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On this 45th day at sea, the Maxi Banque Populaire V was located northwest of the Azores at about 875 miles from the finish off Ushant. At 8 am this morning, ahead of Loïck Peyron and his crew was 1440nm ahead of the reference time record of Jules Verne Trophy .
After traveling 715 miles over the last 24 hours at an average speed of 30 knots, the conditions still lie ahead for the day strong with over 25 knots of wind. Always downwind, Loïck Peyron and his crew should stay on the same side until the arrival between 22h and 23h on Friday night, according to latest estimates.
875 miles, this is just the distance that remains to be done to Loïck Peyron and crew of the Maxi Banque Populaire V to become the new holders of the Jules Verne Trophy and especially to end 45 days of navigation which gives rise already admiration and respect. In Brest, it is preparing to celebrate the brave sailors of the Maxi Trimaran. At sea, they must still provide a few hours of concentration before the line with them and swallow a final round gybes and punctuated by a route that is likely to mean the British Isles before Ushant, all in a wind that should remain strong until at the end.
As the city prepares to host the Ponant with honors the crew of the Bank of Sailing , to 1000 miles away, Loïck Peyron and the crew of the giant trimaran started the home stretch and prepare to be the final blow to the reference time previously held by Franck Cammas and his men. Benefiting from a southerly flow south west, the Maxi Banque Populaire V keeps the pace and maintains an average speed around 30 knots.
On board, even though everyone knows that the release is near, the concentration remains intact and maneuvers such as jibes are linked together for morning pick up a little more pressure, whereas the anticyclone causes always some frivolity in the air . But this morning, all know they have turned a psychological corner, seeing a reverse trend.
"It's a little gray here, we lost the sun. We will re-jibe in a short time. It's a bit unstable at the edge of this beautiful anticyclone. There is not necessarily the wind that we want but it is not serious. So far we have not erred, but it can happen fast enough. Be careful. The baby is not capricious but we must remain vigilant. But when we know that a straight line it is less than 875 miles from the finish, not bad at all. We are currently drawing a great chistera Atlantic makes us brush the Fastnet, the Scilly and finally get close to you. "
A desire to gallop in slow motion
Tomorrow at the same time, the Maxi Banque Populaire V has arrived in the Ushant and line of sight. It was around midnight Friday to Saturday the giant trimaran should suspend the timer, with a small "constraint" imposed by the WSSRC * and of moving to less than 4 miles from the lighthouse Créac'h, erected on the northern tip of the island west Finistère, so that the viewfinder to record official this passage.
Mathematically, the fourteen sailors on board are going through their last moments at sea, the last hours of this community of life on a machine cut for performance but not necessarily for comfort. For all, time has come mixed feelings among anxious to arrive and find his family, and want to enjoy every moment they have left to enjoy before the excitement of arrival. Used to this kind of gentle inner turmoil, Loïck Peyron was this afternoon the words to say: "If there was a picture to illustrate what it feels like right now, it would be a desire to gallop in slow motion, to so it goes fast but with a kind of hidden desire to drag things out. This kind of adventure that is not every day, we must enjoy every minute. All feelings are scrambling in the last days of racing. The excitement inevitably prevents some sleep and the last remaining freeze-dried food are not necessarily the best and do not help to fall asleep. "
(Rough translation from French text)
http://www.voile.banquepopulaire.fr/...V/accueil.html