Day 11 - 600 miles to go - the countdown is on to the finish
With 600 miles to go to the finish of the Transat Café L’OR, the team on 11th Hour Racing is continuing to push hard and pressure their rivals on MACIF Santé Prévoyance for second place behind run-away leader Charal.
A day ago the margin between the boats in second and third positions was around 20 miles, but a strong performance overnight has lifted Francesca Clapcich and Will Harris on 11th Hour Racing to just six miles behind Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar, with a lateral separation between the boats of about 12 miles.
A quick selfie in the early hours of this morning! © Francesca Clapcich | 11th Hour Racing
The pace in the Trade Winds continues to be relentless with Francesca and Will continuing to spend consecutive hours hand-steering to get the last ounce of speed out of their boat.
Yet again, the to-do list in terms of boat maintenance remains short-to-non-existent, which means Francesca and Will can concentrate on speed and on making the best of their approach to the finish at Fort-de-France.
In her latest report from onboard, Francesca said fresher winds at night have helped them remain on the pace with MACIF. “It’s definitely better conditions for our boat and we are able to really put all the horse power down,” she said.
Every course change is now crucial in maintaining race position. “In the next couple of hours we will have to gybe and we just have to pick the right moment, either with a windshift, or if we see the pressure dropping,” Francesca explained. “At the same time, we also want to match the group.”
She said Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière on board Charal who, this morning, are 120 miles ahead of 11th Hour Racing, are now racing by themselves while she and Will remain closely matched with MACIF and with Allagarande MAPEI, not far behind in fourth position.
“It’s getting there – it’s getting close,” she said of the finish line, “and we keep pushing. Both Will and I have been handsteering the boat for the entire day, taking turns, trying to maximise the performance in the medium air that we struggle a little bit with. Then at night, the pilot is definitely doing a better job and we really try to push and put on some miles.”
Francesca also sent a message congratulating Justine Mettraux, her former team mate and the Teamwork-Team SNEF skipper, who is in fifth place, sailing with Xaiver Macaire, for being voted Female World Sailor of the Year. The award was announced by World Sailing last night in Ireland in recognition of Mettraux’s eighth place – and first female finisher – in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe. That performance came at the beginning of a year that has seen Mettraux take part in every IMOCA race of a busy season.
“On behalf of the entire team I would like to fully congratulate ‘JuJu’ for the Rolex World Sailor of the year,” said Francesca, who also congratulated Charlie Dalin, the winner in the Male category. “Absolutely deserved. I can’t think of a better candidate to get the prize, and I’m really glad the entire sailing community saw what a performance she put in in the Vendée Globe.”
Ed Gorman