After the last goodbyes on the docks of the Paul Vatine basin, from 6 o'clock this morning, the 42 boats were on the starting line, in front of the Cap de La Hèvre, in Le Havre. On one side, the âeuro class40 and âeuro Imoca monohulls and on the other side, the âeuro Multi50 and âeuro Ultimes multihulls separated by a military boat.
A few minutes before the start, the wind was still absent and some competitors were still using the engine. As a reminder, the skippers can use them until 4 minutes before the start. The wind, which was supposed to be from the North-East, was coming from the other side and the sailors were full of uncertainty about the start, but continued to reach the starting buoys.
It is also time for the crew to leave the duos. They had come aboard the boats to relieve the sailors before their long transatlantic journey (sail changes, adjustmentsâ?¦) so that they could concentrate on the weather files and race tactics.
The start was given at 1:30 pm, under a beautiful sun despite the autumn. But the lack of wind did not facilitate the start of the boats. In particular the Ultimates, which are heavy and look like they're sluggish in light airs. This start resembled above all a Mini Transat or Figaro Bénéteau start, where the wind is gentle. So it was in slow motion that the boats tried to move forward, sails flapping for lack of wind, wondering if they should change sails or gybe.
It was an Imoca that got off to the best start, Newrest/Matmut (Fabrice Amedeo/Eric Peron) followed by the Multi50 La French Tech Rennes Saint-Malo (Gilles Lamiré/Yvan Bourgnon). At 13 h 40, the monohulls were beginning to find wind âeuros past south âeuros and were hoping that the situation would improve.
At around 14 hours, Macif had finally managed to make headway, and was in the lead of the multihulls. The first of the fleet was Le Souffle du Nord, followed by the two regattas (Charles Caudrelier and Sébastien Josse) on Edmond de Rothschild. The two Figaro sailors are used to controlling their boat, even in light winds.
Barely 1 hour and 10 minutes after the start, SMA (Paul Meilhat and Michel Desjoyeaux) and Macif (François Gabart and Pascal Bidégorry) had taken the lead of the fleet. Even if Groupe Queguiner - Leucemie Espoir (Yann Eliès) was not far behind.
After more than an hour looking for the slightest breath of air, the wind returned from the North forcing the fleet to sail upwind to the Antifer buoy and then to the two marks anchored in front of the beach of Etretat, including the Conseil Départemental de Seine Maritime buoy, the last mark on the course before Itajaí. Macif (François Gabart/Pascal Bidegorry) then took the lead of the race ahead of Sodebo Ultim' (Thomas Coville/Jean-Luc Nélias) and Prince de Bretagne (Lionel Lemonchois/Roland Jourdain).
Tomorrow, Monday 26 October, it will be a different story. From the middle of the night, the wind will freshen to around twenty knots from the south-east and then increase significantly during the day on Monday. In other words, the coasts of Cotentin and then Northern Brittany are going to unravel quickly. An express exit from the English Channel! The duos will have to deal with a strong depression and big and chaotic seas. But two options are possible: to head west, in heavy weather, to look for a north-westerly shift that will allow them to slip south quickly, or to put the blinker to the left and head down towards the direct routeâ?¦ but to sail close to the wind in less strong conditions.
Buoy marking Seine Maritime Departmental Council
Class40: 1. Bretagne âeuros Crédit Mutuel Elite, 2 âeuros Team Concise, 3 âeuros SNBSM Espoir Compétition
Mutli 50: 1. FenêtréA Prysmian, 2. La French Tech Rennes Saint-Malo 3. Ciela Village
IMOCA: 1. SMA, 2. Queguiner-Leucémie Espoir, 3. Newrest/Matmut
Ultime: 1. Macif, 2. Sodebo Ultim'. 3. Prince de Bretagne
