Led at a cracking pace without any real leader, the fleet heads towards the Occidental de Sein. Things will really get serious after this buoy passed during the night.
Special envoy on board the Express boat
Close-hauled, always close-hauled. The 33 competitors in the race will still have to wait until the end of their final 710-mile leg to finally inflate their cortex and, incidentally, their spinnakers. The latter have been practically new since the start in the Bay of Seine on August 25. For the time being, they have to bend their backs, absorb the wave jumps and be patient in a rather rough sea and a slanting swell. The fleet remains well grouped and as they tack, some even asking for priority as if they were sailing between 3 buoys, the leaders change. The first 8 are within 1 mile, 1852 m if you prefer.
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The leader of the provisional general classification, Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan) is well settled in the middle. Two radical choices were however made to stand out from the herd instinct. To the south, Paul Morvan (Foricher Les Moulins-Bagatelle) and Édouard Golbery (Verder-Seastemik). To the north, Hugo Dhallenne (YCSL-Primatice-SLB Pharma) and Jules Delpech (Orcom) who were going at a good pace, the only ones to pass this morning between the continent and Belle-Île. The coast is apparently more beautiful there.
This crawling should last for many more hours, until the passage of the Western buoy of Sein in the early hours of this Tuesday. This course mark signifying the end or the beginning of the geography, will be that of the intermediate sprint, crediting the first with 5, 3 and 1 minutes of bonus in the general classification. From then on the physiognomy of the race will take on a completely different dimension. The wind should strengthen for the crossing of the Channel towards Skerries Bank, on the English south coast. A westerly wind where, with the passage of a disturbed front, the gusts will reach 35 to 40 knots, at a guess.
The solitude of the voluntary hermits will wrap itself even more around their guts, their stomachs and their throats. They were warned and prepared accordingly as the 3rd of the first stage, Jules Ducelier (Normandy Region), narrated at the media session this afternoon: “For the moment we continue to knit as best we can to go and get the next mark. After that it should really get stronger in the Channel. I try to eat well, to rest well while it is still possible between the clouds and the stronger passages. The fatigue has accumulated since the start of the event. I preserve myself so as not to end up on my knees. And the pilot is still steering well. But we must not forget to move the boat forward because the race is played out here too. So it is a compromise to be found.»
Same clarine tinkling for Maël Garnier (Selencia-Cerfrance): “We need to gather our strength now and not burn up too much energy on these close-hauled tacks where the differentials are not so great. I’m trying to position myself well to catch up with my friends in front and gain a few places. We’ll need to protect the equipment. The choice of sail will be made at the Chaussée de Sein and then at Ouessant to see if I attack under spinnaker in the Channel. These are conditions that I’ve already encountered, it’s not too scary“They wanted sport. They’re all going to get it.
