With the first big transition zone of the race behind them, the ocean giants of Route du Rhum Destination Guadeloupe, the Ultim class, are making rapid progress on a southwesterly course. SVR Lazartigue’s Tom Laperche is setting a pace which Armel Le Cléac’h (Maxi Banque Populaire XI) seems to have struggled to match today, not least as SVR has had the better, stronger breeze.
At just over 65 miles behind his younger rival this afternoon, Armel is not concerned at the gap, pointing out that there have scenarios of very mixed up weather to come, “The wind has picked up, we’ve been reaching speeds of around 30–35 knots, with a sea state that’s a bit all over the place—it’s not exactly comfortable! We’re relatively close to the other boats. In the world of Ultim trimarans, a gap of 30, 40, or 50 miles can be closed quite quickly. Looking ahead, there are several possible scenarios; we’re waiting for the latest weather models to refine our options. One thing is certain: it won’t be a straight line to Guadeloupe. There are still transitions to navigate, shifting winds, and potentially moments where we’ll have to slow down significantly. Up until now, it’s mostly been about pure speed—what lies ahead is far less certain.”
Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim 3) is about 150 miles behind in third whilst it is worth noting the progress of Saint Malo’s ‘rock star’ Louis Burton. The solo racer who finished third on the 2020 Vendée Globe and who has a reputation for high risk, high speed sailing. He is only forty or so miles behind on his first Ultim race with Armand Thiery the 2015 launched boat on which Francois Gabart set a solo mark of 42 days in 2017.
Gitana’s foil problem, Actual 4 off Galway, Ireland Course record holder Charles Caudrelier has his race on pause for the moment, making slowed progress on the new Gitana 18 since reporting foil damage this morning. And Anthony Marchand on Actual Ultim 4 was about 40 miles offshore of Galway this afternoon. After suffering damage to his main rudder his is expected to rendezvous with his technical team later today in the west of Ireland.
Fiftys Figaro time Longtime Ocean Fifty leader Basile Bourgnon (Edendred) has been first to break into the new northerly breeze and was making speeds seven knots quicker than second placed Baptiste Hulin (Viablis Oceans). But as if in a foretaste of their transition in 2028 to become the class of choice for La Solitaire du Figaro, their racing has been so close, tactical and tight. “We’ve been sailing in ‘Figaro mode,’ with Basile and the others right behind us,” explains 2021 La Solitaire winner Pierre Quiroga. “We’ve been pushing the pace to the max, really putting our boats through their paces, and grabbing micro-naps of 5–10 minutes—at least when we aren’t too stressed by the speed, since we’re frequently hitting bursts of 30 knots.” After two grueling days, the skipper of Wewise says he has eased off the throttle a bit: “I ended up making a mistake with the sail configuration, and my gennaker went overboard, so I’ve been taking plenty of naps to recover. It’s done me a world of good.”
Horeau’s smooth straight course pays The IMCOA leaders are into a critical phase of their race. After the headlong sprint west the first, major hurdle has been negotiated a wide ridge of lighter winds which has given way to a corridor of northerly wind. Whilst Sam Goodchild (MACIF Santé Prevoyance) and his Italian rival Ambrogio Beccaria (Allagrande Mapei) elected to make a 30 miles hitch north, worried they were too south, Corentin Horeau (MACSF) went straight and has had the lead since this morning.
Goodchild in third reported mid-morning, “It's been all right, actually. Very, very shifty winds coming out of Ireland on that long port we did. So it's been really shifty. I'm trying to keep up with that with the sails and trying to get the choices and strategy right. I made a call yesterday to gybe and go through this front a little farther north. And I hope it will be a bit easier. At the moment, it's not that easy. So I'm hoping it can be even harder for the guys to the south. But time will tell. Right now, we just have to try and get to the new breeze. That breeze is west of us. And I think everyone's fighting as best they can to get west and then once we're in the breeze, the race will start again. But really getting into the breeze and to the west is the number one priority. Our tactical choice has been made where we wanted to try and push into it. You can't change that now. It's too late. So I've picked a northerly route, Corentin’s southerly and Ambrogio something in between. So time will tell how we get out of it. The gybe idea wasn't part of the plan. I was just worried about finding myself too far south. I thought there was more risk being too far south than too far north. So that's the plan. This light patch is expanding and then it's going to start moving west again. So it could be a rich get richer sort of situation. We definitely don’t want to be left out the back.”
Rich getting richer Looking down the course the leaders have to decide whether to keep descending south down this corridor of northerly breeze, not really knowing what will be at the bottom of it, or heading west towards to meet a new low forming over Newfoundland which will bring more reliable, favourable winds but at a cost of sailing more miles to connect with it. But this seems to be the option favoured by Seb Simon (Groupe Dubreuil-Air Caraibes) who was on a course 30 miles to the north.
British IMOCA skipper Will Harris observed from the sidelines“This has been the first decision to be made after a speed race so far and now those who are in this new breeze are likely to extend whilst for those behind it is getting harder and harder to get into it. It is definitely beneficial to be in the top five right now and these 10-20 mile gaps could open up to 50 or 60 miles quite quickly. Corentin is on a good position now he is further VMG downwind and is in a very strong position.”
Class 40’s leader Rosetti looks ahead with some trepidation Italy’s Luca Rosetti was still holding a very narrow lead in Class 40 on Macaferri Futura. His northerly route looks strong with both his main rivals, Pierre Leboucher (Institut Imagine) and Guillaume Pirouelle (Sogestran Seafrigo) converging from the south. The skipper who finished sixth on last year’s two handed race to Martinique was also quickest but his biggest concern, as it is through Class 40 is a big low they will encounter at the Azores. “Yes, I'm in the leading group. I'm happy about my position in the ranking, but the race is really long. So, I'm not thinking about the ranking, I'm thinking just to push hard and try to preserve me and the boat a little bit. Because we will have a very strong condition and I want to be at 100% till the end. The strategy is not really clear for me because of the low pressure. There is a little bit of divergence in the model. For the GFS, there is a passage to the north and on the European one, we can go a little bit more straight. So, it's not really clear for me what is the best strategy. I'm still trying to be open-minded and find the best route, of course. The boat is really good. I just broke a spinnaker sheet. So, not problem because I have a new one and I changed it. So, I'm happy because the boat is doing really well.”
Czech solo racer Milan Kolacek is in seventh, less than 30 miles off the lead on Inland Roots Ocean Soul with Spain’s Pep Costa (VSF) close behind in eighth.
Vintage Mono and MultiAfter losing leader Francis Joyon (Oceans) who was rescued on to a ship last night after capsizing yesterday afternoon, the two remaining ORMA trimarans hold first and second place in the Vintage Multi fleet, Damien Seguin (Arkea Handicap International) leading Eric Peron (French Touch –Oceania Hotels) by 11 miles whist Sidney Gavignet (Cigar Rouge) is first in the Vintage Monos,