And so while both are making good speeds – just under 20 knots – they still have a wide band of lighter winds to cross to get to the trade winds north of Salvador de Bahia.
And so the pendulum swings back in favour of Dalin who has very nearly 100 miles in hand, just as Richomme did on Dalin in a few days. Suffice to say it is unlikely this gap will remain.
Upwind
The main group – fifth to tenth – are fighting upwind in a corridor of breeze between a low pressure to their west and high pressure to their east, all the time still constricted by the exclusion zone to their right. In 25knots and sometimes more, the boats are slamming hard upwind, a big test for the tired boats and equipment. It has been an unpleasant way to bring in 2025 and they are getting no relief in the near future. All the time they are conscious that this is a compact group that they need to fight hard for any little gains and not be left behind. Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) is bossing the group in fifth and has done very well to build a small margin, getting away from the established ‘twins’ Jérémie Beyou (Charal) and Nico Lunven (HOLCIM PRB). In eighth Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) is holding at bay Boris Herrmann (Malizia Seaexplorer).
Beyou is concerned about the constant stress on the boats at this stage in the race,
“The conditions are difficult, I have 28 knots of wind upwind, and the sea is very short. It shakes us a lot, we are looking for our way between this stormy depression that is coming to our West and this anticyclone that is to our East. Between the two there is a flow from the North, between 25 and 30 knots, but with a short and choppy sea. I am two reefs and J3, on starboard tack it was very complicated. When we are in the flow, the wind is more or less in line with the models, on the other hand in stormy depressions like that, it is a bit crazy, there are big storms that I try to avoid! I think that Malizia, Vulnerable and Holcim are doing a bit like me, we try to avoid the stormy zone by staying South and the zone of light wind behind the front. Biotherm went right into it, it seems a bit daring to me! And Justine is on the limit too! But finding a way through it's not easy, we're barely making progress, the weather conditions are really not favorable.”
Beyou continues,
