As the second week of the Vendée Globe race unfolded, Ollie steadily worked his way back towards the main fleet after a navigational decision at the end of Week 1 left him trailing. This week was all about patience, strategy, and taking opportunities when they came.
Cape Verde Islands - Passed To Port
On Wednesday 20 November, (Day 11) Ollie approached the Cape Verde Islands, greeted with a stunning sunrise. By this point, a gap of over 100nm separated Ollie and the next boat in front of him, the 35th placed “Coup de Pouce”.
Ollie’s strategy is to focus on the long game; completing the race. He carefully maintains the balance of pushing hard when he can make gains, but knowing when to ease off and stay safe. Nevertheless, he was disappointed that he had fallen further behind than he intended.
Approaching the notorious Doldrums on day 13, Ollie increased his focus on the weather. This area, officially known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone, lies between the north-easterly trade winds in the northern hemisphere and the south-easterly trade winds of the southern hemisphere. These two airmasses don’t mix and the weather in this zone is characterised by very little wind, mixed with unpredictable, squally clouds.
A combination of excellent navigation and a little luck, enabled Ollie to find and follow a narrow band of pressure which propelled him swiftly through the Doldrums, closing the gap to the boat ahead (now “Nexans-Wewise”) in 35th position to under 30 nautical miles.
Equator Crossing – A Toast to Neptune
At 2:20am on Sunday 24th November (Day 15) Ollie crossed the equator and entered the Southern hemisphere. Following tradition, he marked the transition by offering a gift to Neptune, the Lord of The Seas, to gain his favour and seek a safe passage whilst in the treacherous Southern Ocean.
Ollie offered a toast of his favourite Skullduggery Rum from Antigua, first to the sea, then to the boat and finally to himself.
Traditions observed, Ollie was back racing By the end of the day his hard work had narrowed the gap to 35th place to just 3 nautical miles.
5-degrees South – Taking the Penalty
Early on Day 16 (Monday 25th November) Ollie reached the latitude of 5-degrees South, where he was required to take a 2-hour time penalty for a rule infringement which had happened ashore, during the final few days before the Vendee Globe race started.
Naturally, the team had prioritised their efforts on the jobs which would be most critical for Ollie’s safety and performance. Once these were complete, the technical team were ticking off the remaining tasks.
One of these tasks was to reapply some damaged sponsor branding to Ollie’s J1 headsail. The technical team waited for a quiet moment to take the sail off the boat, into a more spacious area to apply the new stickers.
The rules of the race stipulate a deadline for all racing sails to be on the boat, and they cannot be removed again without authorisation. Unfortunately, whilst waiting for that quiet period to transfer the sail up and down the crowded pontoon, the deadline for removing sails from the boat expired.
The technical team informed the race committee who, once the race had started, held a short hearing to determine the severity of the infringement. The committee recognised that the team had voluntarily revealed their mistake, and that Ollie and Tut gut did not gain any performance advantage. They awarded the minimum penalty of 2 hours, which must be taken at 5-degrees South.
So, on arriving at this position, Ollie contacted the race HQ to advise them he was commencing his penalty. He sailed from North to South across this specific line of latitude. 2 hours later, he re-crossed the same line in the same place (within an allowable leeway) and resumed racing.
It is disappointing for the team to know that this error cost Ollie two hours of racing and allowed the 35th placed boat to extend away again.
In the Vendée Globe, just as in life, it’s not always plain sailing. Mistakes happen and we need to own them and move on.
Ollie remains positive and relaxed "Of course it is disappointing to pause racing for 2 hours, but these things happen! We did make a mistake and now we did the penalty. 2 hours is a short period in a very long race, and I am focussed on delivering my best performance over the next 80 or so days.”
Week 3 – Challenges Ahead
The fleet has now split into two distinct groups. The leading group of 19 foiling design IMOCAs have taken full advantage of favourable conditions over the past few days, with the 24-hour distance record having been broken several times in quick succession!
This leading pack have benefitted from a low pressure system, with winds propelling them in a south-easterly direction, towards the next milestone – the Cape of Good Hope on the tip of South Africa.
The second group, which is mostly composed of the daggerboard fleet – and includes Ollie – are currently just off the Brazilian coast. They will not benefit from this same band of low pressure, and will need to sail further south until the next opportunity presents itself for this group to catch the favourable wind to the SE.
The Vendée Globe is a race, but also a test of endurance, tactics and adaptability. Ollie continues to embrace the challenge wholeheartedly.
Watch Ollie's Week 2 Round Up here and follow along to see how he navigates the next set of challenges:
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