A clip of Bank Populair flat chat testing for the start of this Sunday’s Vendee.
These IMOCA yachts are now fitting foils….

😯

[video]https://youtu.be/RNAbNRhCkQ0[/video]

And some more of Seb Josse onboard footage ..

[video]https://youtu.be/DWlrVzuccFo[/video]

That’s me glued to the Vendee website for the next 3 months and hopefully in Les Sables d’Olonnes for the finish.

😀

Excellent, I expect many failures and loads of awesome onboard footage.

😯

Fantastic videos and awesome kit.

I remember sailing two of Josh Hall’s round alone boats out of Ipswich when they used to get chartered with him in the late 90s.

They were stunning in their day but that just highlights how far materials and design has come.

Simply amazing.

Yay, I’ll be on the website too. I love the Vendee, even bought a house there.

Saw a clip on the news this morning – those boats are insane…

That first video is giving me goosebumps!

That thing is FAST!

They don’t look very comfortable do they?

Cracking footage in that first video. Can’t help thinking that the southern ocean is no respecter of carbon fibre though.

I was listening to Alex Thompson talking about the race on the radio earlier in the week. He’s only completed 2 out of 5 Vendees. It’s tough race in the harshest of conditions. Good luck to him though, it’d be nice to be the first non French sailor to win it.

I would not fancy spending 4 months at 45degrees.

Good luck to em all.

They don’t look very comfortable do they?

Probably going to be hard getting a good night’s sleep.

Nice thread.

To win first you must finish !

Many (all) of these new boats broke on their first real race test, teething troubles of the scariest kind. These boats are extraordinary and sailed at pace alone. The auto pilot tech is amazing

Sadly not at the start as planned this tilme, 4 years has gone so fast, atmosphere is amazing and the crowds unbelievable for any sport never mind sailing.

Will be glued to the race, one of the frue sporting adventures. Sail fast, sail safe.

Probably going to hard getting a good night’s sleep.

No such thing, short power naps 24/7. They do lots of specialist training – sleep
10-15 mins wake check stuff sleep 10-15 etc. These sailors have a natural ability to do that but they really work at it

There’s an App too 😉

And the reason Alex hasn’t finished, it’s because he’s hard on kit. He’s quite a brute.

I’ve been on the last gen Boss around the Solent, even in the puddle here in 20knts it’s was rocking 30knts true. Unbelievable, and so light on the tiller, like on rails.

I’m really hoping this years race gets some excellent footage of them blasting full chat, even light 10knts wind these things fly.

Whoop!!

Oh well that’s me out then. I need a good solid 8 hours a night.

They look fast and wet….
I too am going to be glued to Vendee.
Stay safe folks – the limits of technology are exciting and dangerous.

@bikebouy

Is the app the netco sport one?

Last year whilst on holiday in Brittany we wandered around the pontoon where these boats were moored up in Lorient. I couldnt quite believe we were allowed to see the boats so close up, milling around with some of the world’s top sailors. Kids loved it too, incredible boats, beautiful.

You can have your own boat and join in here: Virtual Regatta
It can be a dangerous game though, I think some players don’t get much more sleep than the real skippers

Bloody hellfire. 😯

Starting to look like F1 cars with bits sticking out all over the shop.

Yes it’s the netco App.

Should pop up with 3 tables, along with the countdown timer in the top pane.

Interesting trade off between the extra drag of the foils and the lift/increase in speed they can offer. I think there needs to be something like 14 knots of winds to make them work – below which they’re a disadvantage.
I’m doing the virtual regatta this time, could be fun.

That’s incredible footage in the first video – it’s beyond my comprehension doing that for an extended period of time. I can just about manage to get my head round sailing at that sort of speed around the cans for a couple of hours as part of a crew, but the energy and concentration required to cope with that across the ocean on their own must be phenomenal. Sportspeople in a class of their own – thanks for the heads up on the race starting.

[video]https://youtu.be/8rzs357f0mw[/video]

Amazing stuff

presumably the best place to follow this is from the main Vendee globe website

http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/

Fabulous vids.

One more thing before the start tomorrow, it’s worth considering the comradeship each of the skippers have with each other. Whilst it’s a full on flat chat race to win, they all support each other and wouldn’t think twice to ditch the race and go help another skipper in trouble.

The App should give all the positions, race feeds and comms. Obvz the website might have a bit more content, but give the App a go.

This is worth a watch.

[video]https://youtu.be/eJgi-F9Njzo[/video]

One more thing before the start tomorrow, it’s worth considering the comradeship each of the skippers have with each other. Whilst it’s a full on flat chat race to win, they all support each other and wouldn’t think twice to ditch the race and go help another skipper in trouble.

I recall reading the account of Pete Goss turning round and beating back 160 or so miles to rescue Raphall Dineli. A fantastic achievement. He’s certainly a guy I’d want in my corner when the chips were down.

This is worth watching if you have the time, from a certain alternative sailing site 😉

[video]http://vimeo.com/190357674[/video]

Is the Virtual Regatta worth it if you don’t send any money?

I can’t even find the “heading programmer” at the moment. Do I have to buy that?

What is TWA?

TWA is true wind angle (ie the actual wind direction which is different from AWA apparent wind angle which is what you feel on the boat and to which you set your sails).

No idea on the virtual app as it seems to have hung up and I am not registered yet

Thanks

Start in 10 mins – live here

[video]http://youtu.be/Gmte4-QN7rs[/video]

Cheers jamba

So I’m ready for the start, course set

Then at 12:02 it reloads or tries to

So now I’m staring at a VR think going round

Amphill virtual regatta app not working for me, just watching youtube feed. Its a 80 day event we can “catch up” later and win just like Mich Des did in 2009 😉

Signed up to virtualregatta, not much of a clue what I’m doing but just put the spinnaker up, bared off a bit and set auto TWA. The app itself is a voyage of discovery

So how are we all doing?

I’m upto 83,055th so quite excited

I’m Ampthill on there as well.

74,139th loads of people got caught to close to Spain

VR app failed to work for me so yesterday I lost interest – Jamabalya Racing never left the dock 😐

bared off a bit and set auto TWA. The app itself is a voyage of discovery

That’s a good way to hit the land 🙂

bore off btw 😉

I’m not far behind you Ampthill in about 106,000 (Stapleford Flyer) currently on starboard about to take your stern off!
I was out when the race started and although I set the boat up before the start it headed off too far north with the wrong sail up so I’m playing catchup.
J-dog, I’m having to just play on my phone as I can’t get the web page to run on my old PC.