rossa held the lead until halfway but then Ineos Team UK took over and finished 18 seconds ahead. An interesting factor is that Ineos have six grinders, to keep up the oil pressure to operate foils and sheets, whereas Luna Rossa have eight. This means that Ineos can have more people operating systems. Giles Scott called the tactics brilliantly, and Ineos had better boat speed as well. So Ineos has four wins from four races.

In the second race, American Magic was building a good lead and looking good against Luna Rossa, but was hit by a squall as she started to bear away after tacking around the final mark. Her leeward runner prevented the release of the main sheet leading to a spectacular capsize. All the crew were fine but the boat was leaking and looks badly damaged. Still the capsize did get the event onto the BBC News and they added that Britain's Sir Ben Ainslie team was apparently doing well! Don’t they have a telephone?

The leading boats in the Vendée Globe are back in the Northern Hemisphere and coming up to the Doldrums, usually lying between 1 and 8 degrees on north latitude and which extend in a narrowing cone from the African coast. So the rule is that the further west you go the narrower this patch of squalls and humid calms should be, but it moves around a lot. But the further west you go, the further you sail from the shortest distance to the finish line in France. It’s a calculation every sailor has to make.

Bureau Vallée briefly took the lead during the night, but by this morning Apivia was back ahead by 6 miles. The top six boats are within an 100 miles bracket but already experiencing different winds. Bureau Vallée, the westernmost by a few miles, already has ENE winds whilst the others still have a lighter wind from ESE so the lead could change again shortly.

Pip Hare has yet to find the favourable winds in her 17th place and Miranda Merron is still in 23rd. Sebastien Destremau in Merci has retired at the back so the fleet is down to 25 boats.

Trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has slowed to about 20 knots as she approached the Latitude of Cape Frio. During the past 24 hours she has covered 680 miles.

Knox-Johnston’s Vendee Globe view - Saturday 16 January

Light winds for the first America’s Cup Round Robin Race this morning. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli proved more slippery than American Magic which did not finish the race in the 45 minute time limit. So one point to Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. The second race was going to be the test for the new Ineos Team UK against American Magic. The winds were still fluky. The Americans mucked up their start but began to catch up at the top of the first leg when Ineos Team UK came off her foils. These boats seem to be able to foil from when the boats speed is around 18 knots in 7 knots of wind, but the smallest puff sets them off. It is all about staying on the foils. We have seen speed differences of more than 20 or more knots when one boat is in displacement mode and the other foiling. But Ineos Team UK proved far better now at getting unstuck than it was before Christmas and held on to take her third win. The strong relationship between Ben Ainslie and Giles Scott (Olympic Gold medal winner in the Finn Class 2016 Olympics) acting as tactician cannot be underestimated. You only have to listen to their conversations when racing to appreciate how valuable that partnership is to the British team. So, the scores now are Ineos Team UK three wins out of three races, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli one win out of two, and American Magic zero out of three.

Charlie Dalin continues to hold the lead in the Vendée but only by 16 miles from Louis Burton’s Bureau Vallée, with Boris Herrmann just 32 miles further back. Maître CoQ is in 6th place 135 miles off the lead and this leading group have now found the south of east winds and have speeded up as a result. Only 60 miles separate 7th, 8th and 9th placed Jean Le Cam, 266 miles back from Apivia. The weather will become calmer and more fluky as the boats get up to the Equator, providing yet another opportunity for a change in positions at the top.

Pip Hare has got a bit stuck and has only averaged 5 knots over the past 4 hours. The wind looks as if it will turn more favourable for her within the next 24 hours as a depression develops SE of the River Plate and she appears to be trying to get west of that. The rest of her group are further east and likely to get strong headwinds for a while.

Edmond de Rothschild has crossed the equator and is making 29 knots southwards in its efforts to gain the Jules Verne Trophy. She is back ahead of the record time and will be passing the Vendée leaders very shortly with a closing speed of 40+ knots.

KnoX-JoHnston’s Vendee Globe View - ThUrsday 14 JanUary

The leaders are experiencing some difficult weather. No, not high winds and heaving waves, but squalls that accelerate the wind and alter its direction as they pass. Its frustrating sailing as they have to stay alert for the squalls, which are hard to see at night and also take advantage of every wind change to keep pressing forward towards Recife, some 450 miles ahead, where the winds should become more stable.

