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The essential
Class40
Message from CAFE JOYEUX
I’m in the cockpit with a fantastic view with the Sun coming up. The boat is sailing downwind and it’s smooth sailing, so everything is looking good. It is however complicated. We’re not as far south as the two leaders, but we are quite some way south. There are two routes to Martinique, via the South or the North, and for now, I’m not sure which one to take. We’re putting off that decision for as long as possible. There is a nasty Low moving in, which will probably get a name. It will allow high speeds, but it’s quite worrying, so the question is do we go for that system or go for safety and count on the trade winds. With Léo (Debiesse), we come to our decisions in two stages. For strategy, we ask ourselves what we would do if alone. Then, we draw up our tactics. We thought it was a good idea to go south, but all our rivals seem to want to go north, so we are starting to wonder. We’re busy looking at the strategy. I think it is the same for everyone.
Imoca
Message from MONNOYEUR - DUO FOR A JOB
It’s not looking too bad here in the North. I can see that the foilers have stepped up the pace. We’re in a long upwind stretch on the port tack. It’s nice to see our friends on the AIS. It’s a long speed test, which is fun. It’s clear that our option is demanding. There is a front moving in today, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be hard to deal with. After that, we’re going to have to head south in the tail behind the front where there is a lot of wind. The big topic is the deep tropical low moving in on Thursday and a second low behind it. It will be further south than initially forecast. We are going to have to be careful in this Low and not break anything, which is why we need to get as far south as we can. We have to get in position now for Thursday. It’s strange that we have been upwind since the start and there may be just one gybe before the finish. As for damage, apart from the two broken battens from the start line, there is the J2 that came unstitched and the engine supports that came unscrewed.
Imoca
Message from Paprec Arkéa
We have a decent trade wind which isn’t too strong and the seas are flat calm, so we’re on the attack. For People kept her foot down through the night, so we had to do the same. We need to be kind to the boat though and we want to get to the other side with a mast and two foils. We have to show a certain level of intelligence, but when there is a decent wind, we go on the attack, as these are perfect conditions for our boats.
There have been some tricky choices. It’s a question of strategy, but we’re fighting hard with two other boats and we keep looking at the rankings to see how well or how badly we are doing. It’s really exciting. We have been watching once a day too to see how the group to the North is doing. It’s not easy to know if they are able to stick to what the routing suggests, but they’re certainly brave. Julien (Villion) is an exceptional weather expert and he saw the danger of getting stuck in the high and that there was an opportunity to the North. But this is a tough route for the sailors and their boats. The indication is we’ll get there after them, but not as long after as we first thought, so the second week is going to be exciting.
Happy Monday mood in the Trade Winds
The Monday morning mood is generally upbeat and good among the duos racing on the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre. After Martinique welcomed the first two ULTIM pairs last night there is always a mental lift for the fleet as – even if it is along way off – there is an now an end in sight.
The main IMOCA peloton, that is to say those pushing south and west, is very much getting the race they want. Among the ten or so boats on this side of the track it is a real trade winds speed test, fast reaching in relatively flat water. This is their chance to try different modes and set ups - small adjustments - sheeting positions, foil angles and heights and constantly calibrating the pilot systems.
And for the Class40s leaders there is a convergence happening as Amarris (Achille Nebout and Gildas Mahé) meets up with the teams which went more east at the Canaries. And actually Alla Grande Pirelli (Ambrogio Beccaria and Nico Andrieu) are more than 100 miles south of Amarris.
Class40
Message from Ian Lipinski (Crédit Mutuel)
Great conditions for Crédit Mutuel. Since we passed the Canaries, the wind has strengthened and we have managed to get some nice speeds up. There are some waves, but ideal for surfing, and they don’t disturb the boat’s progress. Quite the reverse in fact. It’s not too hot and not too cold. The weather’s fine and it was a starry night. Perfect conditions, so we’re enjoying ourselves. The autopilot is coping well. The only little problem is our headlamps don’t work, so at night, it’s dark.
We’ve been looking at the weather for the choices ahead. There are some interesting possibilities, some odd choices. We’re looking at that. In any case, we’re some way behind the leaders to the south. We have a few ideas, but we’ll see. The trade winds don’t look like blowing very much. The route south looks very long. The northern route is something a bit unusual…
Imoca
Message from Damien Seguin (Groupe APICIL)
No change of scenery this morning. We’re still upwind, heeled over and hitting the waves. The weather patterns in the Atlantic are preventing us from getting south, as there is the risk of getting slowed down in a very large area of high pressure. The only real difference is it is warmer now and sunrise and sunset are at different times. We’re feeling good and hoping to catch up a few friends ahead. We have a few repairs to do on the boat, but nothing major, mostly just some small leaks to deal with.
Imoca
Message from Louis Duc (Fives Group - Lantana Environnement)
W’re entering into a routine. We’ve been upwind for 48 hours with the same sail configuration. It’s quite nice, even if we are leaning over. We have 15-18 knots of wind and a bit of sea. There are three boats here neck and neck. We’re with Freelance.com and Monnoyeur, which is the fastest, but that’s not surprising in this point of sail. Freelance.com is a bit more at ease than us too, but we’re managing to keep ahead. It’s motivating and we chat over the VHF.
For the two foilers ahead, I don’t think they’ll end up in the best position in comparison with the rest of the foilers. The same goes for us in comparison to the boats with daggerboards that went south. The foilers in the south will overtake us this morning. They’ll get above twenty knots. As for the boats with daggerboards, they will have to go further south of the Canaries and the trade winds may be lighter for them.
This evening, conditions are set to change. We will have a ridge to deal with and then two low-pressure systems. The second is a deep one in the North Atlantic. In around three days, once these systems have gone through, we will be in the start of the trade winds. There is some uncertainty for the final stretch with a tropical low-pressure system. It may or may not disturb the winds for us as we approach the French West Indies.
Ultim
Gabart and Laperche: “We were up against people stronger than us”
By challenging Banque Populaire XI for victory over fourteen days, SVR Lazartigue has certainly ensured the ULTIM race on the Route du Café has been an exciting one. Leaders from the start to Madeira and then around Ascension, François Gabart and Tom Laperche pushed constantly and were often a thorn in their side for the leading duo, but in the end they were unable to do anything about the speed of Banque Populaire XI downwind. This is the third time in three transatlantic races since its launch in 2021 that SVR Lazartigue has finished irunners up.
Ultim
François Gabart and Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue), second on the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre in ULTIM (before jury)
This Sunday at 23:10hrs. local time (Monday 03:10hrs UTC) French duo François Gabart and Tom Laperche crossed the finish line in the bay of Fort-de-France to take second place in the ULTIM race on the 16th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre.
The elapsed time for the pair on SVR Lazartigue is 14 days, 15 hours, 5 minutes and 55 seconds. They completed the 7,500 miles course between Le Havre and Fort-de-France at a speed of 21.36 knots on the theoretical course.
They actually sailed 9,204 miles at an average speed of 26.22 knots (on water).
They finished 4 hours, 51 minutes and 5 seconds after race winners Banque Populaire XI
Ultim
A long time in the making....Armel Le Cléac’h and Sébastien Josse (Banque Populaire XI) win ULTIM race
French duo Armel Le Cléac’h and Sébastien Josse sailing Maxi Banque Populaire XI crossed the finish line of the 16th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre off Fort de France, Martinique at 18:19hrs local time (22:19hrs UTC) this Sunday evening to win the ULTIM division for 32m multihulls (subject to Jury verifications).
