Announcement

**Photoboy** · 11-07-2017, 10:32 AM

Transat Leaders Near The Azores

TRACKER

07 November 2017 - 12h27

After a day of climbing to the west, the leaders of the Transat Jacques Vabre tacked last night. In powerful conditions, the Ultime, Multi 50 and Imoca are back a direct route at sustained speeds in stable north-westerlies. Behind them, the Class40 have left the tip of Brittany and crossed the front this morning. Some boats are nursing damage, some are laying low - two have made stopovers at Camaret-sur-Mer. But overall, the fleet is preserved.

Ultime
Maxi Edmond de Rothschild powered through the front and pointed its bows towards Salvador de Bahia at around 20:00 UTC last night. “We crossed the front in two hours, that's the advantage of the multihull,” Sébastien Josse told the race radio this morning. He and his team-mate, Thomas Rouxel, still have a grip on the race. Averaging more than 30 knots on more smoothly rolling sea, they have increased their lead to 50 miles over Sodebo Ultim’. Maxi80 Prince de Bretagne was making half the speed, which was explained when the duo Lionel Lemonchois and Bernard Stamm informed their technical team this morning that had broken their mainsail halyard while crossing the front, last night. They are already over 250 miles behind. One of the pair will have to climb the mast to make the repair and for that they will have to wait until the sea-state is calmer.

Multi 50
Arkema continues to set the pace even if Lalou Roucayrol admitted to having been "forced to slow down just before crossing the front where we actually flew several times.” The question of the day is whether or not Réauté Chocolat, who dodged the worst of the cold front by diving to the South at the cost of multiple manoeuvres, will be able to minimize its losses? Skippers Armel Tripon and Vincent Barnaud have slipped from second to fourth, and were sailing at a speed two times lower than Arkema. We will know by the afternoon. Ciela Village (Thierry Bouchard and Oliver Krauss) and FenêtreA-Mix Buffet (Erwan Le Roux and Vincent Riou) are less than 30 miles from the leader on the same angle.

Imoca
Positioned furthest north of the Imocas, Jean Pierre Dick and Yann Eliès on St-Michel Virbac caught the wind rotation to the northwest first. In strong, reaching conditions, the favourites have extended their lead to over 20 miles over the continually impressive foil-less SMA (Meilhat-Gahinet), who seem to be holding off the more modern foiling boats behind them. The battle of the Azores is just beginning and St-Michel Virbac, making 18.5 knots is neck-and-neck with the leading Multi 50, Arkema, with the two fleets intertwined.

Class40
Anglo-Spanish duo, Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde (Imerys Clean Energy) have moved into third behind the newly-launched leading boats Carac (Louis Duc, Alexis Loison) and Aïna Enfance et Avenir (Aymeric Chappellier, Arthur Le Vaillant). The winds were not quite as strong as expected in the cold front – around 30 rather than 40 knots. But before the front the 40ft monohulls, the smallest boats in the race spent their time shaving the rocks, even passing through the Passage du Four and the rocks of Molène island last night to get out of the Channel. In the wake of the leaders, Eärendil stopped in Camaret to repair their staysail, and the Brazilian team, Mussulo 40 Team Angola Cables, are heading to the same port to solve their electronic problems. Esprit Scout and Gustave Roussy seemed to be following the same path but were perhaps trying to negotiate the front from a different angle.

In this dawn, the Brazilian Leonardo Chicourel and the angolan José Guilherme Caldas were forced to stop the boat boat 40 team Angola in camaret, Northwest of France, to solve electronic problems in the class40

Damage to France (Association Association)
Hallvard Mabire joined shortly after 15 hours today Sylvie Viant, running director of the transat Jacques Vabre. He informed her of a serious damage that occurred shortly after 13 hours, French time, on the French campaign.
Hallvard Mabire and Miranda meron sailing team should in the next few hours decide on their destination.

**Photoboy** · 11-08-2017, 12:37 PM

Sharp Extends Lead as Merron Heads Home

Anticyclone 1039 hPa at 45 north and 27 west, slowly shifting east.
Stormy depression 1012 hPa at the Canary Islands, stationary. ITCZ at the 6 north.
Forecasts for the day of Wednesday, November 8, 2017:

Ultime Class: Heading southwest to south
Good descent south, the sea is settling down a bit, the north-westerly swell is diminishing.
Northerly wind blowing at 20/25 knots will accompany them all day.

Multi 50, IMOCA: the gybing game.
During the descent south, it will be necessary to refine their trajectory.
The goal is to keep the pressure without going to look too much for it around the Canaries, where a stormy depression is active.
The sea is complicated: crossed, and the road is strewn with stormy squalls.

Class 40
Downwind with a north to northeast diet, a difficult cross sea around Cape Finisterre.
Trend for the day of Thursday, November 9, 2017
The trade winds are softening for the race leader, behind that, north-west of the Canaries there are strong winds from the north-east, gusting up to 40 knots. Caution will be required in this unstable area.

British sailor, Miranda Merron and her French co-skipper - in sailing as in life - Halvard Mabire were heading for land this evening (Tuesday) to assess a damaged port rudder after their Class40 boat, Campagne de France, broached in heavy conditions in the Bay of Biscay.

Both sailors are apparently uninjured and will draw on all of their enormous experience to return to this 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre. Shortly after 12:00 UTC, Campagne de France, maintaining a strong challenge in 5th place in class, suffered a brutal broach, causing the bracket holding the port rudder, to break.

Sharp extends lead as Merron heads home
The Anglo-Spanish duo, Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde (Imerys Clean Energy) extended their lead at the front of the 40ft monohull fleet, as Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron (Campagne de France) were limping back to Cherbourg, their home port, nursing a broken port rudder. They are expected back at midday tomorrow (Thursday).

Such has been the pace, complication and fatigue after 72 hours at sea since the start from Le Havre on Sunday, that Sharp admitted that he fell asleep at the helm today (Wednesday) -"that's when I realised it might be a good idea to change with Pablo," Sharp said. "I think we're getting 3-4 hours in 24 hours."

"It's been difficult because it's been really unstable, so it's hard to keep the boat flat the whole time. I woke up a couple of times in the night with the boat over and my bunk nearly vertical. It's quite alarming. The second time I came back to find the sleeping bag had unfortunately gone in a big pool of water in the boat - that was not good.

Sharp took back the lead last night then stretched 20 miles ahead of his nearest French rival - Aïna Enfance & Avenir - with five French boats all within 40 miles behind. Despite the fatigue and hot-bunking one wet sleeping bag between them, he and Santurde were able appreciate the result of their efforts.

"The conditions we had yesterday were insane, pushing the boat like that pretty much the whole day at speeds on the limit was quite an experience. We've been pushing really hard and when we realised we'd taken a big advantage it was hugely positive for us and we've been really spurred on to try keep extending."

The bad news is that the antenna on their main satellite system failed this morning so they have not been able to download weather files. With no outside assistance allowed, that will be complicated as both the Class40 and the back of the larger Imoca 60ft monohull fleet will have to cope with squalls, gusting up to 30 knots and big seas in the open seas off Portugal as they head to the Azores.

