©Alexis Courcoux
The competitors have just passed the ten-day mark at sea. The gaps are still particularly tight in the heart of the Atlantic. Led by Gaston Morvan and Anne-Claire Le Berre (Région Bretagne - CMB Performance), the first six are less than 30 miles apart and the other three are more than 70 miles apart. Behind, Race for Science – Verder (Edouard Golbery - Alicia de Pfyffer) - is hanging on at 202.7 miles and Groupe Hélios – Du Léman à l’Océan (Arnaud Machado - Lucie Quéruel) is holding on.
Sometimes you have to take a step back, which is necessarily difficult at sea, a little less so when you look at the map. Zooming out, you can see that there are still nearly 1,700 miles, or almost 2,800 km, to go. In short, the skippers have to cover the equivalent of a Paris-Athens race on boats that are 10.89 metres long, resisting wind variations, changing weather and opponents who are not giving up. "We're on the ball," joked Loïs Berrehar (Skipper MACIF) in a video.
The gang of six are not letting go
What seems peaceful to observe from land is therefore never really the reality at sea, even if these last few hours have not been the most trying experienced at sea since the start. "For all the skippers, it's like a puzzle with a lot of recalibration," emphasizes Francis Le Goff, the race director. The trade winds are settling at 15 to 17 knots in the next few hours, manageable conditions that nevertheless require great care with the settings.
We are even seeing a status quo at the head of the race. Leaders since the day before, Gaston Morvan and Anne-Claire Le Berre (Région Bretagne – CMB Performance) have slightly widened the gap on the great circle with an 8.1-mile lead. The duo is mainly about ten miles south of their pursuers. On board, they are having a great time, as Anne-Claire testifies in a video: "We are in the trade winds, that's why we came to this race. And it's absolute bliss! »
Behind, everyone is neck and neck: Mutuelle Bleue (Corentin Horeau/Pauline Courtois, 2nd) 9.3 miles away, Skipper MACIF (Loïs Berrehar/Charlotte Yven) 8.1 miles away, Région Normandie (Guillaume Pirouelle/Sophie Faguet, 4th) 13.9 miles away, Cap Ingélec (Camille Bertel/Pierre Leboucher) 25.9 miles away, Edenred (Basile Bourgnon/Violette Dorange, 6th) 28.4 miles away. "After the tricky passage of La Palma, life on board is getting better and better," Sophie Faguet confided to the 'Mag de la Transat': "We're trying to regain our strength and get our brains in order."
"We're managing to get around all the problems"
However, the gap is widening between these first six and a group of three boats emerging seventy miles away. MonAtoutÉnergie. fr (Arthur Hubert/Colombe Julia, 7th), AGEAS - Ballay - Cerfrance - Baie de Saint-Brieuc (Maël Garnier/Julia Courtois, 8th) and Région Bretagne – CMB Océane (Chloé Le Bars/Hugo Dhallenne, 9th) are competing head-to-head. "We're going all out to try to overtake our competitors," assures Colombe Julia in a video. With Arthur Hubert, they also encountered their first flying fish!
Behind them, Race for Science – Verder is 202.7 miles behind the race leader. But morale on board is high, as explained by Édouard Golbery, contacted this morning for the call. "Things are going very well, we're managing to get around all the problems, to be manoeuvrable and to find the right speed for the boat. It took time," he explained. Alicia and Edouard have the simple satisfaction of still being in the race even though they "broke a lot when they arrived in La Palma". "When you break, you get more tired, we had to do somersaults at the front to repair the tack, redo lashings...", confides Edouard. He also explains the difficulty in ensuring sleep, a delicate mission last night "because of the many wind shifts and squalls". But with Alicia, they are holding on, a symbol of the resilience and resistance that must be demonstrated. This is how the Transat Paprec fleet is doing, while the skippers have just spent 10 days at sea and are only halfway to the sweetness of Saint-Barthélemy...
For everyone, you have to get used to the constant concentration, the need to rest well and never give up. "There is a rhythm to find but we are used to steering all the time as Figaro sailors", assures Violette Dorange. When she answered the call this Tuesday morning, Edenred was making between 11 and 15 knots in a small 1-metre swell. "We have good medium conditions", she explained. With Basile, they were busy "making adjustments towards the south" to "find the right balance", an obsession shared by all.
