Since making his escape two days ago, when he outsmarted the two class leaders, Italy’s Ambrogio Beccaria (Allagrande Mapei) and Franco-Brit Sam Goodchild (MACIF Santé Prévoyance), French skipper Corentin Horeau (MACSF) has built what looks like a secure lead at the front of the 21 boat IMOCA fleet on the Route du Rhum Destination Gaudeloupe, solo ocean sprint across the Atlantic.
But while Germany’s Boris Herrmann (Malizia 4), in second, third placed Italian-American Francesca Clapcich (11th Hour Racing) and fourth placed Goodchild all pulled back nearly 100 miles on the Horeau – best known to his friends and associates as Coco – the skipper from La Trinité sur Mer is still more than 185 miles ahead of the pack with just under than 2100 nautical miles to go to Pointe a Pitre.
After emerging from the centre of a low pressure yesterday, inside the boat Horeau has his hard hat on today and is quickest again making nearly 23 knots in unruly seas and in a strong N’ly wind while Herrmann is around 20kts
Herrmann back on impressive solo form? For the six times round-the-world race sailor, 45 year old Herrmann is in a great position mentally – sounding super positive, relaxed and focused today - and as well on the race course. This morning he had transitioned out of the low’s light winds and was into really muscular conditions, messy, big seas and winds over 30 knots.
Asked what he thought his chances are of catching runaway Horeau, Herrmann responded, “I never say never... He (Horeau) goes pretty fast at the moment. I think he averages higher than me. But in this sea state I'm probably not going to be much quicker, I’m at 21 knots. I think he goes a little faster than that. He's out of the back of it where probably the sea state is a bit better. I'm not sure (if I can catch him) Maybe I can speed up a bit later. But this race is full of surprises and lots of things can happen still. But I'm happy with it and the boat is in great shape.” Racing solo for the first time on his new Antoine Koch designed Malizia 4, Herrmann, who took back-to-back second places in his last solo events the 2024 Transat and New York Vendée, affirmed, “ I’m in a good mood, yes, I'm in a good position in the race and the boat is great, so all is good.”
But the biggest test is just ahead, as he explained, “The next 10 hours is pretty windy, so I need to get through this. Don't break anything, try to still be fast. That's still challenging. And then we have another few transitions and a big low. Some routings show 50 knots. This is much more challenging than the Route du Rhum when you're usually now in the trade winds. I'm just learning the boat’s best solo modes right now, sea state, how to balance the ballast and the foil, I am just trying and getting a feel for it.”
Goodchild on the comeback trail After haemorrhaging miles, virtually becalmed for hours in an old semi stationary front on just the second day of the race Goodchild is not dwelling on disappointment, but is fighting back hard, trying to pull back miles and boats,
“We're just kind of into the first difficult, really difficult storm bit of the race.
we've got 4 metres of waves here and 30 knots of wind and the boat's going pretty quick, so this is the first time we're really having to push hard. We are just trying to keep going fast and protect the boat as much as possible, which is not a very easy balance to find. You can do one or the other quite well, but not both. I am obviously a bit frustrated by my tactical error at the beginning of the race, which let Corentin get away and has meant for the last few days I've been just trying to catch up and it is damage limitation really. So that's a bit frustrating, but kind of change of objective and just one step at a time. It's a long race to go, who knows what could happen. So just optimise what I'm doing right now and how fast I'm going and where we go. But coming into the finish isn't looking very straightforward. We've got this low pressure system to deal with and then there's another semi-static one north of Guadaloupe, which we're going to have to deal with. Right now I'm pretty much at the worst of the sea state and the wind now. So, yes I'm still a bit frustrated with my bad tactical choice on the first night of the race. But that's part of the game. It changes a bit the pace and the objective of the Transat. But it doesn't change the daily routine of trying to optimise the trajectory and trying to go fast. But then we'll see what opportunities are presented to us. On the second side of the course, we're in the first big step with 4m of sea and 30 knots of wind. So, the mood on board is very focused, especially on the conditions at the moment. And for the rest of the race, it doesn't look that simple. I've been monitoring the situation for a while now. There's a semi-stationary depression north of Guadeloupe. We'll have to decide how to approach it, how to get around it or cross it.”
Horeau is racing the boat which was sailed to second on the Vendée Globe by Yoann Richomme, who won two back to back Route du Rhum races in Class 40 and last year sailed the two handed transat with Horeau who reminded us this morning, “A lead can vanish very quickly. I’ve already lost nearly 100 miles to Boris Herrmann. Yesterday, I had a lead of up to 230 miles, so naturally, I don’t want this situation to drag on for too long. But it also remains to be seen how the others will navigate the transitions behind me. For now, my main goal is to find some wind again and get away from this depression. We’ll see how things develop from there."
Ultim:Hurdles, hurdles Race leader Tom Laperche (SVR) Lazartigue is just starting to negotiate the north side of a low pressure system and ahead anticipaties some of the strongest and most unstable winds and conditions he has seen solo since starting to sail the ocean giant in 2023 as a 23 year old with Francois Gabart.
“Mostly, we’re very focused on the tropical depression we’ll have to cross. It’s quite atypical; I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a situation like this before. There’s a risk of strong winds, thunderstorms, and squalls—it’s certainly not going to be a straight shot to the Antilles!
“The real challenge lies in finding the right balance between the theoretically optimal route and what’s actually feasible out on the water. After that, we should be back to sailing upwind to reach the Antilles. In such unstable conditions, when sailing these large boats single-handed, the most important thing is to avoid being over-canvassed. That means there are times when we’re a bit under-powered, which can be frustrating—but it’s easier to accept when you have a bit of a lead. In the middle of the system, we could end up in very light winds, while gusts might hit from any direction. So, we need to keep a safety margin."
Class 40 Pirouelle on point The Class40 leaders have just gybed south, some 140 miles north of the Azores, with pre-race favourite Guillaume Pirouelle still leading the charge, anticipating some very strong downwind conditions. They, too are facing their biggest challenge of the race so far.
“The battle remains intense, and, more importantly, we have a major challenge to prepare for: passing near the center of the depression tomorrow morning.” Explained Pirouelle, “ We’ve already seen quite a bit of damage over the last few days, and no one wants to add their name to that list. We’ll need to be careful. For now, we’re lucky—the conditions are actually quite pleasant. Aside from a spell of light winds, the sea is fairly calm, the boat practically sails itself, and it’s a good time to get some rest. My sleep has been much heavier since yesterday, which I think is directly linked to the improved conditions. But that’s going to change quickly. As we draw closer to the center of the depression, we’ll need to stay extra vigilant. Conditions will become much more unstable, with potentially very strong and sudden shifts in wind direction. Once the strong winds arrive, getting any rest will be difficult. The weather system is expected to stay with us as we head southwest, which means we could be dealing with tough conditions for a day and a half, maybe even two days. So, today, the goal is to make the most of this breather—because what lies ahead promises to be a lot less comfortable!"
Spain’s Pep Costa lies tenth, very much in the thick of the chasing pack on VSF Sports, “ Once we are in the north-westerly wind, it's going to be quite strong but thankfully it will be a downwind or very broad reaching so we will be able to manage the speed and everything accordingly to that. The goal of course is to not break the boat and to have a safe passage through this low pressure, it will be quite big. I’ve no problems at all, all is good. We can continue like that but I've been taking care of the boat a lot and hopefully she will take care of me.”
“I think that the race is very far from over, there will be many, many things and the goal is to exit this low pressure in safe and to be able to be again on attack mode when we get out of that low pressure.”