THE MADEIRA CREW

THE FIFTH NIGHT. The fleet continues to sail at a brisk pace as it gradually approaches Madeira. The wind, sometimes unstable, is keeping skippers on high alert so as not to lose ground to their rivals. With La Palma on the horizon, everyone is also preparing to approach the island, where the race leaders are expected to arrive on Saturday evening. As of Friday morning, the lead is still held by Demain (Martin Le Pape and Mathilde Géron), Hellowork (Davy Beaudart and Julie Simon), and DMG MORI Academy (Laure Galley and Kévin Bloch).

Nearly six days after leaving Concarneau, 19 duos are still in the running. Among them are Lola Billy and Corentin Horeau (Région Bretagne CMB – Océane), who had to make a stopover in Cascais to repair their rudder after hitting floating debris. “We’re back on track after this little pit stop,” said Corentin Horeau yesterday afternoon. “The team did an awesome job, like an F1 crew,” joked Lola Billy. “They swapped the rudder, and once we were back on starboard tack, it was clear the boat was back to 100%,” confirmed race director Yann Chateau.

Madeira Approaching

The skippers picked up speed quickly, just like the rest of the fleet, now charging full sail towards Madeira. “We headed south and we’re flying,” laughed Romain Bouillard (Décrochons la lune). “We’re nearing the longitude of North Africa,” wrote Pier-Paolo Dean (Les Banques Alimentaires). “We spent all Thursday sailing under spinnaker—it was great,” added Anaëlle Pattusch (Humains en action). Madeira is now only 200 nautical miles from the race leaders, still Demain, Hellowork, and DMG MORI Academy.

“We’re starting to close in on the anticyclonic ridge, which is creating instability,” explains Yann Chateau. As a result, most of the boats aren’t following a straight course. “The wind is unstable in both strength and direction, which means skippers have to stay highly responsive.” This explains the varying speeds among boats, even those sailing side by side.

This situation is expected to persist over the next few hours as the fleet nears Porto Santo, the island north of Madeira. They should pass to the east to avoid the large wind shadow cast by the islands. Next stop: La Palma, which they should reach on Saturday evening. Stay tuned!

💬 QUOTES OF THE NIGHT

Alexis Thomas (Wings of the Ocean):

“It wasn’t easy finding the right positioning at Cape Finisterre, but we’re quite happy with our choices. I feel like we’re among the influencers of the fleet—we launch strategies and see they’re impacting others, which is pretty fun. On Friday, we’ll start closing in on La Palma. There’ll be a stretch with a lot of wind around Madeira. Routing has us passing fairly close to Madeira to take advantage of wind acceleration in that area. The slight concern is encountering violent, gear-breaking gusts. We’re aiming to reach La Palma on Saturday between 6 and 7 p.m., so it’s going to be intense. We’ll arrive at the beginning of the night and there’s supposed to be very strong wind. We’ll try to preserve the boat!”

ℹ️ LIFE ONBOARD SNIPPETS

For the first time, sailors in the Transat Paprec have access to a solid internet connection. The result? They’re sharing lots of daily life moments onboard. Hugo Cardon is regularly bandaging Anaëlle Pattusch’s ankle (Humains en action), while Cindy Brun (Cap St Barth) admits she’s still seasick: “I think I’ve only eaten five meals in four days.”

As for unexpected encounters, Chloé Le Bars (FAUN) was delighted “to see a whale do a little jump just a few dozen meters ahead of the bow.” Adrien Simon added: “We’ve seen lots of turtles and cruise ships. Keeps things lively!” Victor Le Pape and Estelle Greck (Région Bretagne CMB Espoir) recorded a support video for their teammates Lola Billy and Corentin Horeau (Région Bretagne CMB – Océane). Martin, Victor’s brother, had a long chat with Mathilde and couldn’t help but laugh: “It’s like speed dating—except with a guy who hasn’t changed underwear in five days and smells like low tide when he takes off his socks. Not very glamorous.”

Jules Ducelier and Sophie Faguet (Région Normandie) say they’ve “surrendered”: “After five days and the same old Breton weather, we finally pulled out the sleeping bag.” Aboard FAUN, Adrien Simon cooked up some pesto pasta while checking the forecast, and Arno Biston filmed himself preparing freeze-dried mushroom risotto.