The Transat Café L'Or seems a little like the dramatic start with three Ocean Fifty capsizesone turbulent first week and five tasks in total on his second race Sunday. The fields are sorting themselves out and the favourites have positioned themselves. The battles in the four classes remain exciting.
Transat Café L'Or: Ultims on course for the equator
In the multihulls, it's all about the chasers challenging the favoured leaders: "Edenred 5" is holding on to the lead in the Ocean Fifty class, the Ultim giant "SVR-Lazartigue" came out of a shallow passage first on this Sunday morning with almost no losses and was already sailing towards the equator at the seventh parallel south.
The chase race that the XXL trimarans have been engaged in for the past week will be continued in a slightly shorter format than planned: The detour to Ascension has been cancelled. The archipelago of San Pedro and San Paolo will be their last waymark before they can head for Martinique. Click here for the Transat Café L'Or tracker.
Something has also happened in the Imoca class: "Charal" took the lead from "11th Hour Racing" from Saturday to Sunday at midnight. Jérémie Beyou and Benjamin Schwartz defended a lead of 36 nautical miles over Francesca Clapcich and Will Harris at around 10 o'clock on Sunday morning.
"Charal" with superpowers in medium winds?
Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière were able to shift up a gear in slightly stronger trade winds, travelling up to four knots faster than their pursuers at times. As a result, "Macif Santé Prévoyance" with Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar has now built up a gap of almost 38 nautical miles and is fighting for second place with "11th Hour Racing".
Justine Mettraux and Xavier Macaire on "Team Snef - TeamWork", who were only three nautical miles behind the Vendée Globe dominator on the morning of 2 November, also have their eye on this. The gap behind the leading quartet, however, had initially widened (80 nautical miles), but then melted again on Sunday morning. Ambrogio Beccaria and Thomas Ruyant drove "Allagrande Mapei" to the last 60 nautical miles behind.
With a view to the Imoca concepts, the question arose a week after the start of the Transat Café L'Or as to whether "Charal" might have an advantage in mid-winds? Jérémie Beyou's answer was mischievous: "I won't tell you everything, we'll see when we arrive. But at 15 to 20 knots on this flat sea, we are travelling fast. With the autopilot, we adjust the boat well to find the right course and keep it."
Dive as a liberating blow for "Charal"
For the "Charal" crew, the current lead is also a pleasant reward after the short-term exertions of the previous day. The 2022 Manuard design had lost 15 nautical miles after "picking up" a fishing net. The French duo tried to get rid of the unwelcome companion by reversing. When that didn't work, Benjamin Schwartz had to go diving.
With around six days left in the Transat Café L'Or, the fact that the Imocas have just passed the halfway point marks the start of the new trade wind game on the Atlantic. The crews have to find answers to the question of whether they should head further south, even if this lengthens their course but may still give them an advantage? All the duos juggle their data like ten balls in their hands and run their route calculations. Always in the hope of gaining more clarity.
In the Class40, after the restart off La Coruña on 1 November, two groups lurked on either side of the traffic separation area off Cape Finisterre before coming together again. Most of the favourites, led by "SNSM Faites un don" and "Seafrigo-Sogestran", had opted for the north-west route "round the outside".
Transat Café L'Or: Wins and losses in the strategy game
But on Sunday morning, those who had opted for an "inside course" closer to the coast initially had the bow tips in front. They were able to glide a little faster and gained a nice little lead, which quickly melted away.
Sasha Lanièce and Sanni Beucke, who was sailing with a torn posterior cruciate ligament and orthosis, initially performed well in midfield in 26th place in the field of 40 active Class 40 crews on Sunday.
