Sailing: no departure before Saturday for the rest of the Transat Jacques Vabre

Departure or not departure? The Transat Jacques Vabre has been sailing between two waters since this Sunday and a delayed launch between the boats of the famous sailing race. Only the Ultims set sail this Sunday in the double-handed transatlantic race, because they remain the fastest boats in the fleet, and will normally be able to avoid the worst of the depressions in Gascony.

The other classes took shelter in Lorient or remained in Le Havre. But when will they be able to leave? The race management does not envisage a departure before Saturday November 4. The most likely date seems to be scheduled for the next day. “We are working towards a departure on Sunday November 5,” even warns the organizer. This decision concerns the entire fleet docked in Lorient or Le Havre.

A next information point concerning the resumption of the race will be carried out this Wednesday noon. For those who are already at sea, the race continues. Among the Ultim, Svr Lazartigue from the François Gabart-Tom Laperche duo is still in the lead. “We are at the right pace to escape the bad weather. This is the paradox of this race. We will find ourselves in sluggish conditions when the French coasts begin to hit the start of the storm announced before departure,” confides François Gabart on the website of the Transat Jacques Vabre.

The duo is just ahead of Armel Le Cleac’h and Sébastien Josse on Maxi Banque Populaire, 13.6 nm behind. A little further away, at 34.1 nm, we find Maxi Edmond de Rothschild by Charles Caudrelier and Erwan Israel.