ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest leader Charles Caudrelier on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild will pass the Cape of Good Hope this afternoon, continuing to make high average speeds as he prepares to enter the hostile wastes of the Indian Ocean some 80 miles later at Cape Agulhas. At 43°S he is about 70 miles north of the race’s ice exclusion zone and just over 520 miles south of the tip of the South African continent.
Caudrelier will now be some seven or eight hours behind the 2017 solo record pace of Francois Gabart who crossed Good Hope after 11d 20h.
Still making 24 hour runs of 810 miles Caudrelier now has more than 700 miles in hand over the two ULTIMS behind him, Thomas Coville (Sodebo 3) closing fast on Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) who is heading to Cape Town after hitting an object in the small hours of yesterday morning. Sodebo does look set to pass close to SVR Lazartigue which is monitored all the time by Race Direction and remains autonomous, needing no further help. Laperche is making a steady 12-15kts towards Cape Town which is 900 miles away for him.
The race leader is maintaining a balance between staying as far south as possible to minimise the distance sailed – the distance between two points being shorter the close to the poles one goes because of the curvature of the earth – and giving himself room to manoeuvre clear of the ice zone.
It seems quite unlikely that Sodebo Ultim 3, 874 miles behind Caudrelier this morning, will manage to stay with the same weather system which is tracking south, generating winds of more than 25 knots but he might not be slowed down too much. He should pass Cape of Good Hope tomorrow and benefit from a new system. All the skippers share the same relief to be into the Indian Ocean, not least as the sea area south of Cape of Good Hope and Cape Agulhas have strong currents and counter currents which can make navigation complex but which attract sea mammals because of the rich marine fauna ecosystem.
Last night, Anthony Marchand and Armel Le Cléac’h had a little bit of everything – some slow periods in light airs as well as some higher speeds. Still heading south they are trying to get around the high pressure zone which is blocking their direct route. This trajectory means they are conceding ground – now more than 2000 miles from the leader, but it they will soon hook into a depression which will carry them into the deep south. Soon, they too will see the sun rise front of their boat, one of the small pleasures of the Southern Oceans.
In sixth Adagio has passed he latitude of Recife; Éric Péron deals with trade winds which are quite unstable.
