Every Minute Counts in Last 24 Hours of Vendee Globe Race
26th January 2021
With less than 400 miles to the finish this evening Charlie Dalin (Apivia), 36, leads by over 85 miles
With something less than 24 hours until the first solo sailor finishes the Vendée Globe Race off Les Sables d’Olonne Wednesday night, even the most advanced modern weather routing programmes operated by some of the finest minds in ocean racing cannot seem to agree on who the winner of a truly epic ninth edition of the non-stop solo round the world race will be.
The margin of victory looks set to be down to tiny minutes after 80 days and 24,350 miles of racing. With five skippers harbouring realistic hopes of winning, the reality is that any one of Charlie Dalin, Boris Herrmann, Louis Burton, Thomas Ruyant and Yannick Bestaven have delivered performances equally worthy of overall victory.
A Degree Of Uncertainty
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First three boats in four hours on Wednesday afternoon? North or South, high risk or low risk?
Leader Dalin fastest
After 24,300 nautical miles and more than 80 days of racing around the world victory or a place on the podium on this ninth edition of the Vendée Globe might go down to the final layline, picking and sailing the perfect compass course from more than 100 miles out to the finish line at Les Sables d’Olonne’s famous Nouche Sud buoy.
At 48 hours to the first finisher is expected on the line Wednesday afternoon computer modelling from the current weather predictions suggest three solo skippers could finish within four hours of each other.