And then there were none... The last IMOCA crossed the finish line early this morning in 34th position, and it was none other than my old boat captain and co-skipper, Ollie Heer! Ollie's race was far from easy; having been involved in a collision on the first night with Kojiro Shiraishi (DMG MORI Global One), he had to return to St Malo for repairs. Three and a half days later, thanks to some incredible work from not only his team; but the DMG MORI team too, Read More
Racing to the finish line – no room for complacency
TUSSLE AT THE TOP
We have a new leader in the IMOCA fleet today, in the form of Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut). Thomas took the lead on Thursday after holding out a little longer on a westwards gybe than Charlie Dalin (Apivia). The pair have been trading manoeuvres ever since, but Thomas has managed to eke out a lead of little under 20nm. The conditions the fleet is dealing with now are exactly those the sailors have been looking forward to from the start - steady trade winds and Read More
THE WILL TO SURVIVE
Losing your boat is one of the worst things that can ever happen and yesterday my heart went out to Fabrice Amedeo (Nexans - Art & Fenêtres) and this team, as he was forced to abandon his IMOCA following a fire and explosion onboard. On Sunday Fabrice announced he would be heading into Cascais for repairs after one of his ballast tanks ruptured, flooding the inside of his boat with hundreds of litres of water, and subsequently causing an electrical Read More
KEEPING AN EYE ON MY OLD BOATS
We're on to the sixth day of racing in this year's Route du Rhum, and it has been far from plain sailing for the 35 IMOCA skippers still racing. As I've mentioned before, there are four previous HUGO BOSS IMOCAs in the fleet, so how are they doing? Fellow Brit James Harayda (Gentoo Sailing Team) currently sits in 27th sailing onboard what was HUGO BOSS 2. He's had a fantastic race so far for what is his first solo-transatlantic race, and from what his team Read More
FRONT FATIGUE TAKES ITS TOLL
The skippers in the IMOCA fleet will be recovering today after another battering last night. The front they crossed overnight brought much stronger conditions than most were expecting, with more than 40 knots of wind and a rough, confused sea state. Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée) came off worst in the IMOCA fleet, dismasting yesterday evening around 380nm west of Cap Finistere in Spain. Louis was dismasted in the Transat Jacques Vabre last year, and so I'm sure Read More
USUAL SUSPECTS IN THE LEAD
The usual suspects are at the top of the leaderboard this morning, with Charlie Dalin (Apivia) leading ahead of Kevin Escoffier (Holcim PRB), Jeremie Beyou (Charal), Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) and Paul Meilhat (Biotherm). Charlie's lead has been reduced to 20nm since he crossed the front before those around him which has put him in lighter, unstable winds. There's now only 30nm separating the top five and every position is up for grabs when the wind is light and Read More
BIG NORTH – SOUTH SPREAD
The big news this morning in the IMOCA fleet is the retirement of Damien Seguin (Groupe APICIL) after a collision with a cargo ship in the early hours. Damien's mast came down, but he reports no injuries and is asking for no assistance. I wish Damien all the best in getting back and know him and his boat will be back sailing in no time. There's a big north/south spread among the boats, with more than 250nm between Louis Duc (Fives Lantana Environnement) in Read More
FIRST NIGHT NERVES
The first night is always difficult in this kind of race. The sailors will not have managed much sleep, and the few manouvres they had to make last night will have tired them out considerably. There are three distinct groups starting to appear now, with Louis Duc (Fives Lantana Environnement) showing as first on the tracker. Louis went north of the Ouesant exclusion zone and so picked the most westerly option. He will deal with the worst of the incoming Read More
Route du Rhum Start 2022
Today I think back to 4 years ago when I was on the start line of the Route du Rhum. After the buzz of the race village, emotions of kissing loved one’s goodbye and the start delay, I am sure skippers of each boat are raring to go on and focused on crossing that line safely and heading to the open ocean and the Atlantic. One aspect of the Route du Rhum that adds to its legend is the variable conditions felt as the skippers traverse the Atlantic Ocean. Read More
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