It's already been 48 hours since the fleet set sail from Lorient, and the least we can say is that the sailors have not been spared! On the programme: a strong wind, violent gusts and a boat-hugging sea.
A look back at the start of this transatlantic race
Monday 6th
Start in unseasonable conditions, with 2.5 metre seas and a 20-knot W/SW'ly wind. Torrential rain and squalls at 35-40 knots.
There are only 40 Class40s left in the race. IBSA (Bona/Santurde), Café Joyeux (D'Estais/Debiesse), Project rescue Ocean (Tréhin/Riou) and Edenred (Le Roch/Bourgnon) got off to a very good start, but it was Seafrigo Sogestran (Chateau/Pirouelle) who rounded the mark in front of Inter Invest (Perraut/Bloch) and Legallais (Delahaye/Douguet).
The Engie DFDS duo Brittany Ferries (Lee/Ragueneau) had to return to port to repair a torn J1, but are off to a fast start. Crosscall (Durcoz/Riou) also had to turn back after breaking their T-Bone carabiner on the mast halyard. They set off again a few hours later. At 17:45, The Sea Cleaners - Univerre - ENSM (Courbon/Champion) announced that they had dismasted.
Tuesday 7th
Curium Life Forward (Lepesqueux/Dehareng) has also had to turn back due to electronics problems. Alternative Sailing - Constructions du Belon (Greck/Jones) writes that they had "a good pony leg at the reach with gusts in excess of 30 knots". Mikael Mergui, on Centrakor, says they're getting battered, in heavy seas and squalls at 35 knots. A few broken blocks and a pilot who doesn't like squalls. Today's challenge was to escape as quickly as possible to avoid the light winds of a high-pressure cell.
Unfortunately, this was to trap the Sharp boats. The first of them, Nestenn-Entrepreneurs pour la planète (Bonnier/Follin) (which later announced that it would have to make a stopover to replace the J2 cake) was 70 miles behind the head of the fleet, led by Alla Grande Pirelli (Becarria/Andrieu). Les Bleuets de France (Cormouls/de Fleurian) had their main aerial ripped away. A masthead climb will be necessary... as soon as conditions allow.
Words from the sea
EMMANUEL LE ROCH (EDENRED) "It was very brisk from the start, with a lot of sea. It wasn't comfortable for us or for the boat. The boat was bouncing around a lot, but we're fine, there's nothing wrong with us. We were let go a bit by the car in front. We'd anticipated last night's wind shift and the small change of tack that took place last night. We haven't yet decided whether to stay inside or outside Cape Finisterre this evening. We haven't eaten much, we've rested a bit, but we're going to have to think about eating to keep our strength up."
BAPTISTE HULIN (AMIPI - TOMBELAINE COQUILLAGES)
"We're really happy to be out at sea together and I've just woken up from my nap so I'm in a great mood! It's complicated in terms of the sea but we haven't broken much at the moment. We're a newly-formed pair, so we're getting our bearings! After that, we're colleagues on a day-to-day basis and friends in life, so that helps. It's our first time racing, so we're discovering each other, but it's going well. We're going to keep learning and progressing. We had a good meal and we were able to rest, even though it was short as we had manoeuvres to do throughout the night. But it's important that we get a good night's rest, as a new front will be arriving during the night. "
GUILLAUME PIROUELLE (SEAFRIGO - SOGESTRAN)
"Under the low-pressure system, we had quite a lot of wind at the end of the night, and it was moving very, very fast, as you can see on the map. It was quite violent for the boats. We've had a few minor electronic glitches, but the boat as a whole is working well.
We re-trimmed the boat on Sunday afternoon, the day before the start. We hadn't tried anything, so we were hoping we hadn't made any mistakes in reassembling all the systems, but on the face of it, everything's fine. For the moment there are no particular problems with the structure of the boat.
Wednesday 8th
Alexis Loison (La Manche #EvidenceNautique) has injured his hand after being thrown inside the boat in a wave. Mandatory stopover in La Coruña to undergo tests.
The Class40s are continuing to make headway around Spain. Up front, the two tandems of Alla Grande Pirelli and IBSA are still setting a blistering pace that only a small group of five chasers is able to keep up with. Amarris is one of them and Achille Nebout made no secret of his weariness at hearing his boat banging away, relieved to have finally turned behind the front at the radio session: "It's starting to take its toll on our bodies. We're not managing to do much on board. Gildas (Mahé) has had two hot meals and the only position we can hold in the boat is lying in the bunk!
While the leaders will gradually see the conditions improve as they make their way south, the second pack of Class40s continue their procession around the headlands of the Galician coast. Coastal sailing is partly protecting them from the heavy seas being encountered by Everial (Le Draoulec/Leglatin), which has passed to the north of the DST, a route which Envol-Kermarrec Promotion (Facon/Valiergue) looks set to follow...
Les Bleuets de France announce a stopover in Carino following the loss of their J2 and a broken chainplate.
Source : Organisation Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre et teams.
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