One boat dismasted, two with structural damage… We knew before the start from Le Havre that rounding Brittany was not going to be simple for the 55 boats that set sail.
The fleet experienced 30-knot winds with stronger gusts and choppy seas particularly around the Channel Islands throughout the night. The favourites are where they were expected to be in each class and for the moment it is in the ULTIM category that has already reached the longitude of Ireland that the most radical options were taken as they approached the front. The first Ocean Fifty boats are due to reach Lorient by 1000hrs UTC this morning with the first Class40s arriving just before midnight.
It was a rough night to begin the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre. The multihulls have not spoken of any damage and have been sailing quickly, in spite of the difficult sea state. But in Class40, Crédit Mutuel skippered by Ian Lipinski and Antoine Carpentier, who were among teh favourites, was dismasted. Marine Tchalian, a Class40 with the first all-Martinique crew has problems with her rudders and is heading for Guernsey. Aboard Dékuple, a probable collision with a UFO caused structural damage. William Mathelin Moreaux and Pietro Luciani, who started the race so well, are heading for Cherbourg.
In teh lead in Class40, Ambrogio Beccaria and Nicolas Andrieu continue to set the pace with a very smooth route as they make their way down towards Brittany. They are keeping the rest of the fleet, which is grouped together, in check, but need to keep an eye on Groupe SNEF (Xavier Macaire and Pierre Leboucher) who have gone for a coastal option and may benefit from tidal currents as they pass NW Brittany.
THE TRAFFIC SEPARATION SCHEME IMPOSED CHOICES FOR THE ULTIMS
If you look at the tracker, you may be wondering why SVR Lazartigue was positioned so high up. Were they finding it more difficult to hug the wind than Gitana 17? François Gabart and Tom Laperche chose in any case to pass to the north of the Ushant traffic separation scheme rather then find themselves blocked in by this exclusion zone. In so doing they let the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild and Banque Populaire XI sail between the island and the separation scheme.
When these two leaders in the 0700hrs rankings continued their voyage to the west after a few changes of tack, which were not that simple in such heavy seas, the separation north to south of 40 miles in comparison to SVR Lazartigue might give the wrong impression, because Gabart and Laperche were the first to cross the front this morning and have just changed tack. François Gabart explained: “We wanted to keep things simple with fewer manoeuvres. It wasn’t easy to get well positioned in winds that kept changing direction. In any case, the routings to the north or south of the TSS were fairly close to each other. We now have the wind behind the front and are on a long starboard tack towards Cape Finisterre.”
SOLIDAIRES EN PELOTON LEADING THE OCEAN FIFTY BOATS
In the Ocean Fifty class, the experienced pair, Thibault Vauchel Camus and Quentin Vlamynck took the lead early last night. Neck and neck with Le Rire Médecin Lamotte (Luke Berry-Antoine Joubert), the two leaders passed south of Guernsey to avoid the heavier seas, but also to find a better wind angle to get to the tip of Brittany. Their layline fifty miles or so from Bréhat on the North Brittany coast was perfect and the timing through the Four Channel was just right. This morning, Solidaires en Peloton had a lead of 11 miles, while third-placed Primonial was already relegated by 34 miles, with Réalités bringing up the rear as they entered the Four Channel, some 60 miles from the leader, who will be able to accelerate after passing Penmarc’h, at the SW tip of Brittany and then heading for Lorient. Thibault Vauchel Camus and Quentin Vlaminck are expected at around 1000hrs UTC this morning after this rapid first leg.
Quote from François Gabart:
“We’re not far from the centre of the low, where there wasn’t much wind, but now on the starboard tack, we’ve got some more wind again. I’m trying to get the speed up and there are times when she flies, but then the wind drops off to 10-11 knots. The sky is blue with a few cumulus clouds, so a pretty view. It was surprising that in the Channel was fairly variable with some smoother patches. The worst was off the coast of the Channel Islands where we slammed a lot. Later in the night, the swell was a bit longer. The charts weren’t that clear about the route around the TSS. We were a bit afraid about changes of tack close to the TSS. Even to the north, the wind was variable. We went north to be the first to pick up the wind change. In the next couple of hours we’ll probably be getting back together. We are more or less with the timing we imagined before the start. It’s not far off what we imagined. We should quickly get to Cape Finisterre this evening by midnight. Tomorrow, it will be Portugal, so in comparison with the position of the nasty weather, we should be Ok, if we don’t have any problems, as we’ll be down at the latitude of Gibraltar by then.”
