The more westward option of the skipper of Vulnerable allowed him to cross this area feared by sailors in a leading position and take control for the first time on Thursday.
France Télévisions – Sports Editorial
Published on 21/11/2024 08:45
Reading time: 2min
He is the one who best negotiated this area feared by sailors. Thomas Ruyant was the first skipper to leave the Doldrums, Thursday November 21, this intertropical convergence zone known for its unstable weather which slowed down the fleet. For the first time in this 10th edition, the sailor from Vulnerable took the lead in the 7h standings, ahead of Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable, 6.5 miles) and Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil, at 23.98 miles).
After falling to 11th place the previous evening, he overtook the leaders from the west. A paid option which allowed him to find more wind and to be, at certain times, more than twice as fast as his rivals. “In the middle of the night, over 4 hours, its speed was 16.9 knots, compared to 5 to 6 knots for Sam (Goodchild) and Sébastien (Simon), assures Pierre Hays of the race direction on the organization’s site. He managed to find a less complex passage and take advantage of it.”
Behind, the leading trio, the pursuers regained some speed in the early morning. But handling this capricious zone is complex, as Charlie Dalin (Macif, current 6th) tells us. “The Doldrums is not as simple as that. With Yoann (Richomme), we had regained a lot of ground on Sam (Goodchild), Thomas (Ruyant) and Nicolas (Lunven). And then, there had a nice corridor but a new cloud mass was created right above us and we got a little expensive Yesterday, we had very weak winds with sometimes zero knots (…) I hope so. going out soon, although you never know when It’s totally over.”
For the first to leave the Doldrums, the next stage will be the crossing of the equator. The first ones should arrive there within 24 hours.
Senegal
