Arkea Ultim Challenge: Whale dodging or problems on board "Banque Populaire XI"?
Andreas Fritsch
· 10.01.2024
The tracker clearly shows how "Banque Populaire XI" last night at around 10 p.m. was about to sail into an exclusion zone around Madeira, which the race management has drawn around various island groups, including the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, for environmental reasons. In order not to endanger the whales that frequently occur there, the skippers are supposed to sail around them. It is not entirely clear exactly what the consequences are for skippers who sail through them, as there are normally time penalties for such mistakes.
The Frenchman remains stubbornly silent
And so Armel Le Cléac'h's course also makes sense: shortly before entering the exclusion zone, he turned almost 180 degrees, sailed in that direction for a good 45 minutes, and when the distance was right, he returned to his old course.
At that time, he was just over 30 nautical miles behind. Since then, however, it has grown to over 50, and the boat seems to be sailing a little slower. But anyone who knows the Frenchman knows for sure that he would never communicate whether and what exactly is going on on board. Le Cléac'h is one of those rather taciturn skippers who would never allow his competitors to look at his charts. This was always the case with the Vendée Globe. Technical problems were never communicated, only after crossing the finish line did the Frenchman sometimes surprisingly admit to such hurdles.
Arkea Ultim Challenge: Up to 40 knots and four to six metre waves in sight
As the race has been very close so far, there have been many lead changes and the trio at the front is separated by just 23 miles, which is practically the blink of an eye for an Ultim, the skippers seem to be under pressure. Especially as they are encountering stronger winds and swell this late afternoon. Gusts of up to 40 knots and four to six metre waves are possible, according to the organiser's weather routers. The boats will sail downwind along the south-eastern edge of a low pressure front, taking care not to sail too far into it, as it can get very rough, but also not to sail too far away from it, as they could get caught in the doldrums. In the meantime, the speed of the boats has climbed to well over 30 knots. These are actually good conditions for "Banque Populaire XI", Le Cléac'h was fast in strong winds during the Transat. It will be interesting to see whether this first test will break up the field.
Tom Laperche is currently in the lead with "SVR Lazartigue", the fastest boat in light to medium upwind conditions. However, it remains to be seen whether he will keep his foot on the gas in the increasingly rough weather. His boat only left the boatyard the day before the start of the race after suffering significant structural damage to the front beam. It is quite possible that he will first have to feel his way back to the limits of the Tris. However, he explained this morning that he was prepared: "I tidied everything up and did an inspection tour of the boat yesterday, and I'll be doing that again this evening."
Hot on his heels are Charles Caudrelier from the Gitana team and Thomas Coville's "Sodebo Ultim". Anthony Marchand's smaller and older "Actual Ultim 3", which has been surprisingly fast in light winds so far, has fallen behind somewhat.
