The essential

Pitstop challenges.

Pitstops lasting several hours have put two of the key favourites to win the TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR on the backfoot less than 24 hours into the double handed race from Le Havre to Martinique. A moment of inattention in building seas on the first night of the race saw Yoann Richomme and Corentin on Paprec Arkéa strike a navigation buoy off the Cherbourg peninsula. They sustained damage to the outrigger deck spreader and starboard foil.
Imoca

Here we go again, stronger than ever!

At 12:00 UTC (13:00 HF), the IMOCA Paprec Arkéa officially rejoined the TRANSAT CAFÉ L'OR race, just under 22 hours behind the rest of the fleet. With weather conditions continuing to deteriorate, the stakes are now elsewhere for the two skippers: self-sacrifice, communication, learning... while leaving as many of their comrades in their wake as possible!

They left the Paul Vatine basin, buoyed by the energy of their team and the encouragement of the Le Havre locals who had come to see them off, before setting sail again for a Channel crossing that promises to be as challenging as ever: "The first few hours will be quite windy, in conditions similar to those experienced by the rest of the fleet, with a big storm off the coast of Spain to watch out for. It's not the same race anymore, we'll have several tough elements to negotiate, but we're going to push hard to move up as many places as possible: that will be our new challenge!"

The violent front that is expected to hit the Class40s at the entrance to the Bay of Biscay is indeed a concern for Yoann and Corentin, who will be keeping a very close eye on how the situation develops. All the while keeping in mind the new objective of their Atlantic crossing: to reach the other side, catching up with as many competitors as possible and with the satisfaction of an adventure rich in lessons learned!

Class40

¿ Qué pasa ?

On Sunday, just before the start, race direction decided that the Class40 fleet should stop in La Coruña on the NW corner of Spain. This is because of a bad low-pressure system off the Portuguese coast. The Class40 leaders are expected to arrive there on Wednesday and they could then leave again at the end of the weekend.
Ultim

Le Maxi Banque Populaire XI has restarted

Armel Le Cléac'h and Sébastien Josse resumed racing around 11:45 a.m local time (UTC+1) after a technical stopover at their technical base in Lorient that began at 6:00 a.m. The two skippers had to deal with a rudder problem on Sunday evening. Fully mobilized, Team Banque Populaire replaced the rudder and carried out all necessary repairs so that the skippers can use their Ultim to its full potentia once againl.

Imoca

MSIG Europe will pitstop in Roscoff

After a particularly rough first night on the Transat Café L’Or seeing gusts of over 50 knots and rough seas with waves of four meters, Conrad Colman and Mathieu Blanchard have been struggling badly  loss of their radar as well as problems with the autopilot.  Lacking a relay on the helm and valuable information concerning the weather conditions forecast off the coast of Spain, with the arrival of a particularly violent front, the duo preferred to play it safe and decided to stop in Roscoff in Finistère.

The MSIG Europe technical team is mobilized on site to diagnose the fault and allow a return to sea as soon as possible. The objective: to preserve the boat and the crew before resuming the race in the best possible conditions!

Morning glory

It was a demanding, tough night at sea for the co-skipper duos which started the 17 th TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR yesterday but many skippers this morning reported that it was not quite as heinous as they had expected. Nonetheless the duos were straight into a long, dark night all pursuing the same fundamental goal, keeping boat and skippers in one piece.
Imoca

IMOCA PAPREC ARKEA - A long night of work, and here we go again!

Yoann Richomme and Corentin Horeau will be able to resume racing in the Transat Café L'Or on Monday, October 27. Less than 24 hours after returning to Le Havre following a collision with a navigation buoy, the two sailors were able to count on a remarkable show of solidarity and the titanic efforts of their technical team, who worked tirelessly throughout the night to get their boat back in working order.

Having already demonstrated their expertise during the express refit between races, the Paprec Arkéa team once again showed unfailing efficiency and rigor: in just one night, the men and women of the technical team brought in the necessary repair materials from Lorient, replaced the damaged outrigger and foil, and made the red and blue IMOCA seaworthy again in record time.

Well done and THANK YOU Romain, Jean-Charles, Gautier, Guillaume, Pauline, Alexandre, Denis, Jonathan, Paul, Cyril, Simon, and Ronan

See you at the end of the morning for this new start!

Ocean Fifty

Words from the board Basile Bourgnon - EDENRED 5

Hi there !

It's becoming difficult and time-consuming to write on these boats that are constantly moving around. It's chaos aboard EDENRED V.
Everything is fine on board, we're taking naps one after the other, with no respite on the first night. The sea was rough, and that's putting it mildly.

We crossed paths with Lazare X Hellio five minutes before it capsized, which sends shivers down my spine.
We're about to pass the second wall of this early transatlantic crossing. The low-pressure system on the 28th is going to engulf us, and we'll just have to endure it... We'll have to hunker down once again.

Otherwise, we have a few technical issues and problems with the autopilot, which caused us to fall behind our friends ahead of us. But it's only a matter of time ;)

I'm going back, Manu's alarm is about to go off, and I can't wait to go to bed!

Basile

Look at the duo Edenred 5

Ultim

Maxi Banque Populaire XI

Maxi Banque Populaire XI made a stop in Lorient due to a problem with the port rudder.
 

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