©Alexis Courcoux
After hitting a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object) that damaged their rudder yesterday, Gaston Morvan and Anne-Claire Le Berre (Région Bretagne – CMB Performance) hesitated for a while over what to do. The duo held on and their self-denial paid off as they spent their 4th day at the head of the fleet. The gaps are still tiny with only 37 miles between the top six! Enough to keep them motivated and not give up on this new day of racing.
First of all, there is a reality and it is good for the organisms. The trade winds carry with them a bright sunshine that would make those who count the days without rain in France blush with envy. Thus, the skippers have adapted to this weather that smells of the Antilles and warm arrivals. Hats, caps, sunglasses… make everyday life more pleasant but in no way make the sailors forget the performance of the race. In a message received this morning, Basile Bourgnon begins by reminding that “Sunscreen and a hat are a must!” Then, he gives a little tip: “Since the Mini, I always have my little fan that cools my head.”
Keeping a cool head
The reason is the much milder temperatures, but not only that. You have to keep a cool head in all circumstances and watch everything. "The adjustments, the seaweed, the rigging... You have to be at full speed to make up miles." Basile has the words to describe this permanent confrontation: "It's a big Solitaire du Figaro." The skipper of Edenred, currently 6th with Violette Dorange, admits "steering a lot." "It's tiring and makes you a bit crazy."
So they are all in this state, whether at the back of the pack aboard Groupe Helios - Du Léman à l'Océan (Arnaud Machado - Lucie Queruel) which is bringing up the rear at almost 332 miles and Race for Science - Verder (Alicia De Pfyffer - Édouard Golbery) which is 227 miles behind the leader. At the front of the race, one can only be surprised, after 12 days of racing, that the gaps are so small. In a space of 40 miles laterally and 80 miles on the great circle, nine boats are battling relentlessly. Certainly, MonAtoutÉnergie. fr (Arthur Hubert - Colombe Julia, 9th), Région Bretagne – CMB Océane (Chloé Le Bars – Hugo Dhallenne, 10th – both separated by only 3 miles – and AGEAS-Ballay-Cerfrance- Baie de Saint-Brieuc (Maël Garnier – Julia Courtois, 7th), which is progressing further south, are slightly distanced.
©Alexis Courcoux
"A big blow to morale" (Anne-Claire Le Berre)
Ahead, we can see two groups. One further north is led by the leader for the last four days, Région Bretagne – CMB Performance (Gaston Morvan - Anne-Claire Le Berre) and which includes in its ranks Skipper MACIF (Loïs Berrehar – Charlotte Yven, 2nd) and Mutuelle Bleue (Corentin Horeau – Pauline Courtois, 3rd). Gaston and Anne-Claire continue their progression, they who had a big scare the day before. 30 miles further south, and closer to the direct route, Région Normandie (Guillaume Pirouelle – Sophie Faguet, 4th) and Cap Ingélec (Camille Bertel – Pierre Leboucher, 5th) seem slightly faster.
A form of status quo then, while the leader had a big scare yesterday. The cause? A collision with a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object) that could have put an end to their ambitions. After securing the boat and accepting the doubts - "We wondered if we should stop, if we should repair, if we should continue" - they decided to "continue to drive the boat forward at full speed" according to Gaston. A choice that paid off after a big scare and, above all, the illustration that the race can change at any moment.
"A lot of things can still happen" (Sophie Faguet)
On board Région Normandie, we discovered earlier in the morning the little surprises left by the onboard preparers before the start, enough to cheer up the duo in the middle of the Atlantic. More seriously, we also take stock of the latest strategic decisions: "Nothing will be easy in this race! We decided last night to take advantage of a change in direction to move southwest knowing that potentially, the head of the fleet would continue to starboard. The interest of this choice: if the first will benefit from a better angle to advance on the port side, we should have more wind... according to the weather files collected over the hours. We also knew that the precision of the files in light winds can be quite variable, so we wanted to avoid the approaches to this calmer zone which is announced in the west. In the ranking of the morning and this afternoon, the verdict falls, we can only note that we are advancing less quickly than our comrades. Which is disappointing to say the least. In short, the edge is long, a lot of things can still happen, and we especially hope that the real conditions will come a little closer to the forecasts that we have processed. If the mental is a little battered but hardens over the hours, on the physical side everything is fine for Guillaume and me, we are not battered at all. According to the estimated race times, we should lack almost nothing until the finish which is rather reassuring.