For the two Ultime-class trimarans at the front, it looks like being a much easier giant slalom on port tack all the way to the Doldrums. The Multi 50 and the leading Imocas have a few more bumps in the road, with a cross sea and they need to be accurate with the route and avoid the effects of the active depression around the Canaries.

Whilst you are sleeping, spare a thought for Lionel Lemonchois and Bernard Stamm, Prince de Bretagne, the smaller Ultime, who will make their pit-stop to fix the broken mainsail halyard tonight in the shelter of the island of Santa Maria in the Canaries. "We should get there between midnight and one o'clock in the morning (French time)," Swiss co-skipper Stamm said. "We have to get up the mast and put everything right in less than two hours. We will see if we can get everything down or not."

Speaking about the damage sustained crossing the cold front that battered the fleet yesterday and that has knocked them out of the running and maybe out of the race, Merron said both she and Mabire are uninjured but feeling low.

"Other than being absolutely gutted, we're fine," Britain's Merron said. "We'd positioned ourselves in relation to the rest of the fleet where we wanted to be (and were lying in fifth place), we had good downwind conditions, we had the fractional spinnaker and two reefs in the main and the boat was flying. Then the boat wiped out, it took us a while to get it upright, whereas normally its straight away, then we realised the port rudder (bracket) had broken and then the boat obviously wiped out again pretty much immediately.

"We don't know whether we wiped out because of the rudder or if the wipeout caused the boat to break. Then, we couldn't get the boat upright because the rudder was swinging around wildly. Then the spinnaker blew up. So, it took a while to sort that out, because it was in several pieces and didn't want to come down. We got that down eventually and managed to detach the rudder before it made a mess of the back of the boat.

The damage has forced Merron and Mabire, partners on land as well at sea, back to France rather than heading to Spain, which would have required a starboard tack.

"We can only sail on port tack, as we've only got the starboard rudder at the moment," Merron said. "We looked at our options and decided to go Cherbourg because the conditions were favourable for getting there on port tack and at least we'll be in a home port and we can have a look to see whether we can repair it quickly and leave again."

They said:

Samantha Davies, co-skipper, Initiatives-Cœur (Imoca)

"It's Rock'n'roll here, downwind in an unstable wind, with friends not far away (Multi 50 and IMOCA). At the moment, we've making almost 30 knots and we have all the canvas out, so we're being vigilant and changing watch often so as not to be tired outside. But we're slamming less so we can sleep a little better and the trackball is staying in the same place. We're still in dry suits, but it's a little less humid. Well, we just switched over, Tanguy is outside, I'm going to sleep a little ... good night!

Sam

P.S. our thoughts are with Miranda and Halvard; I hope they manage to find shelter without too much difficulty."

Bernard Stamm, co-skipper, Maxi 80 Prince de Bretagne (Ultime)

"A little message, to say that we're advancing as well as we can with our two reefs in the mainsail and the solent. The gennaker is staying in his bag because the halyard is occupied by the mainsail. And hey, we should not be with them, but we we've in sight of Saint-Michel Virbac. It was nice to see them anyway and Jean-Pierre (Dick) called us for a little bit of chat."

https://www.transatjacquesvabre.org/en/map-and-ranking

Date : 08/11/17 - 16h06

Class40
1 - Imerys Clean Energy
2 - Aïna Enfance & Avenir
3 - TeamWork40

Multi50
1 - FenêtréA - Mix Buffet
2 - Arkema
3 - Réauté Chocolat

Imoca
1 - St Michel - Virbac
2 - "DES VOILES ET VOUS!"
3 - SMA

Ultim
1 - Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
2 - Sodebo Ultim'
3 - Prince de Bretagne

**Prince of Whales** · 11-08-2017, 01:53 PM

Nice coverage of this event pb!

**Photoboy** · 11-09-2017, 09:34 AM

Capsized Multi 50 Dreken Group Rescued

After capsizing in their 50ft trimaran, Drekan Groupe, in the North Atlantic just before 21:00 UTC last night (Wednesday), whilst competing in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2017 race, French sailors, Eric Defert and Christopher Pratt were rescued this morning by crew from the Dutch cargo ship, Beautriton. Both sailors are safe and sound.

Drekan Groupe was racing downwind east of the Azores in 25 knot north-easterlies - with violent squalls of 35 knots - and a cross sea. The boat was not under autopilot. Defert and Pratt just had time to get into the cockpit before the boat turned over completely. They donned their survival suit and triggered their Cospas Sarsat emergency beacon.

The MRCC Punta Delgada received the distress call at 08:58 UTC and warned the race management. Pratt was able to call Sylvie Viant (race director) on the Iridium emergency phone to let her know that neither he nor Defert were injured.

The boat being 380 miles from the island of Terceira (Azores), meant that no helicopter had sufficient range for a resuce. Therefore the MRCC decided to divert the nearest cargo ship, the MRV Beautriton, flying the Dutch flag, which was 30 miles away from the overturned trimaran. A Portuguese Navy patrol boat was also requested to assist in the search operation.

At 01:34, the Bautriton announced to the MRCC that it located Drekan Groupe and was able to talk on the VHF with the crew. Given the weather conditions, they mutually agreed to wait until daybreak to proceed with the rescue and to remain in standby near the capsized boat. Finally, at 09:38 this morning (Thursday) the Beautriton put a lifeboat in the water and recovered the two sailors safe and sound. The cargo ship is heading to Georgetown in the United States.

At the request of the MRCC and in accordance with the International Maritime Regulations, Defert turned off the Sarsat beacon before leaving the boat (its function is for solely locating and rescuing sailors). So, now there is no longer any location information of the Drekan Group wreck. It is not yet known if a means of recovery will be put in place by estimating its drift.

This is obviously a hard blow for the skipper, Defert, who had a hard time making ends meet the project, calling on local help before leaving Le Havre.

*************************
Rescue in progress for Drekan Groupe
MRCC Punta Delgada (Azores) and MRCC Lisbon have been coordinating the rescue operations since Drekan Groupe capsized 300 miles east of the island of San Miguel in the Azores archipelago last night.

At midnight, a Dutch cargo ship, BEAUTRITON was diverted to the position the 50ft trimaran had given. As soon as they arrived on the scene, the captain of the cargo ship made contact with the two skippers, and agreed to wait until daybreak before attempting an evacuation, given the heavy weather conditions (4m waves and 25 knots of north- easterly wind).

At 06:56 UTC, Eric Defert Voile, skipper of Drekan Groupe, contacted the race office to say that the cargo ship would try to put a life raft in the water to pick he and Christopher Pratt up, at daybreak. The two skippers had put on their survival suits and declared themselves fit and well.

The MRCC also told the race office that a Portuguese Navy patrol boat had left the Azores in order to arrive at area this afternoon

**Buzz Light Beer** · 11-09-2017, 09:47 AM

That can't be fast.

**Photoboy** · 11-09-2017, 12:18 PM

Violent Squalls And Hectic Seas

Sailors safe and sound after rescue from capsize in the Atlantic
"The boat pitchpoled...There was a huge feeling of shock...the rescue was epic."

