Nothing is over in the 15th Transat Jacques Vabre between Le Havre and Fort-de-France in Martinique. Many sailboats are neck and neck. The wind has been almost absent subscribers since the departure on November 7 from Le Havre but since this weekend the first ones have clearly accelerated.
The Ultim already off the coast of Brazil
The maxi trimaran Edmond de Rothschild by Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier still leads the Ultim maxi trimaran and is off Brazil. It is followed by SVR-Lazartigue by François Gabart and Tom Laperche, Banque Populaire XI by Armel Le Cléac’h and Kevin Escoffier and Actual by Yves Le Blévec and Anthony Marchand. After the express repair of their starboard foil in Madeira Thomas Coville and Thomas Rouxel on Sodebo are trying to catch up. The fleet will have to negotiate the Doldrums which could reduce the gaps.
The Ocean Fifty with a touch of a button
The Ocean Fifty trimarans led by Koesio by Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben had crossed the Cape Verde archipelago this Monday morning.
Brawl at first glance among the Imoca
A little further north in the Atlantic Ocean, the large Imoca monohulls stand for the first in a few miles: Apivia by Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat, Charal (by Jérémie Beyou and Christopher Pratt) and Linkedout (from northerner Thomas Rettant and Morgan Lagravière) succeeded one another at the head of the fleet. “A week to do Le Havre – The Canaries in Imoca, it’s not very, very fast “ says Charlie Dalin after a week of racing, ” it was quite intense, with often changes of tack, a lot of maneuvering and, unsurprisingly, we find tough opponents of high level “. The next strategic choices will be decisive and everyone is observed closely on the radars, and even visibly: “We can instantly compare our speeds and our heading with other boats “.
It will not be very easy to find the best route to go to Cape Verde. Charlie dalin
The Class 40 spread out between Spain and the Canaries.
The Class 40 fleet is extremely stretched. The first sailboat is expected next Monday in Fort-de-France and the first Imoca on Wednesday 24.