The 140 miles of the route will be through the waters of the English Channel, with many tacks as the fleet has the headwind after a spectacular start with all the participants lined up from land to sea, with 3.5 miles between the boat of the committee and the buoy.
Not much wind and a gentle wave; Much more favorable weather conditions than those suffered by the French coast in the area of the English Channel during the day last Sunday with strong winds and waves of several meters in height.
As Armel confided in his last words before leaving the mainland, “The start of the regatta will be sporty, we have a lot of maneuvers to get to Cap Fréhel” . “We’ll have to tack to get past this first gate, the last mark before Guadeloupe. Then we’ll head upwind out of the Channel with 15-20 knot west and southwest winds. Then the wind will turn toward the bow of one which will approach Ireland during the day Thursday. This will be the first weather phenomenon to cross, one that will be approached overnight from Thursday to Friday. So conditions will be supported with wind and sea, even if it remains more manageable than if we had started last Sunday. Then, if the forecasts hold true, we will have more buoyant conditions, well-established trade winds and therefore a sprint to the finish.”
In the great melé that supposes the departure of 138 sailboats sailing with solo skippers, the security conditions are reduced until the fleet is stretched. Thus, the skipper of the Leyton suffered a slip on the deck, hitting himself hard, preventing him from getting up. Sam Goodchil’s continuity of medical analysis and extent of injury.
Hard marking between all the lonely. Among the Ultim 23/32, the Gitana 17 covers its position on land by covering the SVR – Lazartigue while the Banque Populaire XI sails further out to sea followed by the Sodebo Ultim 3 with speeds of over 24 knots.
The next group of multihulls are the Ocean Fifty, led by Arkema followed by Primonial and Koesio with speeds of around 12 knots, also looking to board by land towards the Canal exit.
The monohulls are slower with a first fleet of the IMOCA which once again leads the Apivia and which is marked by land by the Holcim – PRB that has LinkedOut in its stern wake.
If the IMOCAs are already slow, their logs do not reach 9 knots. Even further behind, at about 6 knots, is the large group of Class40 with Inter Vest leading the 55 forty-foot sailboats.
The first night of the Route su Rhum will be decisive for the great fleet in Canal waters since tomorrow Thursday many of them will approach the waters of the Bay of Biscay where another cold front awaits them but with more intense winds and the state of the sea with strong waves.