The 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre now has 35 crews left racing following the abandonment today (Thursday) of Halvard Mabire and Britain's Miranda Merron on their Class40 Campagne de France and the capsizing last night of the Multi50 Drekan Groupe.

Eric Defert and Christopher Pratt, the two French sailors trapped on the overturned Drekan Groupe overnight, are safe and sound after being rescued by the crew of the Dutch cargo ship, Beautriton, this morning. They are now heading for Georgetown, USA, instead of the finish line in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil.

Titre non renseigné

It was a sobering fifth day of this bi-annual double-handed Route du café, tracing the historic coffee trade route from Le Havre. The hectic pace set by the leaders, the chaotic sea and the violent squalls are making enormous demands on the boats and the sailors.

In happier circumstances, the headline surprise of the morning would have been Sodebo Ultim' taking the lead from Maxi Edmond de Rothschild in the Ultime class at the front of the fleet. Thomas Coville and Jean-Luc Nélias's decision to position themselves further west paid in stunning fashion as they turned a 70-mile deficit into a 60 mile lead. Sébastien Josse and Thomas Rouxel were forced to gybe last night and are sailing in Sodebo Ultim's wake. Ominously, the newly-launched Maxi Edmond de Rothschild had already eaten back 10 miles of that advantage yesterday afternoon, averaging 28 knots to their rivals 20.

In the Imoca, the favourite, St Michel-Virbac, was maintaining its lead, but even more impressive was the incredible SMA, who are still somehow in second just 30 miles behind in an old boat without foils. In the Multi 50 the fight is getting ever fiercer between Arkema and FenêtréA-Mix Buffet, who have opened up a gap of 150 miles on the rest.

In the Class40, the Anglo-Spanish duo of Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde (Imerys Clean Energy) has been setting a speed that has been punishing his French rivals in newer boats and matching the older boats at the back of the Imoca 60 fleet. Only V and B have matched them and are 30 miles behind, making a spectacular comeback after having to slow and laminate a cracked forward bulkhead yesterday.

Capsize and rescue

Eric Defert, skipper of Drekan Groupe, contacted by phone on the Beautriton cargo ship:

"We were sailing downwind under one reef with the little gennaker. We were going to roll up the little gennaker. I was below and Chris (Christopher Pratt) was on deck. I was preparing to go out, to take in another reef. The boat pitchpoled, (plunging forward and flipping over). It was blowing hard, we were under a squall in a pitch-black night, but we were being very cautious. Chris just got inside. I was below, so that's ok, but when you're on deck it's less easy. There was a huge feeling of shock. You blame yourself; there are no words. Our rescuers arrived in the area at half past midnight. They circled around us all night; they did a great job. The rescue was epic because there was a lot of sea and wind. Their boat only had a small 15hp engine. They came to save us, and we found out that one of them was having a birthday. So, maybe his gift was saving two lives."

Merron Abandons

Mabire and Merron on Campagne de France (Class40) arrived in their home port of Cherbourg at 11:30 UTC and officially declared their abandonment to the race office, following serious damage to their port rudder on Tuesday.

Forced stopover

Enel Green Power, skippered by Italians, Andrea Fantini and Alberto Bona are heading to Lisbon to try and fix their starboard rudder (bracket or bearing). They recovered the rudder, but there is a big hole in the stern at the level of the rudder attachment.

Back to business

The Ultime, Prince de Bretagne, left the island of Santa Maria in the south of the archipelago of the Azores at around noon. After a mast climb, Bernard Stamm and Lionel Lemonchois were able to solve their mainsail halyard problem.

Slamming on the brakes

A mini-Doldrums tomorrow before the real thing looks like causing a headache for the two giant trimarans at the front as they pass the half-way mark and approach the latitude of the Cape Verde islands. As forecast, the stationary depression in the southern part of the Canaries is disrupting the trade winds.

Mind the squalls

For the Multi50, Imoca and Class40 the wet, wild gusts and battering seas are not over yet. "We're all on fire," Alexis Loison, co-skipper of Class40 Carac, said. "At the moment, we are under a spinnaker with 2 reefs in the mainsail and we're doing 18 knots." Erwan Le Roux on his Multi50, FenêtréA - Mix Buffet, said that the atmosphere was like a dizzying black run descent. Tomorrow the conditions should begin to improve. DIY and napping will be on the schedule.

She said:

Samantha Davies, co-skipper Iniatives-Cœeur (Imoca)

"My thoughts are with the Multi 50 guys and hats off to all of them because these conditions are really hard and it's hard enough for us (in an Imoca 60 monohull) and we've got a keel underneath our boat that keeps us the right way up. But there's been a couple of times with Tanguy and I when we've put our boat on its side with various manoeuvres or just trying to push it too hard. But our boat comes back upright when tips over on its side, it's not the same for a Multi 50.

It's loud because we're doing 29 knots. The speed were doing is absolutely ridiculous, so the gaps in terms of time are only a matter of an hour or two. So, it's really still pretty close."

Tracker

Class40
1 - Imerys Clean Energy
2 - V and B
3 - Aïna Enfance & Avenir

Multi50
1 - Arkema
2 - FenêtréA - Mix Buffet
3 - Réauté Chocolat

Imoca
1 - St Michel - Virbac
2 - SMA
3 - "DES VOILES ET VOUS!"

Ultim
1 - Sodebo Ultim'
2 - Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
3 - Prince de Bretagne

**Photoboy** · 11-10-2017, 10:40 AM

TRACKER

TOUCHING RECORDS, DREAM GLIDING AND CONCERTINAS – THE RACE IS ON IN ALL FOUR CLASSES
10 November 2017 - 10h39

No change this morning in rankings in the four classes, but that doesn’t mean the sailors have been resting. The stormy depression south of the Canaries that is disturbing trade winds has slowed down the Ultime off the coast of Cape Verde, and concertina’d the gap. The Imoca and Multi 50s will be affected by this as well, but they are still gliding south at 20 knots this morning. There is not respite either in the Class40, who will pass west of Madeira around midday, still averaging more than 15 knots. At the head of the fleet, the calmer sea and rising temperatures are making life a little easier. They will use the time to repair little problems, communicate, spend time in the weather files and catch up on a little of the sleep lost in a furious first five days.

Ultime: The hunter and the hunted
Sodebo Ultim’s nice move, which allowed them to flip a deficit of 70 miles into a lead of more than 60 over Maxi Edmond de Rothschild yesterday, is a distant memory. In softening conditions, the lead has melted – under 20 miles this morning at 09:00 UTC. “In these conditions, you quickly go from being the hunter to the hunted,” Thomas Coville, the skipper of Sodebo Ultim’ said, not particularly to see his competitor flying in his wind...exactly as he had done two days ago. Colville knows that the race is really on in the next 36 hours, which separate the two trimarans from the entry of the Doldrums.

Multi 50: Dream gliding
This is probably the first day since the start where the Multi50 will be able to glide like their skippers dream of. The sea is well-ordered, the squalls dispered, the nasty “black run” that Erwan Leroux described is now a beautiful descent. But the opposite problem awaits the bows of Arkema and FenêtréA-Mix Buffet; the wind will drop and they will have to push with their ski poles. They will have to make a lot of manoeuvres and sail changes, probably under the influence of the stormy Canarian depression. Will FenêtréA-Mix Buffet’s decision to be 50 miles west pay out?

