Vendée Globe update: Beyou approaching Cape Finisterre, Goodchild completes repair
by Vendée Globe media 22 Jan 18:12 UTC
22 January 2025
Alan Roura in the Vendée Globe - 22 January 2025 © Alan Roura
Jérémie Beyou has under 500 miles to the finish but the skipper of Charal is still holding to modest speeds as he climbs the Portuguese then Galician coast towards Cape Finisterre which he should pass this morning. After the big gale winds are easing. Seas will be very confused.
Behind him Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) and Nico Lunven (HOLCIM PRB) are only about 20 miles apart still near the centre of the low in fifth and sixth.
Sam Goodchild is hanging on well and is hoping to hoist a repaired mainsail this morning, he sent this update: "I have worked on the mainsail quite a bit. In fact that is all I have been doing. But now we are at the stage where I'm out of glue! I had 14 cartridges of glue, and I'm finished. We worked with the shore team and North Sails to maximize the chances of success. I just stuck the last patch on an hour ago, all that's left to do is attach a batten that's a bit loose, all the others are repaired, and then I'll attach the mainsail to the mast, hoist it and try it.
"Once the patch has dried, tonight I'll attach the batten, and tomorrow morning, when the wind has died down a bit, I'll be able to hoist it and we'll see what happens. Probably just the third reef first, see how it falls, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, it wasn't ideal conditions because we had a lot of waves, it was very wet, it's not the easiest thing to stick together, I did my best. I am proud of what I have done.
"I am not 100% confident that it'll work but I am 100% confident that we have done our best. Let's see this morning.
"There are still waves of 3-4 meters winds of 25-30 knots. I am trying to stabilize the boat because I am on deck to repair my mainsail, so I have to stay safe and not take any risks. We are making good progress with my two sails wing on wing, in scissors. That is quite reassuring. With a bit of mainsail it would be even better!
"Over the next few days, the weather is looking tough. These are not the easiest conditions to get home! There is a N'ly which will come in tomorrow, I will probably go towards the Portuguese coast to have the least possible wind, the optimal route in strong wind, I do not want to test my mainsail right away. After that there will be a bit of a lull, and very strong wind for Cape Finisterre and the crossing of the Bay of Biscay.
"My goal is to arrive at the Cape in as best shape possible, after that I will need my mainsail less, but it won't be a relief either because there will be 40 knots, but it will be a little less stress I hope.
"We are tired! The boat and I. You really feel it we have been on a tightrope for two and a half months, we are always working at the limit in terms of tiredness you want to be lucid but you don't want to waste too much time sleeping too much. We spend our lives listening to ourselves and trying to realize when we are tired to take just one more little nap, to get back into the green and not fall into the red. But after two and a half months, this theoretical line doesn't really matter! There are adrenaline rushes that push us, and then make the crash all the harder.
"Yesterday for example, when the mainsail was lowered, I collapsed, I went to sleep for 1h30m, my body just gave out. Today I had a little adrenaline rush to get going again, I'm feeling a bit down again. I can't wait to have a real night's sleep in a real bed!
"It's difficult to do a routing without a mainsail, I don't even know if I can get upwind without a mainsail, so I'm trying not to project myself too much. If I'm not there in a week, I might run out of food and diesel, but I have hope... It'll hold!"
Conrad Colman sent in a video update:
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