Morning glory Getting through the night is the first victory

Out at the Casquets Traffic Separation Scheme, by Guernsey, where the busy cargo ship traffic takes 100% priority and so there is a large prohibited zone, the decision had to be taken to pass to the north giving them time and space like the UlTIMs and IMOCAs or to the south like the Class40 leaders are now. Even if some skippers said they had seen less wind in the gusts than forecast it was still just over 30kts at times with three metre seas. After the dramas with the OCEAN 50 capsizes it was a relatively quiet night. Yoann Richomme and Corentin Horeau returned back to Le Havre within three hours of hitting a buoy of Cherbourg on Paprec Arkéa. A long night of repairs to outrigger, foil and standing rigging damage should see them leave again around midday. And the 2023 ULTIM race winner Maxi Banque Populaire XI diverted to her home port Lorient to effect repairs to their starboard rudder. This is expected to be a quick pitstop.

ULTIM: Pitstop Maxi Banque Populaire XI SVR extends

Until 2:00 this morning, the match between the ULTIMs was the duel most were expecting. Very close, with SVR Lazartigue and Banque Populaire XI close at the front, and the Actual-Sodebo tandem on the lookout, all within a handkerchief of each other on the big ocean scale. By taking the Chenal de Four channel close to the coast, Armel Le Cléac'h and Sébastien Josse were not pulling off a tactical coup, and it was clear after the Raz de Sein that the defending champions were signaling left. They touched down in Lorient this morning to repair their starboard rudder, damaged during the night, but should be back on track quickly...
 

Clear leaders now are Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas on SVR Lazartigue, slicing through the Bay of Biscay as they approach the ridge of high pressure they will cross in the morning. Second at the 6 o'clock checkpoint, Anthony Marchand explains: "We're sailing under 1 reef/J2 at 90° to the wind, which is about to ease, and the entire sail range will be affected." So, there's a lot of maneuvering ahead for the Ultims today, "after an intense night with lots of tacking, watching the cargo ships, and sail changes," continues the skipper of Actual Ultim 4. " good news is that the boat is as clean as the day before yesterday; we haven't broken anything!"
 

Between the maneuvers, which always take a fair bit of time on these large trimarans, the day will be spent fine-tuning their strategy to pass the Portuguese low, "It is better and better aligned with the charts as we get closer to it," according to Marchand who is sailing with weather ace Julien Villion. "We need to know whether we're going to be sailing downwind or upwind. In any case, it's going to be a lot of maneuvering, and we'll have to be very precise."

IMOCA: The favourites where they should be…mostly

Aside from yesterday's accident that forced Paprec Arkéa to return to Le Havre, all the favorites are up in the leading group, Macif Santé Prévoyance in the lead. Heading single file toward the exit of the English Channel, the 60-footers set out on a long tack to Weymouth Bay in England, then aiming for the tip of Brittany, which the leaders will reach in the morning.

"It was more due to the wind shifting to the right than to going to find the protection of the coast," explained Sam Goodchild this morning during the radio call. The Brit was happy to passing Ushant in the lead at 0800hrs UTC with a margin of around ten miles over his pursuers. "The wind blew at 30 knots, rather less strong than forecast, but the sea was choppy and it was pounding hard." We were
prepared for war, and we're still reefing two storm jibs to avoid hitting too hard. We'll have to let out the reefs as the wind eases and flexes. We'll also take advantage of this for a quick check," continued Sam, who was preparing to round Ushant at 9 a.m. Behind, Charal, closely tied with Allagrande Mapei, are more than 10 miles behind, and Associations Petits Princes-Queguiner are a little further
back. Frankie Clapcich and Will Harris on 11 th Hour Racing and Bureau Vallée are also off to a good start, ahead of Justine Mettraux and Xavier Macaire on TeamWork Team Snef.
 

All these leading IMOCAs will be in the Bay of Biscay before noon and will have to pick the best point to pass the ridge of high pressure blocking their route south. "The disadvantage of being in the lead is being the first to position themselves to pass this zone!" " smiled Sam Goodchild, but there's little chance of seeing the fleet spread out too much along the East-West axis.

Ocean Fifty: Contraction, relaxation

The 50 fleet had compressed a little in the Bay of Biscay yesterday, where the decreasing wind with latitude allowed the last boats (Viabilis Oceans and Upwind by Mer concept) to make up some of their lost time. But as the first gybes around the Cape Finisterre TSS took place, the leaders made up ground and accelerated. Crossing the ridge of high pressure, extending form high pressure system that dominates the near Atlantic (the very one that channels the northwesterly airflow into the English Channel), posed no problem for the agile trimarans, who will now focus on negotiating the Portuguese low pressure system. Still in the lead, Wewise of Pierre Quiroga and Gaston Morvan is faultless, while some forty miles behind, places are being exchanged between Edenred 5 and Solidaires in the Peloton, the former having been handicapped "by autopilot problems," Basile Bourgnon admitted this morning. The co-skipper of Edenred was already looking ahead to the passage of the Portuguese depression, "the second hurdle of this start of the transatlantic race, which will engulf us and where we can only suffer... we will have to keep our heads down once again." Keeping their heads down is also the considered approach of Anne-Claire Le Berre, who admits to having waited a long time at the exit of the Channel before putting up more sail yesterday: "We were really on the safe side with Elodie Jane and when we saw what happened to Koesio who
was also sailing safe and slower, we are pleased." The only women's crew in both multihull classes had their first meal at noon yesterday and are starting to refocus on the weather forecasts "for a passage fairly close to the center of the low," says Anne Claire. After this episode, which will mark the next night, the Ocean Fifty should have a clearer picture of their Atlantic crossing.rès cet épisode qui va marquer la prochaine nuit, les Ocean Fifty devraient y voir plus clair sur leur traversée de l’Atlantique.

Class40: Time for a Speed ​​Race

The largest fleet in the race, with 42 entries, was making progress this morning off the Channel Islands. The small group of boats that chose to pass north of the Casquets, like Donate on SNSM.org, may have unnecessarily extended their route and will struggle to catch up with the leaders, who are heading directly towards Ushant, despite a tighter angle. The best route was an intermediate one last night, not too close to the Cotentin Peninsula but staying below the DST, as explained by leader Quentin La Nabour on Bleu Blanc planète location. "This choice allowed us to recover after our poor start." Thierry (Chabagny) helmed all evening, but then the night was dark, and it was better to be under control, trimming the boat. Now, the die is cast, and we'll follow the oscillations, paying out
sail all the way to Ushant." At a Solitaire du Figaro pace, the places were swapped this morning at the head of a race that will take the boats to La Coruña in just over 48 hours. "We're in a half-pace, and as the race is going to be quite short, we haven't held back much," confirmed Quentin during the press conference. With the top five within a mile of each other, everyone is listening closely, and
a race to the finish line begins for this first leg, with three pit stops (the Italian duo on the newest Musa 40 Maccaferri Futura who have electrical charging issues , Rêve de Large 5, and Wasabiii) and two competitors struggling, still in the Eastern Channel (Innovad Group XLG and RDT Logistic Forvis-Mazars). 

But do note the strong start of the women's crew of the Cap Pour Elles team. Mallorca’s Aina Bauza Roig and her French co-skipper Axelle Pillain were tenth in Engie-Dessine moi la High tech at 7:00 this morning.