Words from onboard, Day 3

Thomas Jourdren, Trimcontrol - NST Racing (210)

"Everything is going well on board, I’m finding my rhythm. Well, actually, I’m discovering it! I’m getting to grips with the boat gradually. We’ve been sailing upwind since mid-afternoon, we rounded the virtual waypoint and are now heading back home upwind. We’ve got between fifteen and eighteen knots of wind, the boat is slamming, the sea is short, it’s not easy to make the boat go fast—you really have to stay on top of the settings!

I’m quite happy with the end of my downwind leg where I managed to catch back up with the chasing pack. That leg had been tricky though: I had a good start to the night, but the second half was more difficult for me, with an option that didn’t pay off. But toward the end I managed to come back nicely from the right! It allowed me to rejoin the group—we’re still together now, four or five boats.

I’m discovering the boat a bit more with every passing hour, I hardly know it! Before the start I only had two training sessions on it, so I’m learning as I go. At the same time, I’m also discovering myself, since this is my first time sailing solo—I’ve never done it before! Before the Trin’40 start I had only spent one night alone at sea, otherwise always double-handed or crewed. So I’m happy to be here, I’m finding my rhythm on board, doing things calmly, trying to set up my maneuvers properly, eat well, rest as much as possible—a bit of everything!

Last night I thought I’d be able to rest, but the downwind leg turned out much more complicated than expected, I really had to stay on it. Luckily I had taken a couple of naps the day before, but it’s been 24 hours with very little sleep. With the others around, it’s not easy to relax, but I have to! There’s still a long way to go, almost two days of racing left. I’m discovering all this, but so far I really like solo sailing!

We’re now heading toward the Gironde waypoint, which we should reach tonight. Once there, a light-wind zone awaits and we’ll need to handle it as best as possible, fine-tuning our trajectory. After that, the wind should return—but still upwind! We’re going flat out to the finish!"

Djemila Tassin, Magenta (153)

"Hi!

First of all, thank you for giving me a race with conditions that allow me to play—light winds and upwind! Everything is going well here, I haven’t had an onboard computer since the Bay of Quiberon, so no weather data or routing—so I’m going a bit old-school, with paper charts and direct routing!

Current conditions: heeled over! We’re upwind and probably for quite a while! It’s wet and pounding, but nothing extreme—just a bit of upwind sailing to balance the 24 hours under spinnaker ;) I don’t know if I’ve been especially lucky, but there are dolphins everywhere!!! I even saw a huge whale right at the waypoint, just cruising along.

Managing myself is going well, I haven’t slept enough today so tonight I’ll chain together some naps I think! But what a joy to be back in this little world that is mine on my boat. For the rest of the course: stay in rhythm and not give in to fatigue. It seems like I can keep something good going if I maintain the pace, but we’ll see if I can hold it over time! The goal is not to burn out, but to give everything!

A small frustration: I had to do a spin at the waypoint to round it the right way… it wasn’t pretty!

A small joy: despite the grey weather, we’re still having fun!

Alright, off I go, back to trimming."

Guillaume L’Hostis, ALTERNATIVE SAILING - CONSTRUCTIONS DU BELON (196)

"Everything is going well on board. We passed the Cape Finisterre waypoint and we’re on port tack heading upwind, in a sea that only the Bay of Biscay can offer! It’s short, it slams, it’s wet—it’s a change from the start of the race, but it makes it complete!

I had a terrible start, stuck with no wind. Getting out of the bay was complicated, but early in the night I got the hang of the boat and managed to catch back up, before pushing again after the Bay of Audierne. Then last night, we had to stay on it too: very unstable spinnaker conditions, both in strength and direction. It was like an elastic—one moment for you, one moment for me—so you had to stay focused and opportunistic, there were small tactical moves to play! I’m quite satisfied, I managed to get back where I wanted in the leading pack, but there’s still a long way to go. We’ll be sailing upwind to the second Gironde waypoint, expecting a slight wind shift. When we get there, the wind will drop, we’ll have a tricky transition phase with little air. Then the wind will fill in again from the north, so we’ll be tacking! And in the Bay of La Trinité, we can expect some last-minute twists!

My small frustration is that I don’t have a spoon or a peeler. So eating is a bit complicated—and peeling carrots even more so! But I’m really happy to be here, getting back into solo mode feels great, and I received lots of little gifts since it was my birthday on the start day—so I’m feeling really good!"

Pierre Leboucher, Penfret (176)

"I’m running out of energy—it’s tough! The conditions are grey, we haven’t seen the sun today, and we’re sailing upwind, it’s really pounding with a short sea! That’s often the case with easterly winds—15 knots though, so it’s manageable, just not what our boats are designed for, so it’s not very comfortable. And dolphins are following us, which is nice.

Before the start and up to the Bay of Quiberon, I didn’t have a working charting software, so it was tricky with the rocks—I didn’t push. It took me quite some time, I was fully focused on fixing it, but I managed! Since then, I haven’t stopped. The biggest issue is that I no longer have water intake on my engine—the impeller is dead. I tried to rig something with the ballast water intake, but it only works above 13 knots, so not great. I’m in degraded mode: all screens off, using the spare autopilot because it requires fewer displays… really degraded! I’m sailing, but my weather analysis is, let’s say, not very advanced!

Downwind, I also had two big lines stuck in the keel, so I lost Zeiss who was nearby. But I’m still enjoying it—it’s great! As for fatigue, I don’t have time to feel tired! I’m busy fixing things, sailing, eating… time flies! I’m not very well rested, but I’ve kept the rhythm. First night I didn’t sleep, but during the day I managed a few 20-minute naps, so it’s okay. When I get ashore, I’ll probably collapse—but everything’s fine!

The only advantage of upwind is that it doesn’t consume too much energy for the autopilot! Tomorrow we should have sun, which will be good for my solar panels. But if I can’t charge, I’ll have to sail reaching under gennaker. The goal is to finish the race. I would have liked to do better competitively, but if needed, I’ll do that!"

Thimoté Polet, Zeiss (208)

"Hello everyone, we’re sailing upwind, it’s pounding—not the most pleasant conditions, especially since it’s unstable in both strength and direction, which means we can’t really rest! It adds some difficulty, but everything is going well on board. I’m lacking sleep, so I’ll need to manage to rest at some point. The downwind leg went very well for me—the work since launching the boat has paid off, with good positioning and conditions that allowed me to come from behind, so I’m very happy with that! Now I’m right with the leading pack, trying to keep up upwind. I know I’m a bit less fast in these conditions, so we’ll see if I can hold on until La Trinité! There will also be some light wind. In any case, there’s action—we’re not getting bored! I can’t wait to get home and eat a proper meal."