The leaders are making low double figures boat speeds this morning and so they are going to be crossing the Equator at around two days slower than on the last two editions. Whilst the NE’ly trade winds are forecast to build slightly today they still have nearly 900 miles to the Equator. The record stands at 9 days and 7 hours set on the 2016 edition by British skipper Alex Thomson who also crossed first again in 2020 at 9 days 23 hours.
Jean Le Cam (Tout commence en Finistère – Amror lux) picked up speed yesterday morning after languishing in the calm close to the African coast and his gains have continued against the fleet as he converges from the east to lead the fleet once again this morning. The race veteran is more than 500 miles to the east of Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) and is closing to pass to the south of the island archipelago at around 13 knots this morning. That said Le Cam will have to pass the lee of the volcanic islands in a more disturbed airflow, not least dealing with the windbreak effect of the towering Pico de Fogo which is nearly 3000 metres high.
Sam Goodchild in second is measured to be about 44 miles behind Le Cam but the bigger threat to him might be his stable mate Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE) to his west although both boats were making about the same speed this morning.
Other than avoiding the worst of the clouds life is not too taxing for the leading group. Temperatures are pleasant and it is very much a waiting game, trying to decipher the best route and keeping a good routine of sleeping and eating.
Nico Lunven in sixth on HOLCIM PRB is about 90 miles behind the leaders. Commenting on Le Cam’s strategy he said early this morning, “Yes, his is a very interesting proposition. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. He is right. He was able to cross the calm zone more easily than us but he found himself passing to the east of the Cape Verde archipelago and now the whole game for him is to win get back to the west at full speed to try to go and find his way across the Doldrums. But he will probably be VMG downwind. But he is a smart guy on his daggerboard boat and he has a spinnaker on board which of course is good for this kind of exercise.”
Lunven continues, “We are still spoiled by the conditions even if there has not been much wind in the last few hours and we stopped a bit in the calm in front of us. You have to be patient but it is still nice to be here. In the type of conditions we have, very light, following an absolute route does not necessarily make sense so we obviously look at the wind files to try to be where there will be more wind or cross and area we have to cross. We use other tools like satellite images to try to guess the areas with clouds, squalls or more or less wind. We watch a lot to avoid the clouds when we want to avoid them or on the contrary to take advantage of them when possible. Looking ahead to the Doldrums, we are getting to a position that is already quite west and generally the whole game of passing the Doldrums is to try to gain in the west at the Canaries or Cape Verde to find the best passage. The further west you pass it, the easier it is to cross it. Finally, the strategy of the last few days has already got us so far in the west that it is in our best interest to continue to make more gains in the west. It simplifies things a little for us, let's say. We will wait to get out of the calm we are in. We have almost passed a Doldrums in the North yesterday and today!”
Repairs completed
And the two skippers who have been forced to make serious repairs in recent days are in much better shape. Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée) has spent two days and two long nights repairing the cracks on the deck and topsides of his boat where the compression load from the jockey pole caused some quite serious damage https://youtu.be/HosH7YNY1Sk. He has used had to reinforce the hull side with spare carbon battens for the mainsail and use carbon cloth strips to reinforce the damaged area. He has dropped to 24th place, but – making 15 knots this morning – Burton is not hanging about in his chase to catch the leaders.
And Hungary’s Szabolcs Weöres is also back in full race mode after making a major repair to his mainsail in the safety of Las Palmas, Grand Canaria. He left yesterday evening between 17 and 18hrs but his biggest problem is trying to catch the fleet is that he is sailing upwind. But he s in good spirits.
