Zezo forum: Vendee Globe

Vendee Globe

Post by DancingBrave | 2021-10-14 | 20:58:08

For any of the GoWesters looking in, are you getting concerned yet?

For the first time, routing to Fernando D.N. from my position in the Canaries-bound bunch is putting me ahead of the rockstars I follow (Tipa, Toppen, YourMom etc).
It had been level pegging or 6+hours advantage to the GoWesters from the big split until this evening :)

Monday lunchtime (italian time) things should be much clearer.

14 Comments

Post by YourMomSA | 2021-10-15 | 12:58:01

No point in being concerned... One makes one's bed, and then one lies in it. All you can do is try to win your group, and hope your group wins the event. A very long way yet to go. The West group could still win or lose by a day or more.

Post by 43South | 2021-10-15 | 19:51:49

It's a brave person to count out the 'rockstars' so early in the race. I would never underestimate their potential with so much of the race to go. What I am interested in, is understanding the initial option of them to head westward? Is there something I missed or should have considered?

Post by Pierre | 2021-10-15 | 20:07:12

I was wondering the same as 43 south. How did they have the idea to go so north at the start. Zezo never indicated this direction for me. Maybe because they all have full pack which is not the case for me ?

Post by DancingBrave | 2021-10-15 | 21:06:55

"Zezo never indicated this direction for me"
Nor me.
Given the unusually prolonged easterlies and with the RQ_Naos flyer from Volvo 2017 in mind, I was creatively clicking around on Zezo, up to Start+2 hours, trying to find a West route. Router always suggested heading South at the point I did. I've just foils & winches but tried routing with FP too.
As you say, with so many of the top boats going West, does make me wonder what I missed. n.b. BigBird followed his router too.

"No point in being concerned"/"It's a brave person to count out the 'rockstars' "
My thread opener was more lighthearted in tone than it perhaps appeared ;)

Post by Pierre | 2021-10-15 | 21:29:56

I'm not worried for the "rock stars", I'm worried for my boat which did not follow the rock stars :-) Like we say in football "at the end it's always Germany who wins", in VR at the end these guys always win :-)

Post by YourMomSA | 2021-10-16 | 01:12:49

There's an adage when going North or South in the Atlantic "when in doubt, go West", which is often true.

Routing from Europe to Capetown, you often get routes toward Africa that trap you in upwind slow conditions beyond Zezo's 2-week forecast horizon. So experienced users often will push West and watch the early leaders fall into that trap. But... In this case, the East route near the Canaries was forecast to be faster even just to Fernando de Noronha. So... Choosing to go West was basically gambling that conditions a few days from the start would revert more toward normal.

In my case, I simply like to be contrarian. If I see the fleet going one way, and I like a different option, I like to get away from the fleet and see what happens. Sometimes it works. Often it doesn't. But I find it to be more fun than sticking in the pack.

I usually follow Zezo routes, but I often route to custom destinations. For the first 2-3 days of this race, I was routing to places around 30N 40W.

Post by Toppen | 2021-10-17 | 16:36:22

With almost 2 weeks sailing to reach the equator (from the start) anything can - and will - happen with the weather updates. I decided early to go West for the same reasons as YourMom. It usually is the best route, at least i feel it's the safest bet. At the moment (after the first updates of the current wind update in progress) it looks like the Eastern group will hit a huge area of very light wind SW of Gambia and that is the major risk with going close to Africa. This area may disappear - or not. If it doesn't, the West, lead by PassTaga, will (probably) win and if it does it will be a whole different ball game. Also keep in mind in this race the finish line is "kind of longer" than usual which adds another dimension to strategy and tactics. One thing that's important in this kind of races is to stick with your strategy - take a look at Galere Splendoise who were close to myself and YourMom but decided to take a dive South to join the Eastern group, I'd say he can't win and probably can't even be top 250-400 even if the Eastern group wins. I rather be No. 1 in the losing group than No. 250 in the winning. // Toppen

Post by 43South | 2021-10-16 | 03:28:04

Thanks YourMomSA, your thoughts are appreciated. We are all trying to improve our boat performance as we take on the many variables associated with this game. Fair Winds.

Post by Pierre | 2021-10-16 | 06:31:13

Thanks Yourmom for the insights. Very interesting to hear from experienced people

Post by Philip17 | 2021-10-17 | 03:58:04

The difference between the two bunches 16 days out has changed by 700 km over the last 4 days, so too early to tell, but east still looks to be able to cover the westerners at least.

Post by Philip17 | 2021-10-17 | 03:58:21

Post by DancingBrave | 2021-10-17 | 17:18:47

Thanks for taking the time to share your insights YourMom & Toppen; much appreciated :)

Post by YourMomSA | 2021-10-20 | 21:14:35

Are the East boats feeling... concerned? ;-)

Post by tabasco2 | 2021-10-20 | 22:45:04

For now everything is ok. We remain faithful to ZEZO who always helped us a lot, and not like others "who ignore their advice and become" unfaithful ":) :)