A GREAT START FOR THE NORMANDY CHANNEL RACE’S 2020 EDITION!
© Jean-Marie Liot / NCR 2020
Eager to get back out on the racetrack, 26 duos set sail today on the 11th Normandy Channel Race, the only event in the Class40 championship that has been able to go ahead as planned in the rather unique landscape of 2020.
Making for Saint-Marcouf
There are some 36 miles between the last mark in the coastal course off Ouistreham and the compulsory waypoint to the west of Saint-Marcouf. The competitors are due to benefit from a gentle and favourable current to reach the first tricky section of the course which, as is often the case in this great Norman classic, will likely reshuffle the cards for the first time.
Channel hoping
To tackle what will likely be one of the least fun sections of the course, the Channel crossing and its heavy shipping, the fleet should still be able to benefit from some favourable conditions on a reach in a breeze that is forecast to flesh out to around 15 knots from the ESE. After a first night at sea, the leading Class40s should theoretically reach the Isle of Wight tomorrow morning at around 0600 GMT, at which point their skippers will be able to get their teeth into another legendary section of the event: the negotiation of the Solent.
All the pictures: https://normandy-race.com/photos/
Source: Normandy Channel Race
