At the head of the fleet âeuros François Gabart (Macif) and Francis Joyon (Idec Sport) âeuros conditions are close to the trade winds, not very invigorating, but still established to the north-east by a dozen knots.
At the back of the pack, conditions are really different, especially for the last Rhum monohulls, still in the Bay of Biscay. With two lows in three days, the sea is rough and confused and does not make the progress southward very easy.
Especially as the conditions are not getting any better. A new low is expected this Thursday evening, November 8, north of the Azores and will sweep away those who have not yet rounded Cape Finisterre. And there are still a good twenty of them in this situation.
For the others, the conditions are tough with 30 knots of SW to W with waves of over four meters. Those who have chosen to take shelter in a Breton port, or in Spain and Portugal, are well advised to let this succession of lows pass.
ULTIMATE
The only two Ultimates in the race âeuros Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim') is waiting for repairs to his trimaran and Romain Pilliard (Remade - Use it Againâeuros!) is going to repair âeuros are continuing their unraveling route, with Gabart in the leadâeuros! Indeed, he managed to overtake Francis Joyon with a hundred miles gap.
Update on the Ultimates fleet: 2 boats in the race (Macif and Idec), 2 retirements (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild and Maxi Banque Populaire IX) and 2 pit stops (Sodebo Ultim' and Remade Use it Again!)
IMOCA
In the IMOCA class, Hugo Boss (Alex Thomson), the furthest west and still in the lead, is closing in on the Mailhat/Riou duo (SMA/PRB), who are continuing to move south and are below the latitude of the Azores.
Update on the IMOCA fleet: 11 boats racing out of 20
Dropouts
- Samantha Davies (Initiatives Coeur)
- Louis Burton (Valley Office 2)
Pit-Stop
- Jeremie Beyou (Charal)
- Alexia Barrier (4MyPlanet)
- Romain Attanasio (Pure âeuros Family Mary)
- Manuel Cousin (Setin Group)
- Isabelle Joschke (Monin)
- Yannick Bestaven (Maitre Coq)
- Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest âeuros Art et Fenêtres)
MULTI50
In the Multi50 class, Armel Tripon (Réauté Chocolat) is sailing in the same pack as the 60-foot monohulls and is consolidating his lead over Lalou Roucayrol (Arkema), who is off Cape Saint-Vincent, at the southern tip of Portugal. But also on the group further north composed of Thibault Vacuhel Camus (Solidaires en Peloton Arsep) and Erwan Le Roux (FenêtreA-Mix Buffet) who is struggling with rough seasâ
Fleet update: 6 boats in the race out of 6
CLASS40
In the Class40 âeuros Yoann Richomme (Veedol âeuros AIC) still in the lead âeuros the latter can hope to get out of these conditions tonight, as well as Kito de Pavant (Made in Midi) who is on a parallel course to the leader but further east and is in 4th place e position.
Euros per shelter
- Olivier Magre (E.Leclercs âeuros Ville La Grand [Vintage])
- Hiroshi Kitada [Kiho]
- Loïc le Doyen [Saint Cast Le Guildo Terre Exotique]
- Andrea Fantini (Enel Green Power)
- Marc Dubos [Esprit Scout]
- Nicolas Jossier [Manorga]
- Arthur Gascoin (Up âeuros Sail Connect (Vintage)
- Halvard Mabire (Colombre XL)
- Emmanuel Hamez (Teranga)
- Dominique Rivard (#Marie-Galante April (Vintage)
- Jean Galfione (Seenis Consulting)
- François Lassort (Bijouteries Lassort âeuros Tonton Louis Vintage)
- Sebastien Desquesses (Kersia âeuros Le Guevel âeuros Spiritf of Saint-Malo (Vintage)
- Cedric de Kervenoal (Grizzly barber shop (Vintage)
- Maxime Cauwe (Azeo âeuros On est large)
There are about 15 other sailors to reach the nearest coasts either to take shelter from the next big gale or to repair.
RHUM Class
For the Rhum Class, it is difficult to escape from the Bay of Biscay. Loïck Peyron continues to tack along the North Spanish coast, followed by Yann Marilley and Gilles Buekenhout, while François Corre, Étienne Hochédé and Jean-François Lilti are facing very tough sea conditions.
As for Sidney Gavignet in the Rhum Mono, he is sailing alongside the best of the Class40s and can also aim for the trade winds that are currently being structured, south of a line from the Azores to Cape Saint Vincentâeuros¦
In these two classes, 2/3 of the fleet is either shut down or in the process of being shut down.