Imoca: A test for the faultless leader
Same weather pattern for the head of the Imoca fleet. “The evening was still tense yesterday, but overnight night was much quieter with less squalls,” said Gwénolé Gahinet from SMA. He and his teammate, Paul Meilhat, are waiting impatiently for the more complicated conditions in the disrupted tradewinds and the Doldrums, which are still four days away. Because in pure speed in the stronger wind, St-Michel Virbac, 40 miles ahead, seems untouchable. It is sailing faster (0.5 knots) and lower than the entire fleet, with complete control of the trajectory south.

Class 40: Record speeds
Still being shaken by a choppy sea and stressed by squalls, the leading boats are eager for tonight where conditions should finally allow some relaxation.
Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde (Imerys Clean Energy) are still leading the fleet and setting a great pace. The sensation of the last 24 hours has been V and B. Second this morning, Maxime Sorel and Antoine Carpentier are the fastest and within touching distance of breaking the Class40 speed record, after covering 372 miles in the last 24 hours (15.5-knot average). It is all the more remarkable given that they are making a comeback from having to slow and laminate a crack in their forward bulkhead.
The weather forecast for the day should allow them to glide comfortably west of Madeira. The Italians, Andrea Fantini and Alberto Bona on Enel Green Power are still on the way to Lisbon for a starboard rudder repair.

**Photoboy** · 11-10-2017, 02:23 PM

Having left the French port of Le Havre 5 days ago, the mixed sailing duo of Tanguy de Lamotte (FRA) and Sam Davies (GBR), are racing at full speed towards Brazil as part of the Transat Jacques Vabre.

This double-handed transatlantic race was always going to be fast, and the boats are now reaching record speeds with consistently strong sea conditions. Initiatives-Coeur, who are currently in 8th place in the IMOCA fleet, will have to face a double barrier on their way: a low pressure system and then the famous Doldrums.

While figuring out how the pair will tackle this new obstacle, Sam Davies shows us behind the scenes life onboard Initiatives-Coeur, finishing her shift and waking up her team-mate Tanguy de Lamotte…Such is life at sea when sailing as a duo.

24-hour speed record broken stoking Anglo-Spanish and French rivalry
The ferocious pressure in the air, on the water and in the boats in this 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre saw the Class40, V and B, break the 24-hour speed record today (Friday).

French skippers Maxime Sorel and Antoine Carpentier, in second place on V and B traveled 377.7 nautical miles between Thursday, November 9, 07:30 (UTC) and Friday, November 10 (07:30) at an average speed of 15.7 knots.

As if the Anglo-Spanish and French rivalry at the front of the Class40 fleet needed any more stoking. British skipper Phil Sharp and his Catalan co-skipper Pablo Santurde, the leaders on Imerys Clean Energy will be doubly conscious of V and B's speed as the previous record was held by Thalès II, skippered by Gonzalo Botin and Santurde. They travelled 373.3 miles at 15.56 knots average on July 16, 2016 during the Transat Quebec-Saint-Malo.

60-50-30

Five days after leaving Le Havre in Normandy, the Class40 have completed almost a third of the race, the Imoca and Multi 50 almost half, and the Ultime 60 per cent.

A duel in the sun

The hunter is now the hunted but Sodebo Ultim' is more than holding its own against the newly-launched Maxi Edmond de Rothschild as they rapidly approach the potentially decisive phase: the Doldrums, which are loitering at 7 degrees North of the Equator. But it looks likely that they will be battling all the way to the line with arrivals predicted on Monday, November 13. "In these conditions, you quickly go from being the hunter to the hunted," Thomas Coville, the skipper of Sodebo Ultim' said in the morning when the lead they had stunningly taken on Thursday had been cut to under 20 miles. But Maxi Edmond de Rothschild lost 10 miles during the day directly the wake of the Sodebo Ultim'.

It is hard to know why. They are both averaging around 26 knots in near-perfect downwind drag race conditions. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that these 15-knot north-westerlies are not strong enough to unleash Maxi Edmond de Rothschild's potential. Thomas Rouxel, the co-skipper said before the start that in the two months of testing they felt that if they were travelling "under 30 knots, we feel very slow and like we're stuck in glue." It could be their slower transitions and lack of familiarity with their new great beast as Rouxel suggested today.

But these teams play things close to their chests and it may be that they are being more conservative because of accumulated fatigue or they are testing things – as skipper Sébastien Josse said on the start line? Or could there is a small technical glitch – they would not be the only ones.

Multi50: The west pays out for Le Roux and Riou

Ten miles behind in second early this morning, 12 hours later Fenêtre A- Mix Buffet (Erwan Le Roux / Vincent Riou), who had positioned themselves 50 miles west are 33 miles ahead of Arkema.

Imoca: The dominant favourite

Commanding leaders of the Imoca, St Michel-Virbac, continues to slowly stretch away from the fleet. The leader sailed a knot faster over 24 hours than the other foilers. SMA, in second, continues to be the most impressive pursuer, particularly as it is an older boat without foils. They hope that the softening conditions in the next 24 hours will favour them. Des Voiles et Vous! In third is beginning to pay for staying east as that high-pressure system in their path is forcing them west and has cost them 80 miles.

Class 40: The heat is on

Nowhere is the fleet racing keener than in Class40s. Imerys Clean Energy continues to hold the lead and are not far off a record 24-hour speed themselves, despite battling with antenna failure and a lack of weather files. Three French boats are in hot pursuit off Madeira: V and B ((second in the race in the last edition in 2015), Aïna Enfance et Avenir et TeamWork40. The GPS recorded an almost unbelievable 28 knots on GPS today.

Damage report

On Ciela Village, Thierry Bouchard and Oliver Krauss have been sailing without an autopilot since the second day of the race. Also without a computer, they are take turns at the helm, one and a half hours each.

Pit stops

Early leader and one of the Class40 French favourites, the newly-launched Carac, has slowly been dropping off the pace in the last few days and it is becoming clearer why as it heads for Funchal in Madeira. Louis Duc, third in the race two years ago, needs medical attention following a violent blow to his knee. On anti-inflammatories for three days, Duc 's condition has worsened by further blows and he is unable to move around the boat. They should arrive during the night.

Enel Green Power: Italian duo, Andrea Fontini and Alberto Bona, should arrive in Lisbon at 04:00, where they will try and fix their broken starboard rudder. The damage occurred yesterday morning when the boat hit a UFO.

Rescued

After their capsize and dramatic rescue yesterday morning, Eric Defert and Christopher Pratt, skippers of Drekan Groupe, transferred from Beautriton, the Dutch freighter that came to their aid, on to a Portuguese Navy patrol boat and landed at Punta Delgada (Azores) this afternoon.