Charlie Dalin in Apivia holds a 19 mile lead over Louis Burton in Bureau Vallée. Yannick Bestaven is 37 miles from the lead closely followed by Thomas Ruyant’s Linked Out at 44 miles and Damien Seguin’s Groupe-Apicil at 58 miles. All have been averaging between 10 and 14 knots for the past four hours in the right direction. Tail ender of the leading nine boats is Jean Le Cam, 183 miles behind. This group are showing ENE winds of between 12 and 15 knots. It's pretty tense out there with the boats so close. My infallible Clipper Race Deputy Race Director has estimated the winner will reach the finish line within two weeks!

Jérémie Beyou in Charal continues his progress through the fleet to 14th position. Japan’s Kijoro Shiraishi is the latest boat to round Cape Horn in 20th position. He is 400 miles astern of Pip Hare. Miranda Merron in 22nd place still has 1,200 miles to sail to reach the Cape. Sébastien Destremau, bringing up the end in 26th place, is about to pass south of New Zealand.

The Trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, 4 days 6 hours into her attempt to wrest the Jules Verne Trophy from Idec Sport’s current record set in 2017, has managed 785 miles in the last 24 hours, putting her some 145 miles ahead of the target and is about to cross the equator.

Just heard from Ben Ainslie, as tomorrow morning my sleep pattern will be disrupted by the first two races for the Prada Cup in Auckland, the start of the Challenger series to decide which one of the three challenging boats from Italy, the USA and the UK will finally go up against the holders, New Zealand. Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Team UK is racing twice tomorrow, once against each of the others, and it will be interesting to see how improved INEOS Team UK now is. She certainly looked a lot better earlier this week.

There is plenty of sailing excitement to keep us distracted from the spread of the virus at the moment.

Knox-Johnston’s Vendee Globe View - Wednesday 13 January

What a competition! With approximately 4,600 miles to the finish just 127 miles separate 1st from 9th this morning on the 65th day in this most closely fought solo non stop around the world race ever. The winds have not yet steadied and are still a bit variable in strength and direction off the coast of Brazil. But this leading group are all reporting winds from the ENE which are expected to swing round to the east further north level with Recife, between 10 and 14 knots and their speeds are varying between 8 and 12 knots. Yannick Bestaven, furthest west of the group, has squeezed back into the lead with a two mile advantage on Charlie Dalin’s Apivia. Louis Burton in Bureau Vallée, who lost time repairing his mast track in the lee of Macquerie Island, has moved up into third place just pushing out Thomas Ruyant in Linked Out but he is only 24 miles from the top.

Charal in 16th place is about to overtake La Fabrique, with Pip Hare 87 miles further back. Pip is 2,171 miles behind Maître CoQ. They have fresh to strong SW winds at the moment on the back of a low pressure system and are making the most of them as it looks as if another high pressure will form near them by Thursday evening. Three more boats will round Cape Horn today and Miranda Merron, holding 22nd, has probably got four more days sailing before she gets there.

Alex Thomson has left Cape Town to sail his boat Hugo Boss home to Gosport. It must be so frustrating for him, knowing he should have been up there with the leading group, if not leading them, had he not suffered a broken rudder. 

The 23 metre long trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild had a bad day, covering only 627 miles in the last 24 hours, an average of 27 knots, but she is now showing 34 knots as she passes the Cape Verde Islands in some productive North East Trade winds.

Knox-Johnston's Vendee Globe View - Tuesday 12 January

It has taken Charlie Dalin in Apivia four days to close the 450 mile gap between himself and Yannick Bestaven’s Maître CoQ and he has now taken the lead of 18 miles. But his lead over Bestaven is already 26 miles as Thomas Ruyant in Linked Out has moved into second place. There is nothing more demoralising than knowing that you can do nothing about holding off your competitors, just over 100 miles further east but in different winds and these last four days must have been agonising for Bestaven.

But this race is far from over and with so many boats close together it would be a brave person to predict who will stand on the podium at the finish. Only 110 miles separates Apivia from 6th placed Boris Herrman’s Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco and there are only 380 miles between the leader and the tenth placed boat. Why mention tenth place? Well because that gap is now less than the leader held four days ago. The high pressure system is expected to move further east later today, bringing some steadier north easterly winds to the leading group and this wind will follow the usual pattern at last and slowly swing round to the east. If they can hurry north they might get through the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone quite quickly as the main area of the calms are over to the east at the moment.

Pip Hare is round Cape Horn now in some benevolent weather and the forecast shows some strong southerly’s for the next few days which should rocket her group north. Pip, still in 17th place, is 60 miles astern of Charal. Miranda Merron, is still some 1,700 miles from Cape Horn holding 22nd place.

In its attempt on the Jules Verne record for the fastest non stop circumnavigation of the world, the Maxi Trimaran Edmund de Rothschild has averaged just over 32 knots since her departure from Ushant on Sunday morning and is now well past the Island of Madeira.

The news that a British lorry driver had his ham sandwich confiscated by the Dutch Customs, as there is now a ban on the bringing animal products into the EU from the UK, should worry we yachtsmen who enjoy our visits across the Channel. Will this apply to food carried on a British yacht? Is it just fresh food or does it apply to tinned and freeze dried food as well? What happens if you are coming from Northern Ireland? It’s still a part of the UK, but sort of in the EU. We could do with some clarification as to what these new EU rules imply. If we are not allowed British animal products aboard our yachts, then don’t stock up for a Channel Crossing. One can only hope that our officials don’t apply the same rules to EU yachts visiting the UK. Apart from the fact they spend their Euros, there is no need for us to be daft on both sides of the Channel.

Knox-Johnston's Vendee Globe View - Monday 11 January

The elastic has tightened in the front of the fleet as Maître CoQ tries to work through a patch of lighter winds with speed reduced to 6 knots. Apivia is now only 97 miles behind and making 16 knots. This situation is unlikely to last as Apivia will slow as she gets to the lighter winds.

So with 5,000 miles to the finish, the race is getting closer and it’s a question of who picks up the trade winds which are just to the north. Groupe-Apicil is making 12 knots, 204 miles from the lead with Linked Out just 10 miles further back which was making 15 knots. Just 500 miles separates the first ten boats and with calm winds now, at the Equator and very likely in the North Atlantic from the Azores High, this race is far from decided.

Four boats should round Cape Horn today including Pip Hare, still in 17th place, leaving nine boats yet to get there with Merci still 4,600 miles to the Cape bringing up the tail end. Miranda Merron has 1,900 miles to go to get round.

The giant Maxi trimaran Edmond de Rothschild with six crew lead by Co-Skippers Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier left the start line off Brest yesterday morning in its attempt to break the record for the fastest non stop circumnavigation. This is their second attempt this season as they had to pull out at the end of November when they struck something and damage a rudder and foil. To obtain the Jules Verne Trophy they must finish by 0200 on the 20th February.

Knox-Johnston’s Vendee Globe View - Sunday 10 January

Isabelle Joschke has been forced to retire. The repairs to her keel rams, which control the angle of the keel either side of the centreline, failed. So MACSF, which had been sailing well amongst the leading group of 11 boats is out and waiting to see where to sail so that repairs can be made. It’s a sad end for Isabelle as she has been sailing well. You think that once you have rounded Cape Horn into the Atlantic that the weather is going to be more clement, but this area is famous for its nasty little depressions that come off the South American coast. That brings the number of retirements to seven, a far smaller proportion than on any previous race.

Charlie Dalin on Apivia has continued to close up on Maître CoQ, now some 190 miles behind and wrestling with a high pressure bubble. But Yannick Bestaven is in ESE winds of 11 knots whereas Dalin has SW winds of 9 knots. Groupe-Apicil and Linked Out are 267 and 278 miles behind the leader. Only 5 miles to the next waypoint separates Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco and Prysmian Group in 8th and 9th places, just over 500 miles behind but making the most of stronger SW winds to close the gap on the boats ahead.

Whilst the leaders work their way through a calmer patch, down near the Falklands there is a nasty low bringing N to NW winds, slowly moving eastwards and bringing good SW winds in its wake. This will benefit Pip Hare who should pass Cape Horn tomorrow just behind Charal which is still working its way through the fleet. She is currently 17th and Miranda Merron has moved up to 22nd with the loss of MACSF.

Knox-Johnston’s Vendee Globe View - Saturday 9 January

The gap at the front has narrowed. Charlie Dalin’s Apivia is now 327 miles behind Maître CoQ after posting a 421 mile day's run in the last 24 hours. Maître CoQ only managed 202 miles and is currently reporting west-south-westerly winds of 9 knots whereas Apivia has west-north-westerlies at 15 knots. Maître CoQ is inshore of the following boats who have seen the high pressure system slowing the leader and it appears their winds are pushing them eastward which may benefit them for a while.

The whole leading group will face northerly winds as they get close to Cabo Frio where the normal weather circulation system is operating. It’s then a question of pushing north to take advantage of the wind slowly swinging round to the east for the reach up to the Equator. But first they have to get through the jumble of weather in front of them.

Pip Hare’s group have been slowed but a new system is on its way which will bring winds in excess of 30 knots to propel them towards Cape Horn later to-day. She is still 17th after losing time to replace her damaged rudder yesterday and Charal is breathing down her neck 50 miles astern. Miranda Merron is in 23rd place.

Knox-Johnston’s Vendee Globe View - FrIday 8 january

Pip Hare discovered a crack in the stock of one of her rudders. Fortunately she carried a spare rudder but replacing a rudder anywhere at sea is not easy and particularly so in the Southern Ocean. It is made more difficult as the rudders are lighter than water and don’t just drop out. She had practised this operation before the start though and it appears she used the technique first tried by Conrad Humphreys in the 2004 race of using his anchor chain to weigh the rudder down. Anyway she managed it, a very nice piece of seamanship, and she is now back in the race reporting a boat speed of a comfortable 15 knots although the operation cost her two places and she now lies 17th. Miranda Merron is still holding 23rd.

In the Atlantic, Maître CoQ has extended her lead to 435 miles, sailing in north easterly winds, whereas her two closest pursuers, Apivia and Linked Out are experiencing northerly winds. Geographically, Maître CoQ is now about 30 miles south of Punta Del Este in Uruguay.

Fourteen boats have now got passed Cape Horn, Romain Attanasio, 14th, is now clear, and the next tight group of four are still a 1,000 miles to go.

Hard to say what will happen with the weather over the next 24 hours as the race site gives one picture, based, I think, on the reports from the boats, and Windy is showing a different picture. As I said before, there is a lack of a decent meteorological data base for this area but if Windy is right, the wind is due to go round to the south later to-day which will benefit the whole fleet back in the Atlantic. There is some way to go to pick up the “normal” wind circulation, but the boats will want to get over to the east a bit more as they head north to make the most of that. But not too far to the east though as the South Atlantic High Pressure lurks mid ocean, about the Latitude of Rio de Janeiro.

Knox-Johnston’s Vendee Globe View - Thursday 7 Janury

Maître CoQ continues its excellent progress and has put more than 400 miles between itself and the pursuers with a day's run of 353 miles aided by easterly winds of 17 knots. 

The weather systems in the area are still confusing. Only two miles separate Apivia, Groupe-Apicil and Linked Out but their wind is north easterly. This is forcing them west of north for the moment. But they are likely to get a complete wind shift later today caused by a low pressure system off the Argentine coast which will make their inside route profitable for a while. 

The next seven boats, spread over 300 miles have northerly winds and as a group decided that east offers them better chances as they race to get north of an area of high pressure with its promises of easterly winds. Getting north is richer for them as well. The South Atlantic High System is in about 25 degrees south Latitude, some 800 miles north of the Maître CoQ, but with another low pressure system in the way. Only when that is reached do the winds look like they will become predictable again.

Romain Antanasio in 14th place is rounding the Horn now, some 1,200 miles ahead of Pip Hare, in 15th place, who is having autopilot problems. Miranda Merron has still 3,000 miles to go to the Cape.

