Last Vendée Globe arrival Ari Huusela due Friday Morning

With 130 nautical miles to go to the finish line of the Vendée Globe this Thursday afternoon, the 25th and final skipper Ari Huusela has made what should be his last tack of the race and the 58 year old Finnish skipper is this afternoon concentrating on tidying his boat and having everything perfectly shipshape for his arrival across the finish line which should be – he believes – around 0900hrs UTC Friday morning, 1000hrs local time.

The light winds he has had today have been ideal for him to neatly fold away the sails he won’t need now and he says it is important to him to everything in good order and in place for his finish. And staying busy is also good for his nerves and emotions.

“It is good now to be able to work and clean stuff and tidy I only have five or six knots right now so I am doing all I can.” Ari said this afternoon. After my tack I will be heading towards Les Sables d’Olonne and that feels good. But it is very slow progress.

The wind is from the ENE, 060 degrees. I met my first fishing boat and fishing nets and luckily it was in daylight so it was easy to avoid. I hope it will stay a bit calm for a while but the wind will pick up in the night so it will be 20kts in the morning, six to eight hours upwind. I should be able to make it on the one tack so it will be fine to enjoy.” He said this afternoon: