The Ocean Race – a preview.
The podium positions were decided this morning in the Route du Rhum IMOCA fleet!
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
Three Brits are in the IMOCA fleet for this year’s Route du Rhum, so who are they?
The first finishers of this year’s Route du Rhum will cross the line in Pointe-a-Pitre today after little more than 7 days of racing.
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