The Battle for Position
- Antoine Grenapin
- Apr 22
- 4 min read
THE SECOND NIGHT
The fleet remains tightly packed, with the skippers within 15 nautical miles of one another. Before reaching Cape Finisterre later today, strategic positioning relative to a ridge of high pressure will be crucial, as it could create significant gaps in the fleet. As of the 7 a.m. ranking this Tuesday, Laure Galley and Kévin Bloch (DMG MORI Academy) have taken the lead ahead of Martin Le Pape and Mathilde Géron (Demain), and the duo Alexis Thomas and Pauline Courtois (Wings of the Ocean).
Headlamp on, eyes focused, Romain Bouillard (Les Étoiles Filantes) explains the stakes:
"This night (from Monday to Tuesday) is crucial. A major transition is coming, and the break could happen from the front. We’re going to push ourselves to the max."
Alexis Thomas (Wings of the Ocean) adds:
"The goal is to slip south of the anticyclonic ridge that's blocking our path to Cape Finisterre, so we can pick up the Portuguese trade winds. That’s important because the elastic will stretch all the way to the Canaries."
To tackle this key point, boats in the fleet have opted for different positions. Some, including current leaders Laure Galley and Kévin Bloch (DMG MORI Academy), are further south. Others, like Davy Beaudart and Julie Courtois (Hellowork), are 10 miles further west. And some, such as Charlotte Yven and Hugo Dhalenne (Skipper Macif), have taken an intermediate position between the two groups.
“It’s a knitting match” in the fleet!
"It’s quite an important passage," says Yann Chateau from race management."They’re on the tip of a ridge that’s collapsing. They’re getting a light southwesterly flow, so the whole challenge is positioning and finding the best balance between gaining westing and moving toward the objective."And in these unstable winds, “they’re knitting,” as the fleet weaves and maneuvers!
The westerly wind is expected to strengthen throughout the morning, before the Figaro 3s head starboard towards Cape Finisterre, which they should reach by the end of the day. It won’t be until the following night that we’ll know which group has gained the upper hand."Those who are slightly further south seem to be well placed," adds Yann."But we’ll see overnight if their move pays off and who manages this passage best."To be continued…
ONBOARD REACTIONS
Adrien Simon (FAUN):"The start of the race was really great, the departure from Concarneau was beautiful. It was awesome! We weren’t the most efficient at that game, but we had a lot of fun. We were thrown into it right away—it wasn’t easy to get any rest. Our westward move is intentional: there’s a huge windless zone at Cape Finisterre that we’ll need to cross to reach the Portuguese trades. It’s a large area, so tricky to get through. But we’re expecting the wind to come back from the west on Tuesday. The idea is to position ourselves to catch it and hit it at a better angle. It was a bold choice from the start—we just hope it works!"
Martin Le Pape (Demain):"The race is going quite well so far. We’re happy with our choices, and we’ve had good speed when it counted, so that’s cool. We’re slightly more to the east compared to Skipper Macif and some others. It’s going to come down to the ridge crossing at Cape Finisterre. The wind might come back from the west first, but if we get some southerly flow, we might sneak through before them. It all depends on the wind hole at Cape Finisterre! We’ve settled into a good rhythm with short shifts so we don’t get too tired. We’re finding our groove and can’t wait for the downwind legs!"
Alexis Thomas (Wings of the Ocean):"The conditions haven’t been the easiest since the start, with frontal passages and fairly strong winds. We debated whether to sail without boots and foul-weather gear to keep it light—but in the end, we’re glad we brought them. We’ve played the eastern route quite well. I was worried that the western boats would crush us with stronger winds and better angles, but for now, we’re managing to stretch out and sneak underneath. The goal is to get south of the anticyclonic ridge blocking our path to Cape Finisterre to catch the Portuguese trades. It’s really important to get around Finisterre ahead, because the rubber band will stretch from the front all the way to the Canaries."
LIFE ON BOARD
These first few days of racing have also been about adjusting to life at sea. Those who had some seasickness—like Cindy Brin and Thomas André (Cap St Barth) during the first night—are already feeling better. Watch rotations are underway; some sailors are having fun snapping pics of their teammates sleeping (Tiphaine Rideau, Irina Gracheva, Pauline Courtois), while others are capturing their first lunch at sea (Kévin Bloch), the afternoon sun (Ellie Driver), or hands already marked by the intensity of the race (Mael Garnier). Jules Ducelier and Sophie Faguet (Région Normandie) even filmed Cap Saint Barth, which has been shadowing them constantly.Meanwhile, Davy Beaudart and Julia Simon (Hellowork), Quentin Vlamynck and Audrey Ogereau (Les Étoiles Filantes), and Maël Garnier and Cath Hunt (Selancia – Cerfrance) had the joy of being escorted by dolphins yesterday.
