Leader at the end of last week, Yoann Richomme has dropped a lot of miles in recent hours. With a heading of 326, the trajectory of the skipper of Arkea Paprec was cause for concern. As if he were turning back. This is not the case, Richomme anticipates the southern depression which is rearing its ugly head with gusts of 60 knots and troughs of 8-9 meters.
“I’m taking my optimal route”
“I am taking my optimal route, which consists of going north temporarily to move in front of the depression so as not to find myself in its most violent part.”
It is said and completely assumed: Richomme does not want to go into this sea of wreckage. He agrees to lose ground to avoid this storm.
At the beginning of Tuesday afternoon, he sent a short video where he explains his choice: “The weather is magnificent in the middle of India, but I have the impression that it is not going to last. I'm heading north, I'm even going a little west because I'm trying to move away, almost turn around, to position myself ideally with this depression which will take us quite far.”
In front of him, the two leaders, Charlie Dalin and Sébastien Simon, know that conditions will change in the next 20 hours. They too will have to head north on their route to avoid finding themselves in this storm which will batter the front runners for at least three days.
