FR
EN
Ranking of 00:00
View all
CLASS40
IMOCA
OCEAN FIFTY
ULTIM
Charal in control of IMOCA fleet, Italian-Spanish duo top the Class40s
With lighter winds and progressively smoother seas, some respite has been possible for the IMOCA and Class40 fleets on the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre race. The leading IMOCA 60 footers were reaching under gennakers about 200 miles off the Portuguese coast this afternoon with Jéremie Beyou and Franck Cammas on Charal holding a steady lead of around 35 nautical miles over Yoann Richomme and Yann Eliès on Paprec Arkéa.
Imoca
Paul Meilhat and Mariana Lobato have decided not to set sail again
The pit stop in Brest did not enable the crew of Biotherm to set off again before the arrival of a new low-pressure system developing off the coast of Brittany. Paul Meilhat and Mariana Lobato have therefore decided they will not set off again in the race. A difficult decision, but based on reason. The goal now is to be able to prepare calmly for the 2024 season.
Imoca
Message from Sam Davies - Initiatives Coeur
The first 3 days have been really full-on. Tacking out of the English Channel is pretty hard in itself, but with the strong winds and the stormy front it was hardcore! Just to top it off, we went through the front right as we crossed the traffic lanes of Ushant, with almost a traffic jam of ships that had obviously been stopped by storm Ciaran making it an obstacle course for us to cross.
Jack and I took it in turns to try to rest but the violent motion of the boat made it impossible to sleep. Initiatives Coeur behaved herself and took us safely through the storm.
Despite the conditions I did manage to make hot meals and we had planned our food program pretty well to keep eating well even when it was full-on!
Today has been the first day where we have managed to get some quality rest and also check as much of the boat as possible and do some minor repairs.
It has been a bit tough as we had a few tricky light wind spots and lost some miles but we’re happy where we are and the route is still long (and very tricky to work out how to get there!!!)
Now, I am on watch, trying to keep the speed on despite the light winds and huge swell, we have Sam Goodchild and Antoine in sight so that’s a good sparring partner for the night. I’ve got a hot tea here to drink and Jack is off watch getting some well deserved sleep in these calm conditions!!
Sam Davies
Imoca
The Be Water Positive Sailing Team returned to Gosport late last night
The Be Water Positive Sailing Team returned to Gosport late last night (Thursday 9th November) in order to seek further medical advice for Skipper, Scott Shawyer. After consultation with medics and his technical team, they have made the difficult decision to withdraw from racing in the Transat Jacques Vabre. We are assured Scott will make a full recovery.
Scott Shawyer upon returning to the dock had the following to say. “Well, this is disappointing. We have been working so hard to get the boat and ourselves in the best shape and sometimes fate just hands you a bad card. I’m looking forward to regrouping with the team in the coming days and to planning the next stage of our program.”
After the storm, brainstorming time
Yesterday was a remarkable day with a series of incidents. Two boats retired (STAND AS ONE and Primonial) and nine boats are carrying out pit stops (the latest one being the Class40 Legallais). Today is likely to be a more tactical one in the Atlantic. 90% of the fleet of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre is lining up from the middle of the Bay of Biscay to Madeira and everyone is now thinking about how to deal with the area of high pressure facing them on their route to the South. Downwind sails are already in place for some, but they won’t be picking up the trade winds for a while. On the other hand, for the ULTIMs, the long downwind run towards Martinique has now begun. The duel at the front remains just as exciting with Banque Populaire XI in great form since yesterday.
