If skippers had been hoping for an easier ride once they turned the corner around Cape Horn and altered course for home, they had now received a shock to the system. Despite having rounded the key landmark of this race, the leg from the bottom of the world to the finish is proving stressful for everyone as some of the most tactically challenging and energy sapping conditions that have been seen prevailed.
Conditions have caused a rash of failures and breakdowns and resulted in some of the scariest stories so far.
Meanwhile, the competition in the middle of the fleet has compressed to such an extent that after 60 days of racing the race has effectively re-started and the leaderboard been re-shuffled.
It hasn’t been any easier for those further back either with ice on one side and a serious storm blocking their path ahead.
From lightning strikes to going overboard at Cape Horn Week 9 was an incredible week of stories that changed by the day.
And if there was one aspect that bound them all it was stress.
Matt Sheahan reports.
CHAPTERS & QUICK LINKS
00:42 Intro
01:18 Charlie Dalin crosses the equator
03:53 Boris Herrmann goes aloft
04:21 Conrad Colman’s Iceberg
06:16 Ruyant’s crisis
08:21 Herrmann hit by lightning
10:45 Roura rounds the Horn
11:30 Jean Le Cam gets a visitor
13:36 Conrad Colman
14:18 Denis Van Weynbergh
15:07 Violette Dorange’s big, stressful dilemma
17:39 Freeing debris - Romain Attanasio & Clarisse Cremer
19:15 Nicolas Lunven forced to go manual
20:04 Paul Meilhat explains the stressful weather
22:13 Overboard at Cape Horn - Soudée’s incredible story
24:51 Rankings
PREVIOUS VENDEE GLOBE REPORTS
- The Turning Point - Vendee Globe - Week Eight 2-1-25
https://youtu.be/tpHyhuMTHtI
- Emotions Run High and Low - Vendee Globe - Week Seven 26 12 24
https://youtu.be/1Dy0y5qI7bc
- A Massive New Cape Horn Record - Vendee Globe
https://youtu.be/-0aGaQkKKJY
- Drama in the Deep South - Vendee Globe - Week Six - 19-12-24
https://youtu.be/DNhQvZNsOGc
- Medallia Dismasted - Vendée Globe 16 12 24
https://youtu.be/Y944gP4LumI
- Broken Boats & Big Gambles - Week 5 Review
https://youtu.be/k7v_C8-Evbk
- Storms Brewing - Vendée Globe - Week 4 Review
https://youtu.be/pSQWaIcI1gs
- And now...EVEN FASTER! - Vendée Globe - Week 3 Review
https://youtu.be/kHnfLwE6Uk0
- Record Breakers and Re-Shuffles - Vendée Globe - Week 2 Review
https://youtu.be/37dL7_qp9UI
- They’re Off! - Vendée Globe - Week 1 Review
https://youtu.be/jC9Kki4Ou3o
- The Toughest Offshore Race In The World - Vendee Globe Preview - OnCourse Ep36
https://youtu.be/Dr5no84yJ8A
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