Transat Jacques Vabre: First mast break in the Class 40, Burke and Fink fight
Tough luck for the Class 40 co-favourites Ian Lipinski and Antoine Carpentier. The mast of their "Crédit Mutuel" broke during the sprint leg from Le Havre to Lorient at 1.21 am on the night of 30 October. The sailors immediately announced that they were "okay" and would be calling at Cherbourg. The loss of the rig dashed the duo's hopes. Like Ambrogio Beccaria, Ocean Race sailor Amélie Grassi, Axel Tréhin, Nicolas d'Estais and Stan Thuret, Ian Lipinski is one of the ambitious and successful skippers who have moved up from the mini-circuit to Class 40.
A "UFO" collision and structural problems
William Mathelin-Moreaux and Pietro Luciani reported on the suspected collision with an "UFO" (Unknown Floating Object) on "Dékuple". The duo was diverted to Cherbourg with structural problems. The two sailors are very disappointed after their good start to the race and are heading for the repair harbour in difficult conditions. There will be more news on the condition of the boat once the relevant investigations have taken place.
Jean-Marie Hervé and Jean-Yves Aglaé are also struggling on board "Martinique Tchalian". The Frenchmen have informed the race organisers that they have a problem with their starboard rudder. They will divert to Guernsey to seek shelter and make repairs.
Transat Jacques Vabre: German "Sign for Com" duo in the top 20
Lennart Burke, 25, and Melwin Fink, 21, are undauntedly dynamic on "Sign for Com". After a good start in the harsh conditions, the new Hamburgers initially dropped back to 24th place on Sunday, but have since fought their way back into the top 20. On Monday morning, the young German team Next Generation Sailing was in 19th place at around 11 a.m., sailing towards Lorient at a speed of around ten knots on the "outer lane" of the field.
Lennart Burke reported from the sea late in the evening: "It's going well! It's really fun. We're battling with a few other sailors here and are looking forward to fighting our way forwards." At the top, the favourites Ambrogio Beccaria and Nicolas Andrieu on "Alla Grande Pirelli" are setting the pace. They were followed on Monday morning by Matthieu Perraut and Kévin Bloch on "Inter Invest" and Xavier Macaire and Pierre Lebouchier on "Groupe SNF". The top three were separated by six nautical miles on course for Lorient.
Midnight final for the Class 40 sprint
The race organisers expected the fastest Class 40 yachts to arrive in Lorient at around midnight on Monday. The six Ocean Fifties will arrive there shortly beforehand. Thibault Voucher-Camus and Quentin Vlamynck on "Solidaires Peloton" led the small field of daring multihull duos on their way to the finish ahead of Luke Berry and Antoine Joubert on "Le rire médicin - Lamotte".
While both classes have to wait out the approaching heavy low-pressure systems in Lorient until their as yet undetermined restart, the five Ultim giants are engaged in thrilling battles at sea. They are the only class sailing a direct course to Martinique without interruption. In the morning after the start, the leader was "Banque Populaire XI" with Armel Le Cléac'h and Sébastien Josse ahead of Charles Caudrelier and Erwan Ïsrael on "Edmond de Rothschild".
It's like in the mountains: if there's a risk of avalanches, you don't go up there" (Yannick Bestaven)
For the 40 Imocas in Lorient, however, the wait goes on! According to the latest estimates, their start in the Transat Jacques Vabre will not take place before the coming weekend. Worse still, according to the latest forecasts, the low pressure situation may continue even then. It remains to be seen what difficult decisions the race organisers will make regarding the procedure with the Imocas.
Brutal swell in the Bay of Biscay
Like Boris Herrmann, Vendée Globe winner Yannick Bestaven ("Maitre CoQ V") also commented on the decision to wait for the Imoca class with one laughing and one crying eye: "They made the right decision. However, it was also a bit difficult for us because we had focussed on the start and prepared ourselves well mentally. We know that our boat works quite well in rough conditions. But it's a bit like in the mountains. If there's a risk of avalanches, you don't go up there. It's the same at sea when there's such a low pressure situation. So it's a wise decision."
Gale-force winds of 80 knots and more and waves ten metres high are expected for the Bay of Biscay in the middle of the week. Even if it weren't for the prospect of further threatening Atlantic lows, the swell in the Bay of Biscay will remain brutal for quite some time. The race organisers of the 16th Transat Jacques Vabre still have complex tasks to solve with the continuation of the race for the Class 40 and the Ocean Fifties as well as the start for the Imocas.
16th Transat Jacques Vabre: The Imoca teams help each other
In Le Havre, the day after the start of the other three classes, there was a lot of activity in the Imoca family. The teams helped each other to move their boats. On the one hand, because several pontoons laid out especially for the Transat start were already being dismantled. Secondly, because the Imocas should be as well protected as possible from the approaching storms.
The good camaraderie could be felt everywhere in the Bassin Paul Vatine on Monday. Because the postponement of the start for the Imocas had come at the last minute, many teams had already dismissed the majority of their staff. Now the racing teams are bringing their boats to safety before the storm hits Le Havre.