LES MOTS DES PARTENAIRES

Andrea Fantini, skipper, Enel Green Energy (Class40)

"We hit a UFO yesterday morning and we broke the starboard rudder. We are heading to Lisbon to see if we can make a repair or not. I think we'll arrive in Lisbon at 04:00 tonight. Alberto and I are safe, we had a lot of water on the boat, it was a big mess but everything now is under control and we are under three reefs and a storm jib. We have 30 knots (of wind) from the north-east and we are going really slowly. (The accident) We had a fractional spinnaker up and two reefs, I was changing the watch with Alberto and we hit something in the water. We heard a huge bang, and we weren't sure what had happened. Then we saw the starboard rudder, we hurried to save it, so we have it with us. But it's not in the right place, we can't use it and there's delamination there too."

Louis Duc, skipper, Carac (Class40)

"I cannot move, the slightest movement is really painful. In the very unstable conditions we've had from the start we had to be really responsive, and I couldn't be. There was a lot of blows to the bad knee...we exploded the little spinnaker yesterday at the beginning of a broach. Alexis (Loison, co-skipper) is starting to get very tired. I'm really sorry for him, I'm helping him as much as I can." "I told Jean-Yves Chauve (the race doctor) and Alexis's father, who is a doctor, a knee specialist. It is probably necessary to intervene, so we are routed to Funchal in Madeira, and then we will head on to Brazil."

Thomas Rouxel, co-skipper of Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Ultime)

"In terms of manoeuvres, we're pretty much level with Sodebo Ultim'. Where we are disadvantaged is that we know less about the boat, so in the transitions, we're finding it more difficult to speed up. We're starting to feel the fatigue. Wake-ups are difficult but the boat remains comfortable enough. The battle with Sodebo Ultim' is intense and it's great for us because it forces us to constantly look for the right options. It's a great race, we're having fun."

**Photoboy** · 11-11-2017, 09:21 AM

Ignoring the forecasts, the Ultime have already entered the Doldrums without stopping, the two leaders jumped from one squall to the next and are already feeling the south-easterly breeze that will mark their exit from this usually dreaded stretch. Behind them, Multi50 and Imoca are trying to get round the area of weak winds between the Canaries and Cape Verde. It is an unusually quiet time on the Route du Café this morning. Finally, the fastest in the fleet this morning were the Class40s – and the gliding downwind conditions will become ever smoother for them throughout the day too.

Ultime: Furl, unfurl

Since the beginning of the night Sodebo Ultim’ and Maxi Edmond de Rothschild have been in sail change mode. High mainsail, large gennaker at the bow ready to deploy, J2 in reserve, the crews juggling between the sails so that they do not park up. “You have to make tracks quickly from each squall,” Thomas Coville, the Sodebo Ultim’’ skipper said. “We’ve got a lot of sail up when it's soft, so you have to be very careful. For the moment, we’ve haven’t parked up. We’re beginning to feel a little lapping breeze from South, there’s no big storm, it feels like the exit (from the Doldrums).” According to Coville, by noon they should have started sailing in the new south-east wind. There is nothing between the boats now as the Sébastien Josse-Thomas Rouxel duo have been averaging a knot more over the last 36 hours. There are 1,300 miles of reaching to decide the winner. But whoever it is it will easily be a new race record.

Imoca: St-Michel Virbac masterful

Jean-Perre Dick’s steady voice on the phone this morning could not hide the truth. “The conditions are a bit frightening for racing, but physically it’s getting nicer,” he said. “We’ve taken off the oilies and fleece layers and the sea is calm.” In the wake of the leader, the gap with SMA and Des Voiles et Vous! has stabilised. The Imocas will not be back in a normal trade wind until tonight, but then their averages should be back to 20 knots. If those further behind – like Britain’s Sam Davies, in sixth, 145 miles behind, are going to make any moves it will need to be soon because there may not be so many opportunities from here to Salvador de Bahia to turn the ranking upside down. But the Doldrums, the real ones, are 2-3 days ahead of the bows and could yet become more active and play their part.

On this score, note the more easterly route, being tried by Bastide Otio (Kito Pavant- Yannick Bestaven) a little behind, unlike Des Voiles et Vous! Which is in the process of realigning behind the two leaders.

TRACKER

Multi50: FenêtréA-Mix Buffet escapes from the west

Erwan Le Roux and Vincent Riou are clearly benefitting from their westerly route and this morning lie 60 miles ahead of Lalou Roucayrol and Alex Pella on Arkema. “We committed from the beginning in this position,” Riou said. “We knew that there would be a wind hole to cross between the Canaries and Cape Verde. We’re happy with our positioning.” This transition looks like a truce for the Multi50s, who have been sailing almost underwater since Le Havre and can finally glide in tune with the elements. This is also the first time since yesterday that they have found a real speed advantage over the Imocas (although remember, there is no overall ranking in this race). Behind, La French Tech Rennes Saint-Malo has overtaken Ciela Village, who handicapped by many technical problems (autopilots, smashed computer screen and ripped off helm seat), have diverted to make a stop at Mindelo in the Cape Verde archipelago.

Class40: 6 days to the Canary Islands

The Class40 are relentless. A fact confirmed this morning by Maxime Sorel on V and B, the new 24-hour record holder: “the road from Le Havre has not really been a pleasure cruise,” he said. “It’s taken its toll on the boats and the skippers.” And though more pleasant conditions are forecast, that will just mean everyone will recover strength – so, the pace is not going to relax anytime soon. The front of the fleet is still in 20 knots of north-easterly wind with the lead of Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde (Imerys Clean Energy) now cut to under 10 miles by V and B.

Note: the arrival of Carac in Funchal, where Louis Duc will have his injured knee treated. And Enel Green Power in Cascais (Lisbon) to fix a starboard rudder. It looks like they will need to take the boat out of the water. At the back, Gustave Roussy has taken up a westerly route.

**Photoboy** · 11-12-2017, 11:10 AM

Ultimes Near Finish, Class 40 Abandonments Continue

At midday, Jacques-Arnaud Seyrig and Marc Dubos warned the Transat Jacques Vabre race office of serious delamination of their hull on the port bow, from the waterline to the deck and 30 cm wide. Water is seeping into the forward watertight bulkhead causing a leak into the boat. The two skippers made the decision to sail upwind on port tack to the Canary Islands in order to stay on the sound side of the boat. More information to follow…

The reverberations from a tough first week continued today with another duo abandoning and two more making pit stops. But after six days of “living like animals” as Servane Escoffier (Bureau Vallée 2) said – more specifically living like fish, so deluged by water have the skippers been at times – there was some relief today. As the temperatures rose and the sea flattened, the skippers were able to get out of their dry suits and fleeces, eat normally, and catch up on some DIY and sleep.

TRACKER

Estimated first arrivals (UTC)

Ultime: Monday, November 13, end of the afternoon

Multi50: Thursday, November 16th

Imoca: Friday, 17 November

Class40: TBC

Third abandonment (after Campagne de France Class40 and Drekan Groupe Multi50)

Early this afternoon, the Class40 Carac (Louis Duc and Alexis Loison) informed the race office that they would be abandoning. The duo arrived in Funchal (Madeira) last night after diverting because of serious knee injury to Duc. Duc is currently being treated at the hospital of Funchal and should be able to return to France in a few days with Loison.

