Yannick Bestaven is now sailing southwest of the Canaries, heading for Cape Verde. The skipper of Maître CoQ V and defending champion has positioned himself in the leading group from the start and is gradually getting into the rhythm of a race that began in difficult sailing conditions.
The echo of the din of the almost 500,000 spectators gathered last Sunday along the famous Sables d'Olonne channel recedes over the days, replaced by that of the Atlantic Ocean, its waves, its rough seas, its squalls and its muscular winds. After the first very calm hours just after departure, conditions quickly strengthened in the Bay of Biscay, including a particularly intense passage around Cape Finisterre, at the western tip of Spain. “ The start was very difficult with little wind, confides Yannick Bestaven. We were stuck on the line. But that quickly changed. We had a rough night at Cape Finisterre with rough seas and wind gusts of up to 48 knots (nearly 90km/h). It was a bit of a shaker on board. At the start of the race, it's not easy and above all, you have to be careful not to break the equipment or get injured. But it went well despite some figures of speech. The boat behaves well. »
The night from Wednesday to Thursday was still rough. “ The great Gennaker* was hoistedsays the skipper. I was about to fall asleep when squalls arrived, the wind suddenly rose to 28 knots (more than 50 km/h). We had to react very quickly to reduce the sail, obviously with a nice adrenaline rush. But it ended well. »
Another challenge for Yannick is getting into the rhythm of a long-distance race. “ You have to keep the pace without getting worn out because the Vendée is a race of attrition as we saw four years ago, he recalls. The first nights were difficult. I tried to take micro-naps but with the whistles, noises and shocks it wasn't easy. Since then, things have calmed down. I was able to sleep for an hour four times. I have also been able to make real hot meals since Wednesday. It's now 20°, it's sliding well, the sky is blue. We are heading towards a easing wind. I'm going to take advantage of this to try to get as many one-hour sleep periods as possible to rest well and stay lucid to make the right choices. »
After these first days at sea, Maître CoQ V and Yannick Bestaven are still in the top 10 at the heart of a peloton where the first ten are within 60 nautical miles (111 km), at 11 a.m. this Friday.
« It's very tight but the road is long. I'm happy because I'm still in the leading group. I even have two boats under my lee. It wasn't easy because we had tough conditions, particularly along the Portuguese coast. I'm good in the competition. You must not lose too much distance on the front runners so as not to let them escape depending on the weather conditions. You have to stay in touch. Everyone says that we are going for a marathon and that we are not going to be at the same pace as for a transatlantic race for example, but I nevertheless have the impression that we have been at full speed for three or four days. There was no rest the first three days, it was difficult to eat because there was sea and strong wind. But I'm starting to get into the rhythm. Now it's time for the strategy to go to Ecuador. It's not easy because there isn't much wind ahead. There's a risk of it playing out and coming together. But this long-term strategy for this Vendée Globe is very interesting. We are really starting to approach all of this based on our interpretations of the weather files and our positions. We try to play with anticyclones and depressions to best position ourselves in relation to the systems. For now, we're all knitting together. But with the stopping wind passages likely to arrive, options more or less to the west may emerge. I'm going to take a good look at my weather files, I'm also going to look at my friends so I don't go alone in my corner for the moment. But it is certain that there will be options to take depending on our positions. »
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*Intermediate foresail between the genoa and the spinnaker
