A good start before the storm
Beautiful conditions with about 20 knots of wind allowed all the competitors in the Jacques Vabre to get off to a good start. After a passage in front of Étretat euros crossed first by the Ultims after 20 minutes, Gitana euros in the lead all returned to the English Channel. If the start of the race was fast and rather sporty, all are now in the grip of the race.
Two different options for the Ultims
While the Ultims quickly crossed the English Channel, the five competitors quickly found themselves stopped in Ushant. Since the middle of the night, the high pressure cell has prevented the wind from passing. Caught in the current, the boats even went backwards! While Banque Populaire chose to get closer to the coast, passing inland in the Iroise Sea, the others took the northern option. While the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has been leading the fleet since the start, she is now neck and neck with her northern rivals, separated by less than a mile. Banque Populaire is 12 miles behind, but is catching up with its rivals, with 3 knots more on the clock. But the light wind should last for a while, at least until Cape Finisterre.
A fleet split in two in the Ocean Fifty
On the Ocean Fifty side, Primonial and Koesio are close behind their big brothers, followed 14 miles behind by Arkema 4. Groupe GCA euros 1001 Sourires, which had taken the lead at the start, has been relegated to last place in the ranking.
IMOCA boats in the doldrums and a dismasting
In the IMOCA class, Apivia, the favorite of the event, has managed to take off and has a 30-mile lead over its competitors, Arkéa-Paprec, Fortiner-Best Western and Charal.
As Christopher Pratt said during the radio session, the first night was difficult and unexpected. The lack of wind in the English Channel even made the Euro boats go backwards! It was as if only after 10 hours of racing, everyone was in the doldrums, with big black clouds and no wind at all.
A feeling shared by Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) who on this first morning of racing explains: "We are not used to this type of weather on a race that starts in November. We went quite fast at the beginning of the course before falling into the calm. We're not moving very fast, or even going backwards. We're all sailing pretty closely together, with Apivia in front."
note the dismasting of Louis Burton and Davy Beaudart on Bureau Vallée 3, which was starting its first race since it was handed over to the skipper from Saint Malo. This damage occurred just as the wind was weakening.
Less than 50 miles between the head and tail of the fleet in Class40
Finally, in Class40, the fleet was dispersed between the Channel Islands according to the strategies of each. After a pit stop for the Class40 Equipe Voile Prakinson in Cherbourg, to repair a technical problem on the bowsprit, Florian Gueguen and Raphael Auffret left a few hours later.
"For the moment it's not very ocean racing. We are knitting in the rocks and see all the lights on the masts of our competitors. I can tell you that no one must sleep much here, because we see the headlights on the decks of the boats all the time" explained Amélie Grassi.
This situation should suit the experienced Figaro sailors, who are used to these conditions of contact racing, and who are present in number as co-skippers in the various classes.