“This is a huge disappointment,” Duc, who finished third in 2015, said. “We had worked hard to be ready for this transat and had high hopes on this first big race (for the new Carac), but it give us experience to come back better. It may be necessary to think about adding some padding on the boat…I want to thank Alexis who had to cope with this and did it very well.”

he newly-launched Carac, with its distinctive and powerful bow, had been one of the main challengers to Britain's Phil Sharp and Spain's Pablo Santurde (Imerys Clean Energy), who have held the lead after taking it on Tuesday late afternoon.

Pit stops

Enel Green Power (Class40): The Italians, Andrea Fantini and Alberto Bona arrived at 02:00 in Cascais (Lisbon) to repair their starboard rudder and a hole in the stern.

Ciela Village (Multi50): Thierry Bouchard and Oliver Krauss will make a stopover in the port of Mindelo in Cape Verde tomorrow morning to fix multiple technical problems: No antenna, no autopilot, port helm seat torn off and a crack in the hull level with the gennaker tack point.

Ultime

Doldrums? What Doldrums? Rather than being swallowed by dreaded Intertropical Convergence Zone, the two giant trimarans at the head of the race, ate them up in one bite. Jumping from one squall to the next they passed through last night and this morning in a matter of hours, were soon into 12-15-knot south-easterly tradewinds. They now at 18:00 have just over 1,000 miles of drag racing in what will build to 15-20 knots to the finish. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild closed but Sodebo Ultim’ still held a 10-mile lead.

Multi50

“50 miles in a Multi50, it's nothing, it doesn’t worry us,” Lalou Roucayrol on Arkema said at noon. But by the evening they were 100 miles behind the favourties, FenêtréA - Mix Buffet, whose westerly strategy paid out and they are extending away in better breeze as they emerge from the disturbed area north-west of Cape Verde. They could pass the Doldrums – which looks like being not very active for another 72 hours - in about 30 hours time.

Imoca

In lighter airs further east of the stormy depression than the Multi50 around them, St Michel-Virbac’s lead has been shortened a touch. AT 18:00 they were 40 miles ahead of SMA, continuing to astonish in a boat without foils. And watch out for Des Voiles et Vous! who have found extra pressure further east. Between them, Britain’s Sam Davies with Tanguy de Lamotte on Initiatives-Cœur remain right in the chasing pack in 7th, 140 miles behind. Which way will they go?

SMA are clear about that. “We’re really happy because the forecast was maybe more for the foilers than the boats with daggerboards,” Paul Meilhat, the skipper of SMA said. “We’ve pushed the boat for the last three days. The problem is that St Michel-Virbac, the guys are good and their boat is faster. But we’re looking forward more than behind us. I think the weather conditions are going to be better for us until the Doldrums. I think we’re cross the Doldrums in 3-4 days. Virbac-St Michel have the best position, we need to be more to the west."

Class40

Imerys Clean Energy have held their 11-mile lead steady over the new 24-hour record holders, V and B all day. Sharp blamed the loss of much of 40 mile lead last night on a mountain of seaweed on the keel. Tellingly, they have extended away from Aïna Enfance et Avenir and TeamWork, who are now 30 and 60 miles behind respectively.

The area of weak winds that slowed the classes ahead of them (St Michel-Virbac, a 60ft monohull is only about 400 miles further down the track) is shifting west and will therefore open the door to a stable trade wind. The conditions are clearly improving, especially the state of the sea. They could have nice smooth schuss to the Doldrums.

They said:

Louis Duc, skipper, Carac (Class40)

“This is a huge disappointment. We had worked hard to be ready for this transat and had high hopes on this first big race (for the new Carac), but it give us experience to come back better. It may be necessary to think about adding some padding on the boat…

In any case, I want to thank Alexis who had to cope with this and did it very well. It was really extremely frustrating to be unable to manoeuvre, not be able to make the right sail changes.

“You have to be able to go fast, be efficient and stay safe on a boat and that was impossible for me, it was very annoying and harsh blow. Alexis took a lot on himself. He sailed well, his strategy in the rocks early in the course was perfect, he taught me a lot.

“The boat has managed to show its potential, it is faster than the others at certain angles, I’ve found positive things, and things to improve as well. The level of the Class40 is very high, you have to be performing at 200% to be able to fight for the lead. This is all the more motivating for the future: I will continue to prepare myself for the next season and of course the Route du Rhum.”

Paul Meilhat, skipper, SMA (Imoca)

“We’re really happy because the forecast was maybe more for the foilers than the boats with daggerboards, but we’ve pushed the boat for the last three days, with some quite good change of sails and I think the training during the year with Gwéno (Gahinet) was excellent, so we can manage the boat in lighter conditions well. The problem is that St Michel-Virbac, the guys are good and their boat is faster. So, they’re quite far away in front of us.

“We’re looking forward more than behind us. I think the weather conditions are going to be better for us until the Doldrums. I think we’re cross the Doldrums in 3-4 days, and I think it’s more light wind and more about VMG, but we know that after the Doldrums it’s a long way to Salvador and it’s more reaching conditions, so we need to be in front at the end of the Doldrums if we want to have a hope of winning.

Last night was really difficult with a lot of wind changes and light. But it’s been better since this morning and the boat is faster and faster. I think St Michel-Virbac have the best position, we need to be more to the west, so maybe tomorrow we’re going to have a shift of the wind northeast - it’s more easterly at the moment - and maybe we’ll gybe to invest in the west. I think we’re going to cross the Doldrums more to the west than normal.”

Thierry Bouchard, skipper, Ciela Village (Multi50)

“We really wanted to do this Transat Jacques Vabre, even though it was a huge challenge for us. We knew at the beginning that all the facilities on board were not reliable, but we’re really happy to be here today. The idea is to stop for as short a time as possible in Mindelo and to leave 100%.”

“The boat started to make big swerves. It became uncontrollable with the autopilot. So, since Tuesday, we’ve been helming 24 hours a day. It’s very difficult to wake each other up when you have to manoeuvre on the deck but not let go of the helm for a moment. We can’t adjust the boat or manoeuvre when we’re alone, especially since the boat is super responsive and the conditions have been pretty fierce from the start with a lot of big seas.”

[Bouchard and Oliver Krauss finished 2nd on the last Transat Jacques Vabre on board Drekan Groupe, the boat which capsized on Wednesday night]. “They are not the same boats. Our new one is much more responsive, more powerful. We have to learn how to use it and we need all the tools to be able to attack and to be able to make it reliable.”

**Photoboy** · 11-13-2017, 09:09 AM

Sodebo Ultim' Crushes Transat Jacques Vabre Record

Sodebo Ultim' smashes record to win Transat Jacques Vabre

Thomas Colville and Jean-Luc Nélias on their maxi trimaran, Sodebo Ultim' have won the Ultime class of the 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre after crossing the finish line in the Bay of All Saints in Salvador de Bahia on Monday, November 13, 2017 at 10:42:27 (UTC), 7 days 22 hours 7 minutes and 27 seconds after leaving Le Havre, Normandy France. Sodebo Ultim' sailed 4,742 nautical miles at an average speed of 24.94 knots.

