The 8th day recap

RACE UPDATE

• Conditions are favorable for the fleet, with 12 to 15 knots of wind this morning and around 20 knots expected by the end of the day.

• The entire fleet is experiencing similar conditions, helping to keep the gaps between boats tight.

• As of 3:00 PM, Wings of the Ocean leads the fleet, with the top eight boats within 20 nautical miles (about 37 kilometers) of each other.

• Arno Biston and Vittoria Ripa Di Meana (Article.1) have withdrawn from the race. After reaching Tenerife on Monday, they found that repairs would not be possible before Wednesday. They may return to mainland France by the end of the week.

NEWS FROM THE FLEET

"We're pretty tired, the pace was intense, it was like a Solitaire du Figaro!" Martin le Pape (Demain) shares an observation with the entire fleet. The efforts of the last few days have drained everyone's resources. But the sailors are still smiling, like Julie Simon, who learned she's become the aunt of little Cléa. "I'm an aunt in the Transat Paprec," she wrote on a piece of paper. For her part, Cindy Brin (Cap St Barth) had fun routing to the finish, while Audrey Ogereau and Quentin Vlamynck (Les Étoiles filantes) tinkered with "a revolutionary new weather decision-making tool" using an orange and a cork. The most explosive thought comes from Sophie Faguet, with a smile on her face: "Our spinnaker is red and shaped like a ball, and I can't stop thinking that it's a huge pokebowl and that all our opponents are Pokémon that we have to stop. And now, we have a few around us, they're our Pokémon of the day!"