Knox-Johnston's Vendee Globe View - Tuesday 5 January

They went past thick and fast yesterday and this morning. By this morning the 11 leading boats had all passed Cape Horn and were starting their final 7,000 mile leg back to Les Sables. The shortest gap was between Prysmiam Group and Seaexplorer in 9th and 10th positions, a mere 55 minutes. It is a phenomenal situation to find this leading group so close after some 20,000 miles of racing.

Maître CoQ has increased her lead over Apivia to 235 miles as both boats have set courses which will put them to the west of the High Pressure system off Argentina. They are counting on that system moving eastwards as predicted. But this is only one of the systems in their path, another lies in wait further north. The problem with forecasts in this area is that the data base is not as good as elsewhere so the forecast models are not so reliable. The old sailing ship route was to head further east to skirt the South Atlantic High and keep the wind astern, but the mix of weather forecasts at the moment would mean a huge detour to achieve this and the leading two boats have gone for the almost direct route. LinkedOut has gone to the west of the Falkland Islands and could benefit from the stronger winds there. The current system means headwinds for a bit, but then it could just pay off.

Isabelle Joschke, who was lying 5th, has had a bad few days and is now 11th. Her autopilot will no longer work in wind mode, she tore her Gennaker and then the hydraulics controlling her keel ram adjustment failed. Fortunately she can lock the keel. On my 60, I had a system of heavy plastic half tubes which I could fit over the rams between the keel and the side of the keel box which could be held in place with masking tape. Although we tested the system, fortunately I never had to use it in anger. The next boat to round will be Banque Populaire, sailed by Clarisse Cremer, which is 200 miles behind Isabelle making 15 knots. She will round this evening. Pip Hare is in 15th place, 1,500 miles behind Clarisse and Miranda Merron is a further 1,700 miles astern.

Someone asked me what Cape Horn is like. I think one of the best descriptions comes from the British Admiralty Pilot for South America.

The numerous islands fringing the western coast of the mainland, between Magellan’s Strait and the Penas Gulf form the Patagonian archipelagos; these, like the southern and western parts of the Archipelago de Tierra del Fuego are about as inhospitable as anywhere on the globe. The land is mountainous, presenting an alternation of impenetrable forest, bare rick, and deep bogs, and is cut up by deep channels into peninsulas and islands, as yet very imperfectly known. Drenching rains, varied by snow and sleet, prevail throughout the year, whilst furious westerly gales succeed each other with rapidity. The scenery is magnificently stern, but seldom seen to advantage, the clouds and mists usually screening the higher peaks and snow fields.

Having cruised around the area with Skip Novak, and soloed from the east along the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia and back, I can vouch for this! Rounding Cape Horn is a trophy for all sailors, but there is huge relief when it has been left to the west.

Knox-Johnston's Vendee Globe View - Monday 4 December

Yannick Bestaven and Charlie Dalin are now heading into the South Atlantic, 147 miles apart. Thomas Ruyant has passed Cape Horn and Damien Seguin is there now, both experiencing westerly winds of 24 knots. The next seven boats, lead by Omia-Water Family, with 240 miles to the Cape, are spread over 130 miles. A depression is sweeping up behind this group and will coincide with their passage around the Cape from tonight our time, providing some hairy conditions. There have been reports of sleet and ice on the decks of some of the boats. Pip Hare still has 15th place, 26 miles ahead of La Fabrique and Miranda Merron is holding 23rd position.

There has not been such a concentration of traffic here for years, and it will bring some excitement to the Chilean Navy Petty Officer who mans the famous lighthouse. It’s a lonely posting. When we visited the Petty Officer, at the time he had his wife and two daughters with him, the latter being educated on the internet. They showed us round and we reciprocated with the customary fresh vegetables and meat as they are only re-supplied every 6 months. A large part of the island was mined 11 years ago so we kept to the paths.

Ahead of the fleet is a high pressure system off the Argentine coast with some other calm patches to its north and the South Atlantic High Pressure system, with its calms, is right in the middle of the ocean on the same Latitude as Cape Town and is not showing much sign of moving, although it extends and contracts to give the meteorologists a justification for their existence. Later this week a low will develop mid ocean as well, and by the weekend there will be another one in the way adding to the puzzle as just what is the best route to take. The traditional weather pattern for this ocean has disappeared.