Words from onboard Day 4

Corentin Douguet, SNSM – Donate (209)

Everything’s going well on board, we’ve had great sailing conditions so far. Yesterday was pretty calm—it’s true we were expecting a big lull at the second Gironde waypoint, but in the end we still had some wind, flat seas, so we were gliding along nicely. Beating upwind but under gennaker. We didn’t end up with flapping sails, just a small dip in pressure approaching the waypoint! Not very long, but just enough to shake things up. The wind filled back in from ahead, so Guillaume was able to double his lead in two hours, and I did the same on the group behind me with Axel, Fabien, and William.

Now we’re gradually getting wind again, conditions are stable. We’ll be tacking upwind, but nothing too complex, so unless there’s a technical issue on either side, things shouldn’t change much between Guillaume and me, or between me and the group behind. Of course, it’s sailing—anything can happen—but right now it feels a bit locked in. Guillaume hasn’t made many mistakes. At Penmarc’h I handed him the lead a bit when I had to stop and go astern to clear seaweed off my keel. Since then, he hasn’t made any errors. On the second night downwind toward Spain, I managed to close the gap, but toward the end of the night he pulled away again and created a small lead. At the same time, the conditions weren’t very complex.

The end of the course is upwind sailing—you have to sail cleanly all the way to the finish. We’re heading back into more crowded waters, the wind will pick up a bit so it’ll be more intense, but nothing too scary for us at the front—I haven’t looked at what it’s like behind! Normally, we should be back safe in La Trinité tonight. We’ve got a beautiful night ahead, a big bright moon, fairly flat seas—even though with our boats, even a little chop can be bumpy. For a return to solo sailing, it’s been the perfect exercise—now we just need to finish the job!

Axel Tréhin, Affaire à Faire (214)

The approach to the Gironde waypoint didn’t go as predicted in the forecasts—there were some strange things happening both ahead and behind! The wind direction was very unstable. At times I managed to close in on Fabien and William just ahead, and at other times they pulled away—especially toward the end—so I was a bit frustrated, but still happy to get past that waypoint because we could start sailing closer to the wind, and when there’s no wind, sailing upwind is still the least bad option!

Now the wind is back—no doubt about it—it’s hitting hard! We’re beating into a chop typical of an easterly wind, and it’s particularly uncomfortable. We’ll have a long starboard tack taking us almost south of Belle-Île, then a short, tricky finish to weave our way into the bay. It was important to catch that north-northeast wind after the waypoint—there was a bit at stake. I got a bit lucky because the two ahead of me got stuck like weather buoys. I saw them stop, so I tried to steer to stop alongside them too—but on the better side for what came next! In the end I didn’t actually stop when I got there—the wind picked up again just before—so I closed to within half a mile, which was great.

Then I had a battle with Fabien Delahaye who tried to push me out! I would’ve done the same in his place, so no hard feelings—but it wasn’t very pleasant! When I bore away, he luffed; when I luffed, he tried to bear away again to squeeze me out. But I didn’t back down. At some point it got rough, there was too much wind to hold the gennakers—around 14 knots—so I decided to stop watching him and do my own thing. I packed away the gennaker, shifted weight, tacked, and got the boat moving again. Since we’re sailing into chop, you have to find the right rhythm—but I’m happy to be the first to tack because I should get a bit of lift from below. Basically, on the left I’ll have wind coming more from the right than those on the right, who’ll have it more from the left. If you need a drawing—basically I’m trying to undercut them from below, that’s my game plan!

The leaders haven’t made many mistakes—Guillaume is very impressive. Corentin—I sailed with him last year, so I know what to expect! He’s hanging in there well. Around me the level is high too, so I’ll have to improve to catch up with the front pack. As for the boat, I’m pretty happy. I did some quick fixes in the bay at the start, and again yesterday upwind—which was really the worst time for it since I lost quite a bit of ground—but the boat is flying, I’ve confirmed that! I’ve discovered new things downwind—always interesting—and I’m excited to keep learning!

Kéni Piperol Dampied, DREPACTION (195)

All good on board—I’ve just finished dinner and I’m checking the weather a bit. Conditions are quite nice—I’m sailing upwind but the sea is very calm, much calmer than what I had earlier today. The sky is fairly clear, I can see a few stars. I’m checking the rankings and positions, and I’m not doing too badly, so I’m pretty happy.

The end of the race is very tight—the fleet is compact. It’s exciting, motivating, stimulating—but also tiring! I took two long naps today, which really helped because I wasn’t managing to sleep more than twenty minutes at a time. The upwind leg should be fairly straightforward; where it’ll get tricky is in Quiberon Bay, where there could be storms and patches of calm, so we’ll need to stay focused until the end.

In terms of rhythm, I’m doing okay—sleep is the main issue, I’ve built up quite a deficit. But the weather conditions have been pretty kind, which helps find a good rhythm. So overall, I’m happy—the balance has been right: no broken gear, no unnecessary risks! So far, so good.

A recent highlight: the 9 p.m. position update! I had no one on AIS so I didn’t know where the others were, and I thought they were faster—but actually I was the quickest, so I’m happy! A small frustration: that upwind leg—I kept tacking the wrong way and got caught by those behind, but now things seem back in order. Now it’s just about staying focused and not making any mistakes to the finish!

Benoît Sineau, Ekinox (211)

All very good! Right now it’s a bit cloudy, about 6 knots of wind, the sun has just set—it’s quite beautiful, with patches of breeze and calm, so we’re trying to thread our way through. Not always easy!

We’ve gone a bit further north—the idea is to go around the windless bubble from the north to keep some pressure. As we always say: pressure first. So the plan was to head a bit north of the direct route—we’ll see how it pays off! There’s less calm than expected south of my position, I’ve got more pressure, but we’ll see if it’s enough to overtake the others.

As for being back solo—fantastic. I feel great at sea, I love it! Food-wise, it’s very good—better than usual actually—I’ve made a point of eating and drinking plenty: three meals a day, with enough calories. Sleep is a bit harder though, especially in these conditions—if you’re not on top of things, it’s tricky. So I’m taking 20-minute naps; I won’t have slept much by the end of the race, but for now it’s enough.

A recent joy: seeing birds and dolphins—always a pleasure. Frustration: getting stuck in a lull at the start of the race, and then my Adrena software crashing just before the previous mark (a virtual one), so I had to restart it to figure out how to round it—and some competitors took advantage to pass me. That’s frustrating, because you spend hours fighting for tenths of a mile, and losing it all due to a computer issue is tough!

Luca Rosetti, Maccaferri Futura (212)

Today the sun came back! It was warm this afternoon, not much wind, but it was nice—with lots of dolphins. As for the rankings, I got off to a good start, but had some trouble in the transitional light-air phase, especially downwind on the second night. So I’ve been racing trying to catch up with the leaders most of the time!

But the boat is going well, and life on board is good—the conditions have been really pleasant throughout. Right now we’re in a big calm, and toward the end of the course it’ll be upwind in either light or strong winds, with gusts up to 30 knots—so it’ll be a demanding but really exciting finish!

The race has been great—absolutely beautiful. On the penultimate night, there was this glow under the boats—it was amazing. The only issue has been unstable wind, but otherwise it’s been perfect for getting back into solo sailing!