They knew it from the start, they had to pass the latitude of Lisbon to hope that new horizons would open up. This has now been achieved for a large part of the fleet.
Ian Lipinski (Crédit Mutuel), Thursday 9th: "Lisbon at last! Like a relief! (...) It was brutal, violent and, above all, uncomfortable and stressful. And then the stars, the spinnaker, the glide...". But it's not over yet because, as Nicolas D'Estais (Café Joyeux) explained: "we're trying to get around an initial ridge of high pressure. We're then going to have to cross a zone of shifty winds to get to the real ridge of high pressure, which will take us into the trade winds". It's an exciting game to follow since, as the race organisers write, "the lateral dispersion is quite marked between the two groups at the front. More than 40 miles separate the leader Amarris from the Franco-Spanish-Italian crews, who have rounded the DST at Cape Saint Vincent and are making parallel headway to the east.
The same goes for the 'Sharp' Class40s with their pointed noses. Jérôme Lesieur (Label Emmaüs) "is starting to dry out a bit! (...) The boat is heading in the right direction and we're trying to recover a bit. Yesterday was all about survival.
"We love this sport because it's never easy, there are hard moments sometimes, but also lots of extraordinary moments like this sunrise this morning after a night of surfing under spinnaker" writes the Seafrigo-Sogestran duo. And yet last night looked like being a difficult one with no wind...
The same sentiment was echoed on the networks: "After 3 days of crawling along in a tilted boat, surrounded by the constant crashing of the waves and the roar of the wind, gusting to a blistering 40 knots (...) we finally hoisted a spinnaker, the boat was flat, the foulies were starting to dry, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel and then... nothing. No wind, nothing, nada. (Axel Tréhin - Project Rescue Ocean). It's the same story on Vogue with a Crohn's: "After a stormy sea, a boat banging and banging and screaming, it's time to look for the slightest breath of air..."
The result, this Friday morning, of the game of placing towards the South, channelled by the compulsory rounding of Porto Santo: the advantage went to the boats furthest West, while crossing the first zone of light airs cost the East-leaners dearly. Achille Nebout (Amarris), leading the rankings this morning: "It was strange: yesterday evening, the wind came in from the east and then strengthened to 20 knots from the west. We sailed under gennaker all night. Aurélien Ducroz (Crosscall) confirms: "We're dealing with a wind which is nowhere near what the weather forecasts are predicting (...) The situation remains complex. Emmanuel Le Roch (Edenred) added: "The contrast between the front and the calm was brutal! We had to get out of the light airs and we're doing pretty well (...) The wind came back at the end of the night and it's been nice and smooth this morning. It feels great to be gliding along."
The good news this Friday is the return to racing of several boats which had to stop, such as Le Bleuet de France and Trimcontrol. Fabien Delahaye (Legallais), who set off again last night: "It's drying out and we're off again! We didn't stay long in Cascais and that's rather good news. And, given the solidarity of the seafarers, they're waiting for us in the calm!"
Source: organisation TJV and teams
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