Sodebo Ultim' beat the previous record of 10 days 0 hours 38 mins set by Franck Cammas and Steve Ravussin on Groupama 2 in the 60ft multihull class in 2007 (the last time the race finished in Salvador) by 2 days 2 hours and 31 mins.

**Photoboy** · 11-13-2017, 10:44 AM

Sébastien Josse and Thomas Rouxel, on their trimaran, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, have finished second in the Ultime class of the 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre after crossing the finish line in the Bay of All Saints in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil on Monday, November 13, 2017 at 12:30:24 (UTC), 7 days, 23 hours 55 minutes and 24 seconds after leaving Le Havre, Normandy France.

Maxi Edmond de Rothschild sailed 4,838 nautical miles at an average speed of 25.21 knots. They finished just 1 hour 47 minutes and 57 seconds behind the winner, Sodebo Ultim’.

Andrea Fantini and Alberto Bona informed the race office this morning that they had abandoned the Transat Jacques Vabre with damage to their starboard rudder damage probably related to a collision with a UFO. The skippers had diverted to Lisbon to assess the damage.

“As a result of the collision with a UFO, our starboard rudder is unusable and after thorough evaluations of the damage suffered, we are not position technically or in terms of safety to continue the Transat Jacques Vabre. We officially declare our abandonment. We will stay in Lisbon to make repairs. We wish you all good luck and thank you for your support in this experience.”

Andrea Fantini - skipper of ENEL GREEN POWER, Class40 n. ITA55

TRACKER

With ten miles to the finish, Sodebo Ultim’ is expected to cross the line at sunrise in the Bay of All Saints in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil at 06:30 local time / 09:30 UTC and win the Ultime class of the 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre. But they face a nerve-jangling slowdown in the last two miles to the finish.

Thomas Colville and Jean-Luc Nélias, the skippers of Sodebo Ultim’ showed that it was possible to control their pursuers, Seb Josse and Thomas Rouxel, on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, who have seen their chances of victory fade with every minute that brought them closer to Bahia. The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is now 60 miles behind.

Control is also the question behind them, with some more successful than others. In the middle of the Doldrums, FenêtréA-Mix Buffet is back in a battle with Arkema, whose position slightly west allowed them to find the trade winds for longer and close a lead of 93 miles to just 17. In the Imocas, we have seen a ballet of the gybes. The leader St-Michel Virbac covered those behind is still 58 miles ahead but now slightly east of SMA. And in the Class40, it’s a three horse race with V and B, edging past long-time leader, Imerys Clean Energy, who have shifted east. Now the hunter becomes the hunted.

Ultime: A new race record

Both giant trimarans should pulverize the previous race record by two days, coming home in under eight days. The previous mark was set by Franck Cammas and Steve Ravussin on Groupama 2’s in 2007 (the last time the race finished in Salvador) in the 60ft multihull class with the then astonishing 10day 0h 38min.

In solid north-easterly trade winds the two tandems whipped along the coast at 30 knots, with peaks at 37-38 knots. Despite a 40, growing to 60-mile cushion, Coville and Nélias cannot relax. “There will be 25 knots up until two miles from the harbour. And then two knots. In Bahia you can really find yourself stuck. If they’re going at 35 knots behind us, they will be on us in an hour ,” Nélias cautioned in the early morning.

Multi50: The elastic contracts

“It's always a lucky dip in the Doldrums," Vincent Riou said, clearly a little tired having been dramatically slowed as they hit the first clouds of the Doldrums. Behind, Arkema was still whipping along and eating the miles. No two squalls are the same and there is no guarantee they suffer like FenêtréA-Mix Buffet. We will only know tomorrow in the late morning if the elastic stretches in both directions.

Imoca: How far west is best?

At 16:30 UTC yesterday, Des Voiles et Vous! was the first to gybe and invest in the west. Less than two hours later, SMA and St Michel-Virbac did the same. The leaders are keeping an eye on everyone behind, they do not have to wait for the rankings, they can check the website, which is updated every hour. Nobody wants to miss a shift west, which will be profitable tomorrow with the approach to the Doldrums, but how far is too far?

Class40: A new leader

After almost a week in the lead, the Anglo-Spanish duo of Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde (Imerys Clean Energy) have been passed by the French boat, V and B and Aïna Enfance et Avenir are now right behind with 11 miles between all three. In fourth place, TeamWork40 is struggling to keep pace.

**Photoboy** · 11-15-2017, 03:09 PM

Prince de Bretagne Dismasts

At 18:15 UTC, Maxi80 Prince de Bretagne dismasted just 93 miles from the finish line of the Transat Jacques Vabre in Salvador de Bahia. The 80ft trimaran, Prince de Bretagne was sailing off Palame, in north-east Brazil near the end of the 4,350-mile race from Le Havre in Normandy, France.

The Transat Jacques Vabre race office and the team supporting the two skippers, Lionel Lemonchois and Bernard Stamm, are assessing what needs to be done because the boat is only 18 miles from the coast and drifting at 0.9 knots, pushed by the easterly trade wind.

**Photoboy** · 11-15-2017, 03:32 PM

Lalou Roucayrol and his Spanish co-skipper Alex Pella, on Arkema are due to arrive in the Savaldor de Bahia at around 07:00 UTC on Thursday morning to win the Multi50 class of the 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre. That would smash the race record to Salvador for the Multi50 by over four days.

The race has also confirmed Pella’s thoughts in Le Havre on the quality of the boats and how competitive the Multi50 has become.

At the 15:00 UTC ranking, Arkema had 331 miles to go to the finish in the Bay of All Saints and were 127 miles ahead of FenêtréA-Mix Buffet. Both were reaching at 23 knots in 15-17-knot westerlies off Recife, north-east Brazil.

Latest ETAs

Ultime: Prince de Bretagne – Thursday, November 16 at 01:00 UTC

Multi50:

Arkema – Thursday, November 16 at 07:00

FenêtréA-Mix Buffet at 11:00

Réauté Chocolat at 23:00

Winner, Saturday, November 18 at 10:00

Multi50: Attack is the best means of defence

“We're going fast; speed is stress,” Lalou Roucayrol said this morning. “But the sea is flat and we’re under pilot, to allow us to trim the sheets. We’re sailing with spikes of speed at 30 knots. We’re balancing pacing ourselves with extending the gap and preserving the boat. But saying that, we lost the protective screen on the port helm cockpit. We’ve widened the gap with the others, the conditions are quite lively. Alex and I don’t have much time for chat during watches – we’re concentrating on the basics.”

The victory will cap a stunning reversal that saw them overtake the favourites and multiple winners, Erwan Le Roux and Vincent Riou on FenêtréA-Mix Buffet, who had a 100-mile lead as the entered the Doldrums.

In the space of 42 hours over Monday and Tuesday, Arkema took 160 miles off FenêtréA-Mix Buffet.

Any chance of catching Arkema, seemed to evaporate on Wednesday morning as FenêtréA-Mix Buffet slowed in the shelter of the island of Fernando de Noronha, 200 miles off Natal, Brazil and Le Roux climbed the mast to replace the gennaker halyard that snapped on Monday when they were in Doldrums.

The operation took an hour and a half. Roucayrol and Pella, who have both finished second in the Transat Jacques Vabre, but never stood on top of the podium, kept attacking.

