One week in For some it will feel like the start was only yesterday, for others a lifetime has passed but nothing is decided

The chase among the giant trimarans, which has been ongoing for a week, will continue in a shorter format than initially planned, the leg down to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic has been removed and the archipelago of San Pedro and São Paulo becomes the final waypoint before reaching Martinique. Things are also heating up in the IMOCA class, with Charal taking the lead and speeding through the trade winds, while in the Class40s, two groups are monitoring each other on either flank of the Cape Finisterre TSS. 

ULTIM: Exit this way

With speeds of 15 knots since the start of the night, the three leading ULTIMs are gradually leaving the Doldrums behind. Maxi Banque Populaire XI entered thee Doldrums last night, significantly less slowed down so far than the duos in front. "You always think it's over, but there's still quite a bit of activity. It's much better than yesterday morning at the same time, but this whole ordeal has lasted almost 36 hours; it was a substantial Doldrums," noted Tom Laperche on SVR Lazartigue this morning during the radio check-in. 

Winds are still light as they exit the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and upwind progress remains quite slow for the ULTIM trimarans, who received an amendment from Race Control last night detailing a course modification. To ensure the grouped finish in Fort-de-France, the ULTIM trimarans' course will be shortened. Now they don’t need to go as far south as Ascension Island. The tiny islands of San Pedro and São Paulo, near the geographic equator, will be the final mark on the course, to be left to starboard. The ETA for the larger trimarans is November 6th in Fort-de-France.

And so Sodebo Ultim 3, Actual Ultim 4, and Maxi Banque Populaire XI now have 2,500 nautical miles left if they are to challenge SVR Lazartique's lead. Losses suffered by the blue trimaran yesterday at the entrance to the Doldrums lasted only four or five hours, but Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas still lost around fifty miles and a considerable amount of energy: “We were stopped for a while, we had to maneuver a lot. The last few hours were easier with the cloud masses thinning out, and we were able to get back into our watch routine with Franck.” The fastest in this situation was Actual Ultim 4 – the 2021 race winner as Maxi Edmond de Rothschild - which completely caught up with Sodebo Ultim 3 and for whom anything is possible again.

While the 200 miles separating the ULTIMs from San Paolo and San Pedro will probably not shake up the standings today, the 2,200 miles of the final leg – “a wide and very open section where nothing is certain,” says Tom Laperche – look more promising for launching attacks. Downwind, the performances of the three leading ULTIMs are very close, and SVR will no longer have the advantage it holds upwind. With four boats performing at 100% of their potential, this engaging battle will last until the very end, especially considering how often overnight or dawn finishes are so often plagued by calms!

IMOCA: Charal shows its strength

11^th Hour’s Clapcich-Harris duo had been feeling the pressure for 12 hours as the trade winds built progressively and Charal finally overtook 11^th Hour Racing to take on first place yesterday at midnight sharp. Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière shifted into high gear in more consistent trade winds, where they are sometimes progressing up to four knots faster than their pursuers. Everyone who had been involved in recent training sessions at Port La Fôret had spoken of Charal’s speed edge and it seems evident now.  The black IMOCA continues to extend its lead: 20 miles over 11^th Hour, 40 over Macif Santé Prévoyance, which has just reclaimed third place from TeamWork Team Snef. Behind this quartet, a step-like formation has formed on the descent along the Moroccan coast, as Allagrande Mapei and Bureau Vallée, in 5th and 6th place respectively, were more than 80 miles behind at 6 a.m.

Having already made a strong impression off the coast of Spain in these conditions, does Charal, it have a secret weapon in medium downwind conditions? "I'm not going to say everything, we'll see at the finish, but between 15 and 20 knots on this flat sea, we're going fast. Under autopilot, we fine-tune the boat to find and maintain flight," said Jérémie Beyou this morning.

It has been a great phase for the black IMOCA after getting caught in a net yesterday. "We tried reversing, but it didn't work. We had to dive to cut the net. We lost 15 miles in the process and quite a bit of energy."

With six days of racing still to go, the competition is only just beginning, so to speak, for the IMOCA boats, which will have to contend with a poorly established trade wind. Should they continue heading south, even if it means lengthening the route for a highly uncertain gain, or should they sail a tighter angle course? Everyone is watching the options. 

Ocean Fifty: A game of chance

The chase that has been raging in the Ocean Fifty since Edenred 5 took the lead on October 29th north of the Canary Islands continues and has taken on a slightly different character. The leaders saw almost half their lead melt away yesterday due to their southward move after rounding the last waypoint in Cape Verde. So far, the option of passing inside the archipelago at a latitude where the wind shadows of the northern islands are weak seems to have been a good move by Viabilis Oceans and Solidaires en Peloton, who have gained a good twenty miles: "They're (the windshadows) are doing their job," said Manu Le Roch on Edenred 5 this morning during the radio check-in. "We had spotted this possibility, but it opened the door too much to the south, and we preferred to stay on our course." Basile and I had a bit of a scare yesterday, when we were doing 3 knots while the others were flying at 20! We had to head south again to get out of the wind shadows. Now, it seems to have stabilized, and the wind should pick up a bit during the day. With only about ten knots downwind, the speeds are quite slow for the trimarans, which are "just pushing along," according to the skipper of Edenred.
It remains to be seen whether the two boats to the north will maintain their lateral offset or realign themselves with Edenred before crossing the trough that will disrupt the trade winds tomorrow.

Class40: Italian recompense?

Very soon after the start from La Coruña yesterday, the Class40 fleet split up around the Cape Finisterre Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS). Most of the favorites, led by SNSM Faites un don and Seafrigo-Sogestran, opted for the northern route, and this morning it was those favoring a more coastal course who gained the upper hand. They are sailing a bit faster and have made a significant gain to the south, as explained by Nicolas Jossier, who just took the lead on Défi Solidaire with Ellye and L’Arche at 9:00 AM: “It’s a rather fortunate choice. I didn’t think the boats that went north of the shipping lane would fall so far behind. But it’s just a temporary thing and doesn’t necessarily predict what will happen next.” Sailing conditions are currently very pleasant for the entire fleet, with a slight swell but a moderate wind conducive to a comfortable pace.

Predicted as a battle between the northern and southern routes, the Class40s’ strategies are not expected to become clear until the end of the day. “We’re loading the files and waiting for more models to refine the strategy,” continued Nicolas Jossier, overseeing the adjustments, while Sophie Faguet ran the routing. “We know that by the end of the day, we’ll have to make decisions that will have consequences for the rest of the race; that’s the nature of a transatlantic race.”

Meantime the first hours at least have been a morale boost for the Italian duo Luca Rossetti and Matteo Sericano (Maccaferri Futura) who led this morning. They had to pitstop early on leg one due to charging problems and lost their chance of a good placing but they are going well on equal terms with the leaders, having also gone south of the TSS.