Final approach. Different approaches.

ULTIM: Final turns

With a lead of nearly 200 miles and 450 miles to go, nothing but bad luck could deprive SVR Lazartigue of the win it set out for in the TRANSAT CAFÉ l’Or. This Coffee Route, in which it has already finished second twice (2021 and 2023), has been dominated since the tip of Brittany by the all blue trimaran, masterfully sailed by Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas. They are fast, always in the right place, and despite the competition's best efforts, seemingly nothing can stop them.

The passage through the Doldrums from north to south, which SVR’s Benjamin Schwartz described yesterday morning as a "rematch," was the last real meteorological opportunity to reshuffle the cards. Nothing really changed indeed SVR Lazartigue increased its lead over Sodebo Ultim 3. Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas covered more than 600 miles in the last 24 hours, sailing half a knot faster than their closest rivals.

On the charts, one might think the route is direct to Fort de Fance, but there are still a few gybes to execute and squalls to navigate before they can even begin to look for the contours of the island on their horizon

Ocean Fifty: the comeback kids 

We had grown accustomed to the gentle and cheerful voice of Emmanuel Le Roch on Edenred; this morning, it was the lively voice of Baptiste Hulin that we heard on the radio. Teaming up with Thomas Rouxel who sailed two Coffee Route races with Thomas Coville on the Sodebo Ultim, they form a discreet but remarkably effective duo, having fought in the shadows for a long time after their stop in Aber Wrac'h the day after the start. "We set off again 140 miles behind, we were up to 200 miles along the coast of Portugal, and now, to be in the lead, it's fantastic, even if we're a little disappointed that it's due to Edenred's damage." Last night, the pair were far too busy keeping an eye on the squalls ahead to be reflecting on the race yet: "It was a very busy night, we were both on deck. It's very difficult to read the water, to understand if the squalls are breaking away or building up. We're the first to get caught in them and we try to avoid the lulls," Hulin, a 28 year old former match racing champion said this morning.

Edenred's damage, in any case, hasn't dampened the challenge of the Ocean Fifty team, who are charging headlong towards Martinique, executing a series of high-speed gybes in an electric atmosphere. In 24 hours, Viabilis Oceans has covered 480 miles, and on the making tack (starboard tack), on which it can no longer fly its large gennaker, Edenred 5 is clearly slower, averaging three knots slower over the course of the day.

Third behind Wewise (Pierre Quiroga-Gaston Morvan), Emmanuel Le Roch and Basile Bourgnon are hanging on but have a tough time holding off the onslaught of Rire Médecin Lamotte, just six miles behind them. On this trimaran, dating from 2009 (it's the first Neyhousser design, originally created for Yves Le Blévec), the Luke Berry-Antoine Joubert duo is demonstrating the validity of the 15-meter trimaran class rule. When kept up-to-date and sailed well, these boats can still compete with the latest models in long-distance races.

The Ocean Fifties have 36 hours of effort and focus left to secure their place in the sun. "Nothing is won yet, but the boat is at 100% and the crew is at 200%!" warns Baptiste Hulin.

IMOCA: Charal on point 
 

The biggest gains are currently going to those who gybe the latest on the trade wind route. Macif Santé Prévoyance and 11th Hour Racing launched their gybes a little too early last night and had to make two attempts. Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière didn't make a mistake. They pushed a little further north and made a good move. "We gybed at exactly the right moment and it was a good day for us. We're continuing to give it our all!" they confirmed. This morning, Jérémie Beyou reported that Charal's lead peaked at over 70 miles, the largest gap in the IMOCA class since the start from Le Havre last Sunday. The Manuard-designed boat is sailing slightly further south and slightly faster than the Verdier-designed boat of Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar. While there's still 20% of the route to Fort-de-France to cover, opportunities to close the gap are dwindling with each passing day for the fleet expected in Martinique on Saturday.

As they progress westward, the increasing number of squalls in the trade winds is starting to pose a challenge, each presenting an opportunity to gain ground or the risk of losing it: "A little while ago, we were slowed, and now it's pretty strong. The wind has picked up to 30 knots behind us," recounts Jérémie Beyou. “In these conditions, you keep the sails up and hang on but you have to constantly adjust them to make it work and, above all, to maintain speed. It's a few centimeters of sheet tension, the position of the mainsail traveler, a small autopilot adjustment, the weight distribution on board. In short, you have to be on top of it!”

Class40: Over the pass or the valley.

They were 40 Class40 duos who set off from La Coruña and the Atlantic is taking a toll. With two fronts passing through on two consecutive nights, the bad weather has thinned the fleet. Ocean Connect The Sea Cleaners (Jean Baptiste Ternon and Gaëtan Thomas) was dismasted yesterday, Interaction (Yannig and Erwann Livory) and RDT Logistic Forvis Mazars (Renaud and Gilles Courbon) turned back towards Cascais (Portugal), the latter having announced its official retirement, and the tracks of several other Class40s show that not everyone is making good progress this morning between Spain and the Azores.

On the SNSM; "the toolbox is still safely stored in its place," according to Corentin Douguet. The leader, who has held the position for 48 hours, continues to impress but admits that last night in the North was extremely rough: “It was really tough with 4-meter waves, thankfully on the beam, steady winds of 35 knots, and gusts of 45 or even 50. It's a compromise you have to find to avoid breaking everything, but at a certain point, these boats just don't want to slow down, and it was a real rollercoaster in the bunk!” Exactly on schedule as they passed the southern waypoint of the Azores, the duo of Corentin Douguet and Axel Tréhin extended their lead over Legallais (Fabien Delahaye and Pierre Leboucher), who are thirty miles behind. Amarris (Achille Nebout and Gildas Mahé), the first of the southern group, is tenth, 71 miles from the leader. They are 4 knots faster in terms of speed over the water but 8 knots slower in terms of VMC, speed made directly towards the finish over the last four hours, heading almost due south. In these challenging conditions, both to the north and south, the fleet is spreading out considerably between seasoned professionals and amateurs still finding their way. Not to mention the boats that have suffered damage, 260 miles already separate the leader from 32nd place Alderan (Sasha Lanièce, Sanni Beucke).

As for the lateral gap between the two fleets, it's not likely to close anytime soon, since SNSM Faites un don plans to tack off again quite quickly today on a port tack, as if they were going to visit Horta to position themselves for the next front! "Right now, we're taking advantage of the wind, which has returned to 20 knots, to dry the boat, rest a bit, and do a check of the boat," explained Corentin Douguet, who knows that now, he has to follow through on his chosen strategy.