“It stretches from the front. A bit like in life, the rich get richer! », summarized Romain Attanasio (Fortinet – Best Western) during the official session. At the head of the fleet Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant are slowly but surely widening the gap on their pursuers, so much so that the group of the first ten who were around sixty miles close to Fernando de Noronha now stretches almost five times more distance. “We have to be able to accept the fact that the first ones are going faster because they have better conditions, even if it's not nice to see them gaining a little more with each score,” said Damien Seguin (APICIL Group) , today in 17th place, 545 miles from the leader. “Given the weather situation, this is not an easy position to hold. You have to tighten your buttocks a little because you are moving in a very narrow wind corridor and this is even more true for people who, like me, are located at the back of the pack. We are really on something quite fine. All it takes is for the weather scenario to change a little for us to find ourselves trapped in much weaker winds. Despite everything, there is a small element of luck in the middle of all that,” commented the double Paralympic champion with this strange impression of evolving on a ridge line that is both aerial and exposed, without any anchor point. . “I'm trying to hang on, to make the boat work well without taking too many risks either,” added the navigator.
One system can hide anotherSame strategy for Romain Attanasio. “I try to stay in this depression as long as possible. It's not easy to follow its trajectory. The game of the moment is “sneaking”! Upwind, it seems to be soft and below we don't really know, which means we don't really want to set foot there,” said the skipper of Fortinet – Best Western, however, is a regular in the mountains, but not so reassured to progress in this way. However, he benefits from a fairly solid relay because if he, like many, is going to be let go little by little by the famous depression, he will benefit from a “plan B”, in this case the arrival of a another small depression just behind. “The Saint Helena anticyclone is reforming and will quickly pass in front of us. So we’re not going to find ourselves trapped in the middle,” explained Romain who should, in other words, simply make a short stopover in a transition zone and then board a new train. A situation, certainly, less perfect than that of the first, but still quite favorable. More, in any case, than that of the other half of the peloton led by Jean Le Cam (Tout Commence en Finistère – Armor-lux) who, for his part, will have no other choice than to go around of the high pressure zone.
“Like a lion cub in the savannah”“Today we find ourselves in a fairly “classic” situation. Over the next few days, we will be sailing upwind in fairly light winds, but at the end of the week there will be a small, somewhat technical depression to catch. I think that at that point, we will be able to get back on track if we sail well,” promised Benjamin Ferré who is starting to feel the long duration of the race. “At this stage of the race, you become a bit animalistic. As we begin to no longer know how many days it has been since we left, we focus on the sun. For my part, I feel like a lion cub in the savannah: during the day, as it is hot, I take naps. At night, I go hunting and I feed,” finished the skipper of Monnoyeur – Duo for a Job). Proof that this time, the circadian rhythm has definitely taken precedence over the night-time cycle among sailors!
Find our daily weather analysis of the race with METEO CONSULT Marine in our special Vendée Globe report.
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