After a terrible “creepy as you want” depression, the toll is heavy
Three destroyers, a conversion and a material break… The passage of a violent front left its mark on the Route du Rhum.
Vendée Globe (dismantling Louis Burton’s Bureau Vallée), Ocean Fifty trimaran (Solidaires en Peloton – ARSEP of Thibout Vouchel-Camus) and two Class40 monohulls were affected. Crosscall by Aurélien Ducroz and the demolition of La Boulangère Bio by Amélie Grassi, one of the seven women in the race), there is a lot of baggage for the Route du rhum fleet and the runners and no doubt other breakdowns will be announced during the race. day, to heal his wounds after a terrible depression.
About 350 miles northwest of Cape Finisterre, the passage of this front was violent, as two-time Solitaire du Figaro winner Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) told the future skipper and title holder of the Imoca monohull: “After the front, it was fast but very intense. The boat was tossing in the waves. It felt like everything would explode at any moment. It was creepy as hell. Xavier Macaire is the most attacking and I confess that I did not try to keep up with his pace, especially after seeing Aurélien Ducroz and Amélie Grassi dismantled in the same way as my transom. I really thought we would all get through this. I know what it’s like to lose your pole in these conditions. In rough seas and at night it is incredibly difficult to untie all the ropes.”added the navigator, who with Corentin Dugué (Quéguiner – Innoveo) and Xavier Macaire (Groupe SNEF) authored a spectacular comeback to return to the top three, grouped together at less than 7 miles after the three let slip. Completing a 4-hour penalty after an early start at the Saint-Malo line.
Not good weather yet
Although conditions improved after passing the front and the wind dropped from 40 knots to a more reasonable twenties, the sea remained rough for Yoann Richomme and the survivors of this 12th edition. And finally, you will have to wait 3 to 4 days for Class40s and half as long for the fastest Ultim trimarans and Imoca monohulls to escape this high atmospheric pressure zone and finally be able to remove the oil skins.
On the road to Guadeloupe (not unreasonable in November), Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) managed to overtake Francois Gabart (SVR Lazartigue). In the 9 o’clock standings, the leader is 23 miles ahead of his rival, an hour ahead at an average sea speed of 30 knots, and Thomas Coville (Sodebo) is 94 miles ahead of his catch, Francis Coyon (Idec). 448 miles down the title track is a far cry from dreams of a double for now. “Francois returned to me in light air just before the Azores. He was going straight, I couldn’t! I turned it 4-5 times, which required a lot of energy. I made a slightly tougher choice in the archipelago than his, but in the end I came back to almost the same thing (…) It’s still a bit of a war in terms of conditions. It is far from a dream. We look forward to pulling out the raincoats and enjoying the steady winds. There it constantly fluctuates between 20-30 knots, far from comfort »Trust Charles Caudrelier, well served for his first Route du rhum, in the session this Sunday morning.
Small gaps in all categories
As for the Imoca monohulls, Charlie Dalin (Apivia) still leads the dance in the first participation perfectly mastered for the moment, with a comfortable gap of 80 miles Jérémie Beyou (Charal), Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) followed by 84 miles, Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) 98 miles and Kevin Escoffier (Holcim-PRB) 103 miles. On the Ocean Fifty side, Quentin Vlamynck (Arkema) leads by 28 miles over Sébastien Rogues (Primonial) after Thibaut Vauchel-Camus retired. Finally, a small loophole that symbolizes well the progress of this Route du rhum, which no one (except perhaps Charlie Dalin) managed to make the most of. And so much the better for the doubt…
This Sunday morning, nine sailors officially renounced the 138 who left Saint-Malo on Wednesday, and five should soon join the death list.
Students (those who have not yet officially dropped out in parentheses)
Ocean fifty trimaran: Sam Goodchild, (Thibo Vochel-Camus)
Imoca monohulls : Kojiro Shiraishi, Damien Seguin, (Louis Burton)
Class 40 monohulls : (Amélie Grassi), (Aurélien Ducroz), (Keny Piperol), Martin Louchar, Antoine Magré, Laurent Camprubi, Geoffrey Matacynski, Jonas Gerckens
Rum Multi : Oren Nataf
