It is a compact fleet - Team Voile Parkinson of Florian Gueguen and Raphael Auffret now at the level of La Hague after their departure from Cherbourg, bowsprit repaired - which is buffering since sunrise in the currents of the Channel Islands, between Jersey and Guernsey. The Class40s are almost all at a standstill, and some are even going backwards, as the current is stronger than the light wind that remains in the Channel. The scenario announced at the start in Le Havre yesterday at 1:27 pm became a reality for the 45 duos.
The crossing of the Bay of Seine was fast, with a north-westerly wind, and each crew tried to stay in contact with the leaders, among whom one could admire the great performance of La Boulangère Bio and its 100% female crew, Marie Riou and Amélie Grassi, who were demonstrating skill and determination all the way to the Cotentin peninsula. "We didn't put any pressure on ourselves, we set off as if we were in a dinghy race," explained Amélie Grassi in the early hours of the morning as she knitted her way around the rocks. If the favorites, Redman (Carpentier-Santurde), Crosscall (Ducroz-Sineau) or Project Rescue Ocean (Tréhin-Denis) are well present in the lively animation of this beginning of Transat, the Normans are also demonstrating what playing at home means. Nicolas Jossier and Alexis Loison (La Manche #Evidence nautique) are sailing in a "garden" that they know by heart and they are paving the way for the fleet as they negotiate the passage under Guernsey.
The fleet is now trapped and suffering from the currents blocking the course of their Class40s. « Ca flap flap flap" as Luke Berry (Lamotte-Module Création) describes it with a touch of humour and fatalism, contemplating his sails slumped by the lack of wind. There is little hope of taking off again before midday, when a light westerly flow will finally come to reinflate the Class40s' sails. The calm conditions will be followed by upwind sailing, prelude to the fateful moment when the boats will have to choose their route to enter the Atlantic. Full west, upwind in strong winds, or south west, as close as possible to the direct route in the light airs of the Bay of Biscay? Routing and grey matter are in full swing on this first morning of the Transat Jacques Vabre as the sailors fight against the flow. 8,200 km remain to be sailed before the Martinique beaches.
The crew of the day: Equipe Voile Parkinson
Florian Gueguen and Raphael Auffret left Cherbourg at 6 am this morning after a four-hour stopover Since then, they have been facing the terrible currents of the Raz Blanchard.
The performance of the day
In the calm and facing the adverse currents, it is the crew of Samsic E. Leclerc, from the Kervarrec family, Simon the son and Yannick the father who, with 21,6 miles covered in the last 4 hours, are doing the best...
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