Vendée Globe 2012-2013 - Day 55

Jean-Pierre Dick passes Cape Horn

In third place Jean-Pierre Dick, worried about the presence of ice, passed Cape Horn for his fifth time at 0440hrs (UTC) this morning. Meantime the two Vendée Globe leaders François Gabart (Macif) and Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire) make steady progress to the NE, some 50 miles south of the Falkland Islands in a light NW'ly wind.

Caution was Jean-Pierre Dick's watchword as he rounded Cape Horn early this morning driven by a brisk 25kts NW'ly wind. His fourth racing passage of the mythical cape contrasts with his last. In 2011 with Loick Peyron the duo were like kids on Christmas morning when they lead the Barcelona World Race, sailing round within two miles of the cape in perfect visibility making a live broadcast. This time Dick had to ease back to 13-14kts in full darkness and stayed mostly close to the coast to avoid the worst threat of ice. Passing 17 miles off the cape at 0440hrs this morning, Dick has crossed into the Atlantic 1 day 10 hrs and 20 mins after leader François Gabart, but has closing up some 150 miles on the leaders since January 1st. Though he will now be in an upwind regime, he should still have more wind pressure than the leaders through the early part of the day.

As they pass 50 miles due south of the Falklands this morning first placed François Gabart (Macif) leads Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire) by a relatively comfortable 30 miles, sailing upwind in moderate breezes. Ahead the wind will rise and swing to the SW to return them to fast reaching conditions, a reminder of the southern ocean cavalcade. One obstacle worth avoiding is a research ship in the area which is using underwater cables which are up to 6000m long.

Fourth time lucky

Hugo Boss skipper Alex Thomson is counting down the miles to his first solo passage of Cape Horn, and they are still dropping fast. With 370 miles to go Thomson should continue to reap the rewards of beneficial conditions, including a shift to the NW. Including his first Vendée Globe in 2004 Thomson has set out for a solo race round the world three times. The British skipper has cut 297 miles from the lead of François Gabart since the turn of the year.

Behind Thomson, in fifth place, Jean Le Cam (SynerCiel) is 120 miles from Pacific East gate, whilst Mike Golding (Gamesa) continues to slowly open distance on Dominique Wavre (Mirabaud) now some 100 miles or so behind. The British skipper is 420 miles from the final gate spurred by a spell of stronger winds. Another 100 miles astern of Wavre Javier Sanso (Acciona 100% Eco Powered) the Spanish skipper may have concerns about the threat from Arnaud Boissières (Akena Verandas) who is now just 88 miles behind. So this middle group, sixth to ninth, now has 295 miles separating Golding from Boissières. Meantime Bernard Stamm, despite his unfortunate situation, shows no shortage of motivation as he is the fastest of the fleet this morning.

South Pacific Sorbet

In thirteenth Alessandro Di Benedetto has had better days on this race, but despite his technical problems (rudder and autopilot), the skipper of Team Plastique remains his cheerful, always upbeat self:

"Today, the rudder is came up because the fuse broke. For a little while I considered going for shelter under the less of the Auckland Islands or Campbell Island to fix the problem before I go into the Pacific. But in the end I chose to get on with it and in the middle of a hail squall I got the rudder blade up, changed the fuse and got the rudder back in the water. At the same time I took a few handfuls of hail from the deck and made a great sorbet with some lemon juice and some sugar."

Leaderboard at 4am: (top five, French time)

1 - Francois Gabart [MACIF] at 6697 miles from the finish
2 - Armel Le Cléac'h [Banque Populaire] at 31 miles from leader
3 - Jean-Pierre Dick [Virbac Paprec 3] at 340 miles from leader
4 - Alex Thomson [Hugo Boss] at 691 miles from leader
5 - Jean Le Cam [SynerCiel] at 1940 miles from leader

Full rankings can be found here

Fourth time round Cape Horn for JP! (from Virbac-Paprec Sailing Team)

This morning, Jean-Pierre Dick, passed the legendary Cape Horn at 5:40 am French time after 53 days, 16 hours and 38 minutes at sea, in third position in the Vendée Globe (i.e. 1 day 10 hours and 20 minutes after François Gabart). This is the fourth time he has rounded the "difficult" cape and it is a powerful moment he never gets tired of. The Virbac-Paprec 3 skipper is now sailing in the south Atlantic. This is a relief after a month of sailing in the grey skies of the Great South.

Back to the light
"Cape Horn is a magical and symbolic moment. It is well deserved after the long crossing of the shady regions. You get the feeling that you're returning to the light. It's as though you've put your indicator on to signal a turn towards the finishing line. Even if there is some ice, wind and a swollen sea, you feel something powerful that hits you right inside."

Memories
"Vendée Globe 2004: I went past at the same time as Ellen MacArthur*. I was repairing the boom on deck. We had a 35 knot wind. You get the feeling that you have become a real offshore sailor. It is powerful!
"Barcelona World Race 2011: with Loïck (Peyron), our passage was filmed live, 2 miles from the Horn, in a videoconference with the race organizers. It was exciting. We were like two kids."

Atlantic here I come!
"The south is normally a place where I can express myself. This time it has been frustrating. I'm glad to move on because the race is far from over. I will need to give it my heart and soul as we sail back up the Atlantic. Another phase of the race is ahead, and I will be approaching it with a fighting spirit".

* Number of times JP has sailed round Cape Horn: 4 (1 VG 2004-2005, BWR2007 and 2011)
** Single-handed round-the-world race on the Castorama Trimaran

Update from Mike Golding, Gamesa:

Mike Golding Update With the first three boats now around Cape Horn and into the South Atlantic, Mike Golding is anticipating his release into the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Horn for the final third of the Vendée Globe. Golding is on resolute form. Though he is enjoying the competition in the Pacific, building miles again on Dominique Wavre behind him to ensure he is around 100 miles ahead of the seventh placed Swiss soloist this morning. He is far from content with his sixth position, given his ambitions going into the race, but he is clearly enjoying the challenge and has plenty of race track left to make significant gains. Such are the nature of the South Atlantic's weather patterns that there can be big gains and losses before the return passage of the Equator. If the Saint Helena high is fully extended it can effectively block the route north – as it already looks complex for the leaders.

Golding has about five days to go to Cape Horn and the weather is looking like he and his immediate rivals will get a good push there with a couple of low pressure systems. While he has caught a little on Jean Le Cam who is still 420 miles ahead, Golding now finds himself leading a middle order group of four boats now within 300 miles of each other. And this likely to compact even more according to recent weather modelling studies.