Latitude 54 ° 25 ‘South in the clutches of the Howling Fiftieths. The air temperature is 7 degrees, the water is 8 and the sea forms three-meter hollows.
“We all rode well behind the depression that is evacuating in the South. It was very difficult for me to operate the boat well in very rough seas. LinkedOut crashed there suddenly. “
As Cape Horn approaches, the weather forecast for leaders, including LinkedOut, is quite complex. To the north, a low will widen and generate strong conditions offshore and on the other side, a corridor of softer and unstable winds. What a dilemma! Either face 45 knots of wind and 7 meters of hollow, or the risk of being slowed down in an unstable area. Here are the skippers engaged in a reflection. Losing ground on the former, or limiting any material breakages that may arise? Or bet on your good fortune?
“I am already planning for Cape Horn, which I think I will reach on Saturday evening. Yannick (Bestaven) will be there on the morning of January 2. It is important for me to remain in the same weather system as the leader. conditions there will, it seems, conform to the legend of the famous rock, 35 knots of a downward flow along the Andes Cordillera and 5 to 6 meters of trough. “
Thomas Rettant accelerates on his valid foil to stay ahead of the front and benefit as long as possible from a north-westerly flow and a regular swell. We hear the whistles of speed in the audio logbook for the day. But beware of the secondary depression that will hit the race leader in the early hours of 2021. Vigilance is required, as well as lucidity, especially at a time when recovery times have become short in the southern summer. In the early hours of this last day of the year, LinkedOut, heading north, slowed down considerably to maneuver. “I live in the wild, sleeping when I’m tired, eating anytime. I meet basic needs when they arise, day or night. Under these conditions, we do not really think of the night of the 31st.“
The Vendée Globe Experience
Voice and Sound: Molecule
Sound mixing: Bastien Varigault @Radio France
Editor-in-chief: Eric Valmir