The first tough night at the Transat Café L'Or will soon be followed by the second. The crews at sea are still having a hard time after the starts on Saturday (Ocean Fifties) and on Sunday (Ultims, Imocas, Class40ies) with pressurised conditions. For most of them, it was different to the of a black capsize series affected Ocean Fifty crews managed to get their boats safely through the first 24 hours. However, even very experienced players did not have an easy time of it.
"Hellish night" at the Transat Café L'Or
Xavier Macaire, experienced co-skipper of Justine Mettraux on her Imoca "Team Snef - Teamwork" summarised it briefly: "We had a HELL of a night." Macaire used capital letters for the message to maximise the impact of his first impressions of this Transat Café L'Or. He also noted that he had thrown up. This hadn't happened to him "for a very, very long time".
Even though some skippers reported that the gusts were weaker than forecast, the wind speeds on the first night of the Transat still exceeded 30 knots - with waves of three metres. After the dramatic capsize of three Ocean Fifties as a result of the early start on Saturday, the night into Monday at least passed without such serious incidents.
However, Vendée Globe runner-up Yoann Richomme and Corentin Horeau had no luck. After colliding with a buoy off Cherbourg, they had to bring "Paprec Arkéa" back to Le Havre for lightning repairs. After a long night during which the damage to the boom, foil and rig was repaired, the French are back in the race, but had 350 nautical miles to make up on the favourite "Macif Santé Prévoyance" with Sam Goodchild and Lois Berrehar, which was leading on Monday evening.
"11th Hour Racing" in the leading group
Frankie Clapcich and Will Harris have positioned themselves strongly in the Imoca field so far. "11th Hour Racing" - Boris Herrmann's ex-"Malizia - Seaexplorer" - sailed towards the second night at sea in fourth place and was one of the fastest boats in the fleet early on Monday evening with speeds in excess of 20 knots. Ahead of the Italian-American and her British co-skipper was the Italian "Allagrande Mapei" with Ambrogio Beccaria and Thomas Ruyant, already well known from the Ocean Race Europe, almost on a par with the second-placed "Charal", powered by Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière.
The leading Imocas had sailed a little more than halfway across the Bay of Biscay on Monday evening. The Class40ies still had to get there. In the fleet of the smallest boats, Corentin Douguet and Axel Tréhin on "Faites un don sur SNSM" continued to lead the field. The "Cap pour elles" winners Aina Bauza Roig and Axelle Pillain on "Engie - Dessine-moi la hightech" defended a midfield position in 17th place. Sasha Lanièce and Sanni Beucke were in 31st place in the Transat Café L'Or, travelling almost twelve knots faster than the surrounding competitors.
Renaud and Gilles Courbon on "RDT Logistic - Forvis Mazars" were hit twice as hard in the Class40 within 24 hours. After an initial stop in Ouistreham for some repairs, the duo had to report another breakdown on Monday afternoon: "We started again after our four-hour penalty and rammed an OANI (ed.: unknown object or animal) during the night. We have a small leak and are heading for Cherbourg."
Class40: one race becomes two stages
Despite the new setback, the brothers remained optimistic: "If it is possible to continue and reach La Coruña within a reasonable time, we will do so. There's no doubt about it, that's what we're here for." The Class40 fleet alone is expected to arrive in the Spanish harbour of La Coruña on Wednesday. This has been ordered by the race organisers for safety reasons, as a strong low-pressure system is lurking off the Portuguese coast for the teams in the Transat Café L'Or.
This decision was welcomed by most of the 42 participants in the class. Before the start, two-time Vendée Globe winner and "TrimControl" skipper Michel Desjoyeaux had already warned of "a veritable convoy of low pressure areas". Thimoté Polet ("Zeiss") from Normandy explained: "There are two particularly 'difficult' weather conditions at the start of this race: the one we experienced on the first night and the one that is now forming off the Spanish coast."
"A significant deterioration in the weather situation is expected for the western part of the Bay of Biscay from Thursday, with potentially very strong winds," explained Pierre-Yves Guillerm, meteorologist for Transat Café L'Or. "These are relatively low-lying areas of low pressure that will arrive between the Azores and the coast of Portugal," added Renaud Courbon. This will create a southerly current that will block our path."
Transat Café L'Or: 45 knots of wind, six metres of wave ahead
Thimoté Polet described the possible consequences: "In concrete terms, this means six-metre-high waves, average wind speeds of 45 knots and gusts of 55 knots." This weather development is expected to continue throughout the weekend. Accordingly, the stop in La Coruña was largely supported by the fleet. "It's a smart decision," believes Renaud Courbon. "It's like two years ago when we stopped in Lorient. At some point, it's no longer sport, it's survival."
For the Class40 fleet, the Transat Café L'Or is now divided into two stages: one from Le Havre to La Coruña and one from La Coruña to Fort-de-France. As specified in a change published by the race organisers, the classifications for the two stages will be calculated in real time. The overall classification will be calculated based on the combined time of the two stages.
When the start of leg two can take place was initially left open. Small windows could open up on Saturday or Sunday, but the race organisers reserved the right to make a decision at short notice.
"Banque Populaire XI" back in the race
In the meantime, "Maxi Banque Populaire XI" has had to make a repair stop at the Transat Café L'Or. Skipper Armel Le Cléac'h and Sébastien Josse had chosen their home port of Lorient for this, where they repaired their starboard rudder.
This was achieved swiftly, as demonstrated by the impressive 33.9 knots of speed with which the blue and white giant whizzed through the Bay of Biscay early on Monday evening and had already reduced her gap to the leader "SVR Lazartigue" with Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas to 186 nautical miles. There had previously been several lead changes in the duel between the two Ultim favourites.
REPLAY! The start of the Transat Café L'Or in English:
