Skipper MACIF in the lead at the La Palma turn

One week on from last Sunday’s start from Concarneau, Brittany most of the eleven duos competing  on the mixed doubles Transat Paprec have passed the La Palma waypoint and turned west for the passage across the Atlantic towards the finish line in Saint Barths.

The leaders at the virtual mark at 1205hrs UTC this Sunday were Skipper MACIF (Loïs Berrehar/Charlotte Yven) only eight minutes up on second placed Mutuelle Bleue (Corentin Horeau/Pauline Courtois) whilst third placed Région Normandie (Guillaume Pirouelle/Sophie Faguet) were only 12 minutes behind the pacemakers. 

The peloton have found the last few days increasingly tiring and so there was a certain relief to pass the key milestone on the 3089 nautical miles course, one which now might see some big strategic plays. 
Second placed Horeau reported today, “Last night was tiring and complicated. The weather files said to go right but that was wrong as there was less pressure than on left. Each time we went to the left, it was pretty good. But it was gruelling. We really had wanted to rest to be fresh for the Canaries approach and turn, but all the time there had to be one watching the nav and monitoring the others  and the other on the helm. We tried to sleep one after the other.”

He added “Yesterday, we tried to take a small shift and we got lost 1 mile and so for the moment, it is better to have crossed the Canary Islands mark on the bus with everyone else and with the boat and us in good shape and then we will see the attacks next. The challenge today is above all not to break anything ”.