High Seas Scandal

Ahoy! This weeks roundup brings us some high seas skullduggery, a couple cracked hulls, and a snapped mast. Someone must have snuck a banana on board…

In today’s letter:

• The Vendée Accusation: High seas cheating.

• Race Updates: De-masted in the home stretch.

• Sailing Snippets: The Unconcerned Sailboat, VR Sailing Course, S.A.I.L. Above the Clouds, Gulf Stream Classrooms.

The Vendée Accusation

Saucy screenshots leaked to scuttle skipper

On Sunday, an anonymous email was sent to the French Sailing Federation claiming to show proof of a couple cheating…in the Vendée Globe race.

The prestigious Vendée Globe is a solo, non-stop, round the world race that takes place every four years on 60 foot IMOCA’s, beginning and ending in the French port of Les Sables-d'Olonne. Use of weather and routing data external to the boat is prohibited in the race.

The email contained WhatsApp messages between French skipper Clarisse Cremer, who was racing aboard Banque Populaire, and her husband on land. Supposedly, the saucy screenshots revealed the husband relaying illicit weather data. Spicy.

Cremer denied the allegations on Thursday, saying the messages were strictly personal, and noted that the timing of the tip-off is suspicious. With 44 candidates vying for a maximum of 40 spots in this years November race, has there been some skullduggery afoot to scuttle Cremer’s 2024 bid?

Race Updates

So close yet so far, and the Ultims heat up in the tropics.

Global Solo Challenge: On February 11, Ronnie Simpson’s Shipyard Brewing dismasted 650 miles from shore in the South Atlantic. Simpson was in 3rd place, and had completed 106 days of the race which has an average 130 day duration.

• Ronnie is a 38 year old military veteran who served in the Iraq War, and credits sailing with saving his life after a long recovery from severe combat wounds. Shipyard Brewing is the namesake Maine brewery that sponsored Ronnie and the boat, Shipyard Brewing.

He deployed a droge to stabilize the boat, and had to cut the rig which was causing the hull to flex. Without enough fuel to motor to land, and unable to jury rig a sail, Simpson activated his EPIRB, and a rescue was coordinated with the race team. He is currently safely aboard the Taiwanese ship SAKIZAYA YOUTH.

William MacBrien aboard Phoenix was rescued by the Japanese cargo ship Watatsumi after waking up to discover water seeping into the hull, and all power was lost onboard.

Ocean Globe Race: After 30 days of racing, Pen Duick VI (FR) took first place in the Cape Horn leg of the race, skippered by Marie Tabarly.

Translated 9 retired from this leg of the race and is seeking shelter in the Falkland Islands. She suffered hull cracks after a knockdown.

ARKEA Ultim Challenge: Armel Le Cléac'h’s reported damage to his central rudder aboard Maxi Banque Populaire XI yesterday morning, in an anticyclone centered on Buenos Aires. He is diverting to a Brazilian port to assess.

Charles Caudrelier on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild remains solidly in first place, and is enjoying the heat of the tropics heating towards the Horn of Brazil.

Sailing Snippets

The best clips, clicks, and local bits from around the world.

⛳️ Gulf-Stream Classroom: These Sixth-grade students from Beaufort Middle School in South Carolina built miniature wood sailboats, loaded them with momentos, and launched them into the sea. The goal was to see if the Gulf Stream would carry them across the Atlantic, and learn about ocean currents in the process. Instead, a storm blew the boats up to Nantucket, where tourists discovered them. The boats are being refitted by a new classroom of students, and will be re-launched next year for a fresh transatlantic attempt.

📘 S.A.I.L. Above the Clouds: by best selling author Carole Fontaine “weaves big emotions, humorous impasses, and motivating results through topics such as overcoming major health concerns and chronic disease, tackling mental health, surviving the doldrums of a 30-year marriage, discovering life’s purpose, and learning when you’re the crab’s dinner, or receiving a naked spank from Mother Nature.” Carole is a reader of the newsletter, and we wanted to give her a shoutout. You can check out her book here.

🤢 VR Sailing Course: Get seasick without ever leaving land! Just kidding… Sailing education outfit NauticEd released a new sailing trainor for the MetaQuest VR headset. They describe it as similar to a flight simulator for pilots, but for sailboats. Since it is a sailing simulator, we assume there will be virtual seasickness, virtual Pain-Killers, and you will be woken up in the middle of the night convinced you are dragging anchor.

🧪 Scientific Sailboats: Warning, this research paper is denser than hard tack, but here’s the skinny. Since sailboats can go places that standard research vessels can’t, scientists used them to gather Co2 data from parts of the ocean they normally couldn’t reach, giving them unique climate change data.

🎤 Pink Gatekeeping: A Sydney sailing club denied the pop star Pink entrance, on grounds that she didn’t have her ID, proving that there are some curmudgeons still lurking in yacht clubs. The club offered her a ride in one of their dinghies to make amends.

🧊 Unconcerned Sinking: Remember the sailboat that showed up, plopped anchor, and never left? To no one’s surprise, it’s now sinking into the ice. When finally reached for comment, the owner was unconcerned. The Canadian government is also unconcerned, and a spokesperson for Transport Canada said the sailboat "has been deemed to be neither dilapidated nor abandoned." The neighbors, on the other hand, are concerned, and have been watching the boat slowly slip beneath the ice.

That’s all for today, we’ll ketch ya’ next week folks. Fair winds and following seas.