The 9th Week of the Vendée Globe has been busy for Ollie. He managed to shake off the frustration of being stuck in a windhole for nearly 6 days last week, and bring his focus to the critical task at hand – dodging icebergs.
Icebergs on the Course
For the first time since 2008, competitors ahead of Ollie had spotted icebergs which had broken out of the Antarctic Exclusion Zone. Satellite images had detected these two ‘growlers’ prompting Race Management to issue alerts to all skippers with details of their location and anticipated drift direction.
On Tuesday 7th January (Day 59) Ollie knew he was approaching the danger zone. He carefully marked it out on his navigation software and set alarms on his radar. The following day (Wednesday 8th January) his proximity alarm sounded alerting him to a nearby iceberg – he ran up on deck and there it was – and there was an iceberg looming ahead to the port side.

“Wow, here I am, just sailing past an iceberg. Luckily, my radar did the job and gave me an alarm, but still, it’s pretty scary stuff.”
The Most Remote place on the planet
Aside from moving iceberg hazards, there is no land anywhere nearby.
The next day (Day 61) Ollie passed Point Nemo, the most remote place on the planet, the furthest point from land. At this point, sailors can be closer to the astronauts on the International Space Station than to anyone on land.
“As a I passed Point Nemo I was almost 3000km away from the nearest land in any direction. It’s well and truly isolated down here.”
A little ray of sunshine

After weeks of grey skies and unstable conditions, on day 62 (Friday 10th January) the clouds parted treating Ollie to a couple of sunny days. However, he quickly added
“Don’t be fooled, it looks warm but it is still freezing cold and I am slowly but surely turning into an icicle!”
Ollie later admitted his heater had only been working intermittently forcing him to huddle into his super-warm polar sleeping bag at times to stay warm. Luckily, Ollie managed to fix it and restore warmth to the boat.
Looking ahead

Ollie is on course to pass Cape Horn on Tuesday 14th January, the third of the big 3 capes. This milestone is significant for both geographical and psychological reasons. Here the Andes mountain range funnels the winds southward and two powerful ocean currents collide, a unique combination resulting in strong winds, rough seas and unpredictable storms.
Navigating between rocky outcrops and submerged islands, sailors knows this marks the transition from the Southern Ocean and into the Atlantic Ocean, with promises of warmth for the final third of the race.
“Cape Horn for us sailors is a bit like our Mount Everest and I am on my final few steps to the peak. Although the race is far from over this is a huge milestone for me. I cannot wait to escape the Southern Ocean and to escape the cold and start my ascent of the Atlantic and into warmer climates again!”
Follow along to share in Ollie's incredible solo, non-stop, race around the world.
CAP HORN! Gratuliere Olie, ganz tolle Leistung. Wir sind mächtig stolz auf Dich. Ueli "Oily" Liniger, Leiter Blauwasser-Gruppe, ZYC