This "north/south" course is demanding and requires navigators to have many skills (strategy, tactics, meteorology) and aptitudes (patience, tenacity or physical strength)
The pairs will have to negotiate three major crossings from the English Channel to Brazil, which are the Azores High, the Doldrums and the St Helena High. In total, the race time should range from 10 days for the Multi50 to 17 days for the Class40.
The Channel
The duos leave Le Havre for a coastal route in the bay of the Seine towards Étretat. This first part is very technical due to the proximity of competitors, the coast, and the shallow waters, but also due to the very strong currents and commercial traffic.
They then headed west - towards the tip of Brittany - to leave the English Channel and its many traps.
Bay of Biscay
Everything depends on the position of the Azores high or the presence of a depression. The skippers will either have downwind conditions - an easy and fast situation - or violent autumnal depressions, forcing them to ease off. We remember that part of the 2018 Route du Rhum fleet suffered a strong gust of wind or took shelter.
These first 400 miles and the passage of Cape Finisterre will mark the exit from the Gulf.
The trade winds route
If a low is not centred on the Bay of Biscay, the "Portuguese trade winds" will (north wind along the Portuguese coast) will take the fleet to Madeira at high speed, then to the Canary Islands, where the northeast trade winds will be more or less strong.
For this descent, two options are available to navigators:
- Going along the Portuguese coast and then the African coast to the east is often the promise of a more consistent wind, but the road is longer
- Pass to the west of the Canaries and Cape Verde. The road is shorter, but sometimes cluttered with low-pressure or anticyclonic edges. This road leaves fewer options as to where to go from the doldrums.
This choice will be decisive for passing the Doldrums - also known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone - located a few degrees north of the geographical Equator.
The Doldrums
This passage is feared by sailors because of its instability. At this time of year, it can quickly change position, expand or shrink. The grains can follow the stool and vice versa. This passage is often marked by a sharp slowdown of competitors, some places are lost and others are won.
It's therefore a crucial passage for the duos, who will have to get out of it quickly to benefit first from the south-easterly trade winds and head for Brazil.
The South Atlantic
There will still be 850 miles to go from the doldrums to Salvador de Bahia. They will start this last part with a good full beam - the view will be very leaned - then close offshore before finishing downwind VMG.
On their way the competitors will cross the islands of Fernando de Noronha, then the Brazilian coasts. When they arrive in the bay of all the Saints, they will head northwest to Salvador de Bahia, north of the Tropic of Capricorn.
