Course des Caps: Vendée Globe dominator on course for victory, Malizians struggle

The premiere of the Round Britain race La Course des Caps is approaching its finale. The first boats will cross the finish line on Saturday afternoon after the course was shortened. In the morning, the leading teams returned to the English Channel after crossing the Strait of Dover. The field is still led by the Vendée Globe dominator "Macif Santé Prévoyance" with skipper Sam Goodchild.

Course of the cape: an intensive zigzag to the finish line

The peloton moved through a narrow corridor between the Calais traffic separation zone and the English coast at the start of the weekend, continuing their turning manoeuvres in a chord in order to make progress towards the north-western tip of the exclusion zone. Once the passage has been mastered, there is still one last fast downwind leg to race to Boulogne-sur-Mer, where the front runners are expected from early Saturday afternoon.

At the back end of the fleet, numerous crews are still sailing in the North Sea and are confronted with difficult sailing conditions there. In this area, sandbanks, wind farms, exposed headlands and exclusion zones make progress difficult and require maximum concentration. Once they have overcome these pitfalls, they too can tackle the final section to Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The cards for the final sprint have been dealt, even if the peloton has moved closer together and this has created a new intensity in the final phase of the Course des Caps. The battle for the places behind "Macif Santé Prévoyance" is getting tougher. The new sister ship "Association Petits Princes - Quéguiner" of Élodie Bonafous and "Holcim-PRB" with skipper Nicolas Lunven are engaged in an intense bow-to-bow race and were less than a nautical mile apart at 8 o'clock in the morning.

"Charal" attacks "Malizia - Seaexplorer"

A little further behind in the final sprint was "Malizia - Seaexplorer" with Will Harris. The Malizians were attacked by "Charal" with skipper Jérémie Beyou, which was only around three nautical miles behind them. The team led by skipper Will Harris got everything out of their Imoca on Saturday morning to keep "Charal" at bay. "The aim is to get around the traffic separation scheme without being caught by 'Charal'," was the motto of Team Malizia.

Flore Hartout remains condemned to being a painful spectator in the middle of the action. Team Malizia's on-board reporter had injured her ribs and knees two days earlier during a nosedive of "Malizia - Seaexplorer" while she was filming. She is lying in the navigation seat. While the pain has eased somewhat, she is still dependent on painkillers. A doctor will be on site after the finish and will accompany Flore Hartout for further examinations.

Team Malizia's pursuer Jérémie Beyou, meanwhile, has not given up hope of catching the Malizians: "The wind has given us a good opportunity to catch up again. But it's not easy: there are lots of wind holes, currents, sandbanks ... It's very technical!" explained three-time winner of the Solitaire du Figaro and Vendée Globe fourth-placed Jérémie Beyou. According to Beyou, the navigation is challenging on the treacherous section of the course, which is lined with sandbanks, wind farms, oil platforms and exclusion zones. Click here for the tracker and the intermediate results.

If we make a mistake, we'll either end up on the beach or in the exclusion zone." Jérémie Beyou

In view of the many manoeuvres, Beyou also emphasised the detailed work required of the crews, saying "We have to be very precise!" On this technically and physically demanding section, time and valuable places can be lost quickly. This final 100 nautical mile section promises to be exhausting and breathless for the crews, but redemption is near: a final fast gybe in around thirty knots of wind to race to the finish line.

Course of the cap: beautiful finale with lots of wind

"Initiatives Cœur" skipper Sam Davies summarised it as follows: "At least we have two small incentives to keep going full throttle and give it our all: the short downwind leg in strong winds to finish with a nice finale, and the beer on arrival!" According to the latest route calculations, the first boats are expected between 12:30 and 14:30 this Saturday, and the arrivals should then continue well into the night, with the exception of the "New Europe", which is not expected in Boulogne-sur-Mer until Monday morning.

Insights into life on board the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" in the course of the Cap: