It was expected and in the fleet, everyone knew that the rankings (or scores) over the past two days had to be taken with a grain of salt. Certainly, the supporters of the Eastern route, Jean Le Cam (Everything begins in Finistère – Armor-lux), had the honors of first places since the night of Friday to Saturday. Except that the soft zone which monopolizes the fleet is also moving towards the East. Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur – DUO for a JOB) is one of those who are stuck in the calm “since 1 a.m., I have had between 0.8 and 1.5 knots of wind. There for example, as I speak to you, we have a spectacular gust of 0.9 knots. » he sums up with humor. In the 3 p.m. rankings, Jean Le Cam was moving at 3.6 knots.
“Sam went down a mouse hole”
“King Jean” therefore ceded his crown to Sébastien Simon (Dubreuil Group). The Vendéen, who follows a central route within the head of the fleet, took control of the classification at the start of the afternoon. It was progressing at 14.6 knots at the start of the afternoon. However, it is the western champions who have had the best wind conditions since yesterday. In the coming hours, they should return to the top places in the ranking. A new twist which could benefit Sam Goodchild whose trajectory is impressive.
Among their direct competitors, inevitably, we are feeling the pinch a little. Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA) is lucid about the situation: “Sam has gone through a mouse hole. It’s frustrating, he already has a good lead and it’s going to get worse and worse.” Damien Seguin (APICIL Group) also saw the Briton widen the gap. He is very complimentary of him:
“Sam’s trajectory is magnificent. It’s easy to say now that this was the route we had to take, that we would have done the same in his place… He followed his intuition to the end and carried out his strategy to perfection. It will create a nice gap! » Damien Seguin, APICIL GROUP
“In the short term, Sam should have a big advantage over the others,” assured Christian Dumard, the Vendée Globe weather consultant this morning. But the others who went further West (Nicolas Lunven, Jérémie Beyou, Yoann Richomme, Charlie Dalin) should return gradually in the coming days.” Beyond the situation at the head of the race, it is worth highlighting the density of the race with 38 skippers who are in less than 300 miles.
Resisting against damage
The days pass and inevitably, the problems accumulate. Yesterday evening, Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée), who was sailing with the Western skippers, noticed cracks on the deck of his IMOCA. As of this morning, he was trying to assess the damage and repair it, as he explained in a video sent mid-afternoon. For his part, Szabolcs Weöres (New Europe) arrived in the Canaries. The Hungarian stopped at a buoy off Las Palmas so he could repair his mainsail. In any case, nothing beats the happiness of a skipper after having solved technical problems.
Fabrice Amedeo (Nexans – Wewise) can attest to this, having repaired his keel jack support. “I’m not handy, there must be a few shelves mounted upside down at home. So succeeding here is really nice! » Same satisfaction for Damien Seguin (APICIL Group): “I had a good repair ‘job list’ to do. Nothing too serious but it’s better when it works. And I am satisfied since everything is operational again! »
Meanwhile, daily life continues in the fleet. “A rainbow, a cloud, a grain and a lot of music, that’s the good life,” relishes Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline). Sébastien Marsset (FOUSSIER) was able to immortalize a sunrise while the moon was still visible. Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) heard flying fish hitting his hull last night, Éric Bellion (STAND AS ONE) put one back in the water after it ran aground in the cockpit of his IMOCA. Sam Goodchild and Yoann Richomme took the time to watch the rugby matches, respectively of England and the XV of France. Before quickly returning to their settings and their strategy.
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