Recap of the 11th day

RACE UPDATE

• As of 3:00 PM, the top three boats — Wings of the Ocean (Alexis Thomas and Pauline Courtois, 1st), Cap St Barth (Cindy Brin and Thomas André, 2nd), and Skipper Macif (Charlotte Yven and Hugo Dhallenne, 3rd) — were within just 5 nautical miles (9 km) of each other.

• They now have nearly 40 nautical miles on the chasing pack, including Région Bretagne – CMB Espoir (Victor Le Pape and Estelle Greck) and DEMAIN (Martin Le Pape and Mathilde Géron).

• The lateral spread of the fleet has narrowed again, shrinking from 160 nautical miles (296 km) to 130 nm (240 km) over the morning.

• Conditions remain favorable, with winds between 12 and 15 knots this afternoon — continuing to fuel the fierce battle at the front.

IMAGE OF THE DAY — So many routing options

 "We’re trying to figure out whether to go north, south, or straight through the middle," said Romain Bouillard (Décrochons la lune) two days ago. To decide, everyone is carefully analyzing weather files. The coming days look tricky, with lighter, more unstable winds expected near the finish.

Result: whether bold or cautious, risk-taking or safe — there are a lot of possible routes.

“This map shows the extent of the playing field,” explains Race Director Yann Chateau. “There are many possible trajectories depending on how the forecast evolves. It’s going to be an exciting end to the race!”