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Quebramar · 13-01-2021, 13:23

7 boats within less than 35nm after almost 24000nm... unbelievable!

psk125 · 13-01-2021, 13:46

And they haven't gotten to the Doldrums yet, which will mix things up again.

MicHughV · 13-01-2021, 13:51

First of.....yes...my bad....missed a zero there....$100-120m more likely for an America's cup entrant....

I don't see the foils or canting keels as a viable option for your basic cruising sailboat...#1, the foils need about 10-13 knots plus to have any value....most average sailboat cruising speeds are nowhere near that...#2, where would you park these things.....a cruising boat, with foils would probably not fit in your average width boat slip...even if they were retractable, #3, it's probably fair to say that the modern keeled sailboat sports a 6' draft, often less, sometimes more...and the keel location is usually in the middle of the boat, hardly the place to mount a keel ram, under the dinette table...#4, the canting keel is really there to help support a towering mast and sail area...but, speaking for the US, an airdraft of under 65' is a selling point for most sailboats to enable them to pass under ICW bridges..#5, the cost and maintenance of a canting keel would likely impose a whopping increase in boat price, which would not be a selling point...besides a 12-14' draft would be an enormous pain the butt to have to deal with.

The Vendee boats are relatively light, beamy, planing boats and for the keel to have any meaningful impact it needs, to be deep..as the actual keel blade is relatively thin, with all the weight concentrated in the torpedo tube..not to mention it requires daggerboards or foils.

Racing sailboats might investigate all these add-ons, but I don't see it in your basic cruising boat. Water ballast maybe.

Switching gears, what's up with Sebastian?? He has been struggling along in the rear for quite some time. Now he appears to be going backwards. I'm not sure that he is going to make it much further.

Pelagic · 13-01-2021, 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quebramar

7 boats within less than 35nm after almost 24000nm... unbelievable!

Yes, I've taken a couple of things away from this Vendee, so far.
1..... Very few tactical mistakes made by the racers as their on board intelligence on weather routing and prediction has been incredible! Losses and Gains have been more a matter of luck to be in the right place at the right time...

2...... Reminds me of a Formula One race at Monaco , where the machines are far too powerful for the course and they throttle way back in order to survive...

The finesse all the racers show to compensate for structural limitations is fascinating to watch

barnakiel · 13-01-2021, 16:21

Interesting to see only 50 miles offset now between the first foiler and the first non foiler.

Quite not as much as was expected.

b.

MicHughV · 13-01-2021, 16:52

Boris is inching to the front.....he's got the boat speed.....and he's got plenty experience sailing these long distance events....if he makes it to the front, he'll be tough to reel in...then there's Jean, he's got 16.15 hours in his hip pocket...so there's two contenders.....it's a bit of a crap shoot for the others..
but at the end of the day, the weather is still a bit of a dark horse...be in the wrong place at the wrong time....ie, Yannick, gave away a 300 plus nm lead thru' no fault of his own, I think it's gonna be a tight race to the finish.....I expect to see at least 5-6 boats finish on the same day...might even see some down to the wire finishes......I don't think I would have positioned myself so close to the shoreline like Yannick, et al, could get squeezed between a rock and a hard place....

LarryDW · 13-01-2021, 16:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellowtulip

That Farr design is obviously aimed towards the convergence of the IMOCAs and the “Volvo” boats, which has been a published aim of the Round-the-world race organisers, rather than an out-and-out solo boat like Hugo Boss. The current “Volvo” boats are virtual one-designs. It would be a pity, in my opinion, if the IMOCAs became one-designs. I find the different approaches fascinating.

I agree 100%. Vendée should be an open class.

LarryDW · 13-01-2021, 16:59

I’m a cruiser so my opinion doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

Yellowtulip · 13-01-2021, 17:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by LarryDW

I’m a cruiser so my opinion doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

Me too. Open racing is horrendously expensive so I suppose that ultimately what matters is the return the sponsors get on their investment. The interest in and coverage of this race has been the best ever. That should please them.

MicHughV · 14-01-2021, 07:18

I see Sebastian back on track again. He is having an awful lot of problems with his boat.
Not sure that I'd want to continue on in the southern ocean in his shoes, but it seems like he is giving it a go...