Thursday January 2 This Thursday C.Dalin and Y.Richomme started a course towards the north after having changed tack during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, with a wind which picked up from the right. It is not yet the trade wind but a somewhat soft and irregular northeast wind, in a border of the Saint Helena anticyclone which is not very clear. Moreover, the speed of progress has significantly slowed down compared to the day before. They will therefore have to wait a little longer to find the trade winds which should set in during the day on Friday. For Sébastien Simon, after taking advantage of a northeast wind of around fifteen knots off the southern coast of Brazil, he once again found weaker wind conditions with a transition zone that he will have to pass before finding the trade wind. Thomas Ruyant, off the coast of Uruguay, benefits from a sustained north-northeast wind on the edge of a stormy depression. If he progresses more quickly than the leading trio, he must make more frequent tacks, because the wind is on the axis of the direct course.
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Friday January 3This Friday, C.Dalin and Y.Richomme will finally be able to benefit from an easterly trade wind close to 15 knots which will make them accelerate while sailing on starboard tack with a heading of 350°. These good wind conditions will allow the leading duo to widen the gap with their pursuer Sébastien Simon who will have to multiply the tacks, under the influence of a northerly wind of around twenty knots which will be on the axis of the direct route, along the Brazilian coast.
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Thomas Ruyant, much further south, will remain under the influence of a stormy depression off the coast of Uruguay. It will be overtaken by a cold front and will see the wind significantly soften behind the front, with a rotation towards the west which will allow for a better wind angle.
© METEO CONSULT Marine
Saturday January 4
This Saturday, C.Dalin and Y.Richomme will continue to accelerate and will engage in a real speed race at an average of 15 knots in an increasingly strong trade wind. Sébastien Simon will also progress quickly, under the influence of a northerly wind of around twenty knots which will force him to head north-east. With the wind gradually picking up from the right, he will have to make a tack to head north and seek out the trade winds.
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Thomas Ruyant will extricate himself from the stormy depression and will have to pass a transition zone with light winds before finding a sustained northerly wind on the edge of the Saint Helena anticyclone.Cyrille Duchesne, meteorologist expert La Chaîne Météo / METEO CONSULT
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