The night was quiet for the eleven 100% mixed duos in the race, carried by a weakening east-northeast trade wind of around fifteen knots. Settled furthest south in the fleet, Gaston Morvan and Anne-Claire Le Berre (Région Bretagne – CMB Performance) are still in the lead in the 08:00 ranking, ahead of Mutuelle Bleue (Corentin Horeau/Pauline Courtois) and Skipper MACIF (Loïs Berrehar/Charlotte Yven), who are respectively 4.6 and 10.1 small miles behind the leader.
Last night, the fleet continued to head west in around fifteen knots. On the menu for everyone, or almost: a long starboard tack except for "Région Bretagne – CMB Performance, which made a slight shift to the south. For their part, Skipper MACIF and Région Normandie, who are admittedly still shifted to the north, have realigned themselves almost simultaneously", as Francis Le Goff, race director, observed this morning. These realignments have paid off since Gaston Morvan and Anne-Claire Le Berre (Région Bretagne – CMB Performance), who put the south back on their route around 02:30 in the morning, are still in control of the race. "I think they have in mind what is going to happen at the end of the evening. The further we go, the more the wind will slowly ease. In the middle of the night, the trade wind should be around 10-12 knots and it will pass well to the right. They will gybe again to have the best angle. They will be on the port side in an easterly wind", he continued. They will come and look for this famous gull wing that we were talking about even if it has collapsed a little and is less visible. It will be interesting to see at what time they will gybe and head into this easterly flow which will settle in and which is lighter. It should be around 7:00 p.m. for Région Bretagne – CMB Performance".
While Gaston Morvan and Anne-Claire Le Berre seem well placed to attack this easing wind, the games are far from over and the evening promises to be thrilling as the gaps are reduced in the leading pack, with six boats separated by 31 miles. "The race is exciting. There is always something happening. Corentin and Pauline are impressively fast. For their part, Skipper MACIF and Région Normandie, who are 4 miles laterally, are not letting go and are motivating each other. Behind them, we are still in an "elimination race". After Race for Science – Verder and Groupe Hélios – Du Léman à l’océan, it is the turn of the small group of three (MonAtoutEnergie.fr, AGEAS – Bally – Cerfrance – Baie de Saint-Brieuc and Région Bretagne – CMB Océane) to slowly drop away,” continues Francis Le Goff. At the back of the fleet, Machado and Lucie Quéruel (Groupe Hélios – Du Léman à l’océan) will keep the wind for longer, which should allow them to continue to come back a little more on the rest of the fleet. At the 08:00 ranking, they were 344.8 miles behind the leader.
