Leaders of the ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest, Tom Laperche and Charles Caudrelier this morning are racing just100 miles east of the Brazilian coast after passing the Equator early Sunday evening. And it looks like they will now devour the passage towards the longitude of Cape Town at good speeds. The wind flow around the Saint Helena high pressure is favourable and in flat water they should be able to sail at close to maximum speed potential.
Behind the leading duo Thomas Coville and Armel Le Cléac’h remain close together whilst Anthony Marchand, in fifth place, is now into the trade winds.
And so the first symbolic milestone of their solo round the world race in multihulls is passed, Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) and Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild), who lead the race, both crossed the Equator on the evening of Sunday 13th.
The youngest skipper Laperche crossed at 1843hrs UTC or 6 days and 6 hours after last Sunday’s start, his nearest rival Caudrelier at 2011hrs or 6 days and 7 hours. Both are slower than the previously set records. During his 2017 record, François Gabart (Macif) passed it in 5 days and 20 hours. The solo record is 5 days and 17 hours by Thomas Coville (Sodebo), the best time (Spindrift 2 with a crew) being 4 days and 20 hours. And now at more than 50 miles the gap between leader Laperche and second placed Caudrelier has opened.
“I had a problem with my sail” (Charles Caudrelier)
“Charles also has a problem with his headsail which he has had to deal with, that explains his small delay,” says Fred Lepeutrec, assistant race director. The skipper of Edmond de Rothschild had admitted this on Tout le Sport (France 3) that he has, “ had a sail problem”.
“I lost a lot, he overtook me and widened the gap, but it’s a still a good tussle.” Caudrelier said, and this morning it was the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild which was slightly faster than SVR-Lazartigue.
“From now on it’s the South Atlantic,” said Caudrelier, “We are going into the cold winter soon, a passage of 15 days to three weeks where it is cold, there are storms and there are not many of boats down there sailing there, but first we must reach Cape Town and this should be the case at a very high speed.”
“There is no sea, no secondary swell and a very favorable weather situation,” says Fred Lepeutrec at Race HQ in Brest. “Within 48 hours, the leading duo will begin to slowly curve towards the South East, following the great circle route, the more directl route. “It’s different to the usual sequence,” explains Le Peutrec. “With the southwest flow of the Saint Helena anticyclone which will strengthen, they have a slant direct towards the Indian Ocean and conditions to go at their full potential. They will have a beautiful southern highway, it will be interesting in terms of performance!”
Coville and Le Cléac’h always together
Behind, as expected the bungee stretches a little more. The second duo are more than 370 miles behind. Armel Le Cléac’h (Maxi Banque Populaire XI) revealed a headsail problem during the Arkéa Ultime Challenge broadcast yesterday afternoon. “I have a problem with my largest headsail, the J0. I can’t put it up, I have to fix things to use it again. I hope I can find the solution to use normally when I next I need it. »
Le Cléac’h has regained good speeds (more than 20 knots) and remains neck and neck with Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim 3) who is about 30 miles ahead.
Behind, Anthony Marchand (Actual Ultim 3) is in the North-East trade winds. “He’s going to need to move back to the West to get through the doldrums in decentconditions,” explains the assistant race director, The gap has stabilized in relation to the distance to the finish but this gybe will be less efficient.
Finally, Éric Péron (ULTIM ADAGIO) is still progressing, but stuck between the Cape Verde cetacean exclusion zone to its west and a light weather bubble further south. And Le Peutrec concludes: “He will have to be patient before he get to the good breeze to go southwest and close towards the Equator.”
