Many boats had taken shelter to let the strong gales of the first week of the race pass by. There are now 100 of them still in the race - after leaving the Breton and Spanish ports - to benefit from much milder conditions off Brittany and the Iberian Peninsula.
While the tradewinds towards the Caribbean arc are getting stronger, the squalls are also getting stronger. This is not optimal for the solo sailors. After the strong conditions of the first week, the trade winds are not as calm as expected and the gybes follow one another to negotiate the wind shifts.
The Ultimates
Thomas Coville set sail again this Sunday, November 11, after hard work by his team - 5 days and 5 nights - to get Sodebo Ultim' back on track. It is 221 miles behind Romain Pilliard, who has once again encountered problems - a cap shroud failure - but who plans to repair at sea.
Ultimate: 2 dropouts
Romain Pilliard
The Multi50s
After Francis Joyon (Idec Sport) and François Gabart, Armel Tripon - first in the Multi50 fleet - is the next one expected in Guadeloupe. With a very comfortable 403 mile lead over the second Erwan Le Roux (FenêtreA-Mix Buffet), he is probably making progress towards Guadeloupe and has 875 miles to go.
Following the leader the duo Le Roux/Vauchel Camus what must now rely on the return of Lalou Roucayrol, who returned from the East with a more southern position interesting for the rest of the program.
Multi50: 0 abandonment
The IMOCAs
In IMOCA, the battle is raging and the race is led by Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) who is nearly 200 miles ahead of his pursuers - the Meilhat trio (SMA), Riou (PRB) and Eliès (Ucar - Saint Michel). The latter is making a series of gybes to take advantage of the shifts in an increasingly strong trade wind, and should be quickly overtaken by the Multi50 trio, which is faster downwind.
Jeremie Beyou (Charal), Alexia Barrier (4MyPlanet), Manuel Cousin (Setin Group), Romain Attanasion (Pure - Mary Family) and Fabrice Amedeo set sail again last Sunday.
IMOCA Class: 4 dropouts
The Class40
As for the other classes, we find a leader - the one who had continued despite the heavy weather - who here is Yoann Richomme (Veedol - AIC) who was able to take a break from his competitors before Madeira and consolidate his lead at each score, his Lombard plan proving particularly comfortable in these conditions. More than a hundred miles of bonus against Aymeric Chapellier and Phil Sharp, 150 miles on Kito de Pavant, nearly 200 miles on Arthur Le Vaillant and Luke Berry. This small group of Class40 boats is sailing in contact with the second group of IMOCA, a great performance for their monohulls 20 feet shorter than their big ones frères?!
Class40: 7 dropouts
Rum Classes
In the Multi Rum, Pierre Antoine (Olmix) is celebrating with a lead of nearly 500 miles over his direct pursuer, Jean-François Lilti on his catamaran, who finally did not want to make a technical stopover in the Canaries.
Finally, in the Rhum Mono category, Sidney Gavignet has achieved the perfect race among the Rhum Mono with a 200 mile lead over Sébastien Destremau aboard an ex-IMOCA, theoretically much faster.
Sébastien Destremeau
Multi Rum Class: 2 retirements
Rum Mono Class: 4 dropouts