Ultime: the lone boat

With only 90 miles to go the finish line at 18:00 UTC, Prince de Bretagne, (HAS DISMASTED) should enter the Bay of All Saints around midnight. It will be the third boat home and complete the Ultime class.

The consistent trajectory and speed of 25 knots from Prince de Bretagne leave no room for doubt: Lionel Lemonchois and Bernard Stamm are obviously in a hurry to finish and definitely would not want to be caught by the Multi50. As lovers of high speeds and competitive sailing, Lemonchois and Stamm will complete a Route of the Café where conditions and technical issues on the boat – and two giant rivals ahead of them - have not made it a competitive race for them. A pit stop in the Azores to replace a halyard and energy problems left them closer to the Multi50 leaders.

Imoca: St Michel-Virbac prosper from Doldrums but face upwind battle

With 1,000 miles to the finish St Michel-Virbac are holding a 71-mile lead over their ever-keen pursuer, SMA. Its lead is a cushion, but not a comfortable one, according to Yann Eliès, co-skipper on St Michel-Virbac: “We’ve headed west, so now we're up close. We know from the training with them in Port-La-Forêt that they go one knot faster at this angle (headed by 13-15-knot south-easterlies). We have 48 hours until Recife before it favours us.” That disadvantage has only cost them five miles so far today.

Having been caught up during the first few hours of the Doldrums by SMA on Tuesday morning, St Michel-Virbac had felt the heat, but not for too long. “It's always a relief to exit the Doldrums,” Yann Eliès, St Michel-Virbac’s co-skipper said. “But we managed to anticipate the sequences and not to change the sails too much.” First to exit, St Michel-Virbac accelerated first.

182 miles behind the leader, Des Voiles et Vous! is still in the Doldrums and looking over its shoulder at the phalanx of five boast behind them.

They have stabilised the gains made by Malizia II, who were very fast overnight but have lost 18 miles during the stay and are 68 miles behind in fourth. The rear group, led by Vivo A Beira, entered the Doldrums this morning.

Class40: 6 skippers, 3 boats, 1 mile

The 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, could provide its closest finish. At one point this morning (Wednesday) just a mile separated the three boats that are fighting it out at the front of the Class40 fleet. At the 15:00 UTC ranking it was still only five miles, with the Anglo-Spanish duo of Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde, always marginally in the lead as they prepare to enter the Doldrums overnight.

Only time and luck will tell who has taken the best entrance to the notorious Doldrums with Imerys Clean Energy to the west, V and B, which finished second in 2015, to the east and Aïna Enfance and Avenir in between. The three boat have a lateral separation of just 26 miles, but those distance are enough in the in this zone (officially the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone), where boats can come to a standstill while ones within sight go past them.

Sharp is due some luck. As well as parrying flying fish and keeping an eye on the attendant circling birds, he continues to be unable to download satellite images and weather files, because of bandwidth restriction on his spare satellite phone (the primary one is down after antenna failure last week).

Pit stop

Eärendil (Class 40) will take a little longer after breaking the lower bracket on its starboard rudder and informing the race office that they will be stopping in Cape Verde to make repairs.

Esprit Scout (Class40). After a technical stop in Tenerife (Canary Islands) with delamination of their hull on the port bow, they relaminated the hole in the boatyard and headed back out for Salvador de Bahia at 17:30 UTC.

They said:

Phil Sharp, skipper, Imerys Clean Energy (Class40)

“It's great, these are conditions you dream of for crossing the Atlantic; flat sea, 15-20 knots of wind, a tailwind, it’s like the books you read. Yesterday, the sun was intense, I was at the helm and wow, it was hot, fortunately there were some clouds. The sea is very hot, there are a lot of flying fish.

We’re just south of Cape Verde, we’ve had some unbelievably close racing. It's just amazing to be next to other Class40s after more than 2,500 nautical miles. We have 2 boats next door, it's very intense, we’re pushing the boat to its limits. It’s 24/7. It's like a Figaro on boats that are a little bigger and more fun. If it stays like this for the remaining 2,000 miles until the finish, it's going to be very tight, so we're going to look to get the advantage in the next few days in the Doldrums.

“Through the night we were matching speeds with Aina, who are just to the east of us. We came quite close during the early morning and could see their masthead light, but now they are over 10nm away and out of visual. It’s incredible sailing conditions yet again! Flat water, 15 knots downwind, and it is overcast so not too hot. The cold front we passed west of Brittany a week back seems now like a distant memory.

Erwan Le Roux, skipper, FenêtréA-Mix Buffet (Multi50)

“As planned, we stopped at Fernando de Noronha to make the repair. We changed the halyard that we broke in the Doldrums on Monday. We don’t know what happened. This is the first time I’ve been faced with this type of technical glitch on this boat. We will analyse what happened once we’re back on land, but in the meantime, what is important for us is to be able to sail again under gennaker because this is sail that’s needed for the last few miles to Salvador de Bahia.

"In total, I think between an hour and a half and two hours. I had to spend 45 minutes up the mast and this is added time it took pass round the island and the DIY. We did it as quickly as possible. We didn’t see much because it was dark, but the island of Fernando de Noronha looks like a real paradise on earth. "

"We have between 20 and 24 knots of wind and a horrible sea, much like the one we had at the start - crossed and wild. We’re getting shaken around in all directions. Our arrival? In my diary, I’ve written 15:00 UTC tomorrow.”

Aymeric Chappellier and Arthur Le Vaillant, Aïna Enfance et Avenir (Class40)

Cape Verde is quite far in our wake now, we spent the day (Tuesday) heading south downwind towards the gateway to the Doldrums, which is looking pretty sticky both to the east and to the west. We’ll refine our trajectory tomorrow in the morning and after that we will hope that Aeolus (the Greek god of wind) is with us. Otherwise, after a downwind speed test of day, it's difficult to say if one of the boats has an advantage. In any case nobody is holding anything back on either side of us. It's almost like training With Tanguy - Aymeric et Arthur.”

Servane Escoffier, skipper, Bureau Vallée 2 (Imoca)

"We’re never really happy with the Doldrums because we have a boat which is good for sailing at 20-25 knots and for 48 hours now or more, it’s been very slow for us. But we’re trying to get the best position in the south of the Doldrums and we don’t know if we’re east enough, but we didn’t really have the choice with the very slow light wind that we had two days ago. We will do our best with this position.

"When you’re offshore racing, you never can tell until you’ve crossed the finish line, because you can have a mechanical problem, or a wind hole, and we’ll try to do our best to get the third place but to be realistic I think Des Voiles et Vous! Is now out of the Doldrums and I don’t see how once they are off we can catch them, but nobody can tell. We will keep pushing until the finishing line and we want to finish in the best place we can.

"Like all skippers doing a transat we’ve had some little words, but really, really little and we are still friends and still boyfriend and girlfriend I think, (shouts to Louis) yes, are we still boyfriend and girlfriend? Yes, I think it’s OK. We’re fine, we know each other very well, so, when once of us is in a bad mood the other is supportive."

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2017 Transat Jacques Vabre

2017 Transat Jacques Vabre

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