11/29/08 9 boats are within 20 miles of each other based on distance to finish. What is key at this point is being the first to get around the St. Helena high and into the westerlies of the South.
7 of the top 9 have previous Vendee Globe experience including Seb Josse in 3rd, and defedning champ Riou in 6th.
Current rankings show Generali and Brit Air 1st and 2nd. These boats are sailed by first time participants Yann Elies and Armel Le Cleac'h.
Elies is at 35 degrees south while Josse is at 36 south but farther west. Being east puts Elies closer to the theortical finish, but Josse's position maybe be more favorable short term.
11/15/08 Entering the first weekend of the race Loick Peyron and Gitana lead by 14 miles over Le Cam and 23 by Josse. Golding is 77 miles back. Peyron had reached 24 degrees north off Mauritania.
11/12/08 Update: Desjoyeux had electrical issues and had to return to port, mend and restart. Josse is the current leader with Peyron 3rd, Riou 5th, Guillmont 9th, Beyou 10th and Golding 11th. In writing the original article I accidentally did not include J.P. Dick who has been strong early currently setting 2nd.
Quotes: Josse "The weather condition are pleasant, a big change since the storm, the sun is back and it's warmer! It seems that my small east option works quite well. It's this kind of small gain and small decisions that can make a huge difference at the end."
Golding "strategically it is not about where you are on the course, it is about when you are going to go west. You are looking at places down the track – passing Madeira and setting up for the Canaries.”
The Vendee Globe is a round the world sailboat race contested by solo sailors that starts and finishes in France. This will be the 6th edition. 30 sailors are entered.
I give 7 sailors a chance at victory. My possible winners list is as follows: Jeremy Beyou, Michel Desjoyeux, Mike Golding,Mark Gillmont, Sebasitan Josse, Luke Peyron, Vincent Riou.
Beyou is an accomplished sailor in the Figaro class. He has a solid design but the boat has not been 100% reliable and he has not been around the world. The longest odds on this list.
Desjoyeux won the 2000 edition and is back with a Farr design. He has won all sorts of solo races and a win here is entirely conceivable.
Golding will sail his 3rd Vendee. He was in the top 3 last time, has a new boat and is the toughest sailor in the fleet.
Guillemot has a design that differs from many of the new boats, but lacks round the world experience.
Josse has several round the world trips both solo and crewed. I see him as better than his boat.
Peyron is immensly experienced and has had a quality run up to this race.
Riou is the defending champion but has had problems with reliability.
So my top 3 predictions are: 1. Josse 2. Desjoyeux 3. Golding.
