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Sam Goodchild on west or south?

Message from Imoca Groupe Dubreuil

We hesitated about whether to take this option to the West. All the competitors have been watching each other for the past few days, and the routing to the West has been the winner. There is a low-pressure system that is stifling the trade winds and our position off further West than the others meant it was hard to cross the high-pressure area, so we are sticking with our position.  We have been talking about running into the high for several days and having to make a choice. If we had gone for the South, we would have had a lot of manoeuvres to do. It would also have meant passing behind the competitors, so we decided to stay with our option. We’re giving it a go, but we might lose. We tried to find an intermediate route, but the routing suggests we should get through. It doesn’t look too chaotic. It is closer to the direct route and therefore favourable, because it is shorter. We’ll find out in 4 days if it was a good option or not.

Sébastien SIMON

Message from Class40 Amarris

It was a complicated night with the wind all over the place, black clouds. We couldn’t see the sky. We’re trying to find out way to pass the Canaries and head to the SW to get more stable trade winds. We are where we want to be. Those behind us made a lot of gains during the night, but later, they will find it harder. We’re waiting for the wind to come from further to the right, but it’s taking it’s time. We should be able to benefit from the wind veering, but it hasn’t happened yet. The weather is complicated. We’re still in front in terms of distance to the finish, so it’s not disastrous for us. The spinnaker is flapping with each wave, as there is a residual swell. We’re sailing downwind at 16 knots under full mainsail and big spinnaker.

Gildas Mahé

MESSAGE FROM Ocean Fifty Realites

Conditions are fine with between 15 and 20 knots of wind. We reach peak speeds of 30 knots and are averaging 22-24 knots. We’re pleased above all to be racing, seeing what has happened since the start. Late today, we should point towards Martinique, which is good news. Thibaut and Quentin have really pushed their boat hard, as they know her perfectly, so they made their getaway. It’s hard to try to catch them, but we’re keeping at it. Viabilis is just behind us, which is exciting. We’re pleased about that. The trade wind is not very steady towards the North. When we gybe at the way-point we will head up North a bit to get some more wind, but with the wind directly astern, we’ll have lots of gybes to do. We know too that in the trade winds, there are squalls and lots of manoeuvres. The seas are calm today, which means we can get the speed up to 22-24 knots, as the boat isn’t slamming too much. The wind is set to drop off and we should pass the island in the middle of the night.

Aymeric Chappellier

Message from IMOCA Teamwork.net

We’re taking advantage of 24 quieter hours, as we go around the high-pressure system. It’s really nice weather. It’s more than 20 degrees in the cockpit, so we just have our t-shirts on. This quiet period enabled us to carry out a few repairs, nothing important, but you have to take care of things before they get worse. We repaired our lazy bag, which had a few tears in it. The fleet separated out yesterday evening between those preferring the South via the trade winds, which will probably involve passing the Canaries, and the route we chose, the direct route close to the Great Circle Route, which allows us to get around the other side of the high-pressure system. We’re still upwind, but we have the advantage of having some wind. We won’t get back together again with the Southerners for at least a week.

Julien Villion