The first week of the Vendée Globe is complete! Of the 40 skippers who started this iconic, solo, non-stop race around the world, 39 remain in contention.
Consciously Conservative
After a light wind drift across the start line on Sunday 10th November, the strong winds that built on Day 2 persisted throughout Day 3 and into Day 4 (Wednesday) with gusts exceeding 40 knots.
Ollie consciously selected a conservative sail plan. The smaller sail configuration traded performance for reliability, meaning that he potentially sailed slower but he could remain in control and avoid damage. This decision allowed him to weather the first stormy conditions of the 24,000nm (nautical mile) race unscathed.
Similarly, Ollie showed long-term thinking by selecting a route which took him further west, outside the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) exclusion zone. The alternative option was to stay closer to land on the east side of the TSS, but this narrow passage required multiple manoeuvres, in the dark, in strong winds. Rather than exhaust himself and risk damaging the boat in these first few days of a very long race, Ollie played it safe and enjoyed a bowl of Asian Noodles and even managed to get some precious sleep.
Sadly, several boats did sustain damage, leading to the first retirement of the race, and many reports of anxious skippers performing onboard repairs.
Settling In
By mid-week Ollie had settled into his onboard rhythm, following his meal plan and finding time to test his brand new bunk; the verdict – “extremely comfy!”
Under a stunning full moon Tut gut. sailed through shifty conditions. One particularly intense squall pushed the boat so far over that Ollie’s oranges fell out of his fruit hammock and he had to crawl around the boat to retrieve them!
Passing Madeira on Day 5, conditions calmed and Ollie was able to shake out his reefs and focus on pace again.
However, an attempt to cut the corner backfired as the wind died, and Ollie’s speed fell below that of his competitors further to the West,
Ollie reflects on his route choice at this point:
“I made a slight navigational error. I had to pay dearly for it, and I dropped back a lot. But I don’t dwell on it – that was yesterday. Today is a new day.”
By the end of the following day, Ollie had recovered, narrowing the 320nm gap between him and the leaders to less than 150nm.
First Hiccup
As the race celebrated the completion of the first week, on Saturday 17th the 39 skippers were tightly bunched, and Ollie was up into position 20.
It was a beautiful day; gentle breeze and temperatures warm enough to allow Ollie to set aside his foulies in favour of shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt. However, not everything went smoothly; early in the morning Ollie’s autopilot suddenly stopped working. Ollie promptly switched to his back-up system and continued sailing whilst he investigated the issue.
Whilst the wind was picking up towards the west, and the leading boats were starting to accelerate away, Ollie stayed calm and took advantage of his light wind situation. With support from his technical shore team, he focussed on fixing and restoring his primary autopilot back to full working order.
What lies ahead…
As Week 2 unfolds, Ollie is approaching the Cape Verde Islands. The doldrums – a notorious area of particularly light and fickle winds - lie ahead along with increasing temperatures. Ollie will be focussed on trying to keep cool and calm, and pick his way through these light winds. So far, he remains in high spirits:
“What can I say of my first week in the Vendée Globe – well what a week it has been! Some very nice sailing conditions at the beginning and the past few days we’ve been in some very light winds. This will stay for a while as there is not much wind forecast all the way down to the doldrums and to the equator. It’s getting very warm onboard so every manoeuvre, every sail change ends up being quite sweaty! But I can’t complain, I’m very, very happy. Keep following and I’ll be back with an update soon!”
Stay up to date
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Distance Sailed: 1,818nm (7%)
Distance to go: 22,456nm (93%)
Great - keep going Ollie