In three out of four classes, the Transat Café L'Or the podium decisions have long been madeThe majority of the crews crossed the finish line. It is now very exciting to see what has happened in the Class40ies since the restart on 1 November off La Coruña. Three days after the start, the fleet split into a north and a south group. While the northern group made steady gains, the fastest boats in the southern group had built up a considerable gap by 8 November. On Saturday, the leaders in the north ("SNSM - Faites un don!") still had a lead of 380 nautical miles over the leading boats in the south.
Transat Café L'Or: Right in the north or a gamble?
But the northern advantage is slowly melting away. On 9 November, there were 100 nautical miles less in relation to the finish: only 280 nautical miles separated Corentin Douguet and Axel Tréhin on "SNSM - Faites un don!" in the north from "Les Invincibles", which was in eighth place overall and leading in the south. On Sunday, all the southern boats had made gains on the northern group.
In addition, the northern group had to contend with an area of high pressure and was travelling at speeds of around ten knots on Sunday afternoon. In the south, on the other hand, the accelerator pedal was pressed down at the front with speeds of around 15 knots and more. In the midfield of the southern group, Aina Bauza Roig and Axelle Pillain on "Engie" came in nineteenth at just under twelve knots. The duo, supported by the organisers as part of the Cap pour Elles women's support project, had recently positioned themselves almost in the middle between the north and south groups.
At the same time, Sasha Lanièce and Sanni Beucke remained further south on "Alderan". The Frenchwoman and the 49erFX Olympic silver medallist from Kiel sailed towards Saint-François on Guadeloupe in 22nd place early on Sunday evening. Click here for the Transat Café L'Or tracker.
Risky north, longer route in the south
The Class 40 fleet experiences a completely different race to the other three classes. Edgard Vincens ("Phare 40 - Ha Plus PME") recalls the challenges of the decisions that led to the division of the fleet into north and south groups. With his team positioned in the south, Vincens said: "The northern route is shorter but riskier, as you have to cross an area of high pressure. The southern route makes it possible to take advantage of the trade winds, but they are not very stable. It makes the route longer, but it's more comfortable for the boat and is faster and upwind."
Lomano Takasi and Jean Marre ("Réauté Chocolat") had also decided in favour of the south. "We started our project late, only had two months to prepare and today is the first day that I haven't got the toolbox out," Lomano Takasi revealed. Under these challenging circumstances, it was out of the question for his crew to take risks and head north. "We knew for a long time that we would pay for our lack of preparation, but the most important thing is to be able to continue the race and not take too many risks," said Takasi.
At the weekend, the 36 Class 40 skippers still active in the Atlantic also discussed their relationship with time and the small pleasures of their progress. On Saturday, Pierre Brasseur ("Inland Roots Ocean Soul") said: "We are in an intermediate phase. You can't really imagine time at sea: You don't take every day, you take every hour."
It's getting warmer at Transat Café L'Or
Apart from the exciting sailing duel between the North and South Groups, the Class40 sailors in the South Group enjoy another small advantage in addition to the current trend in their favour with rising temperatures. "We can take off our boots and rain trousers and get out our T-shirts and sun cream," said Edgard Vincens with a smile. "It's like starting a new race." For the sailors in the south, it's a nice race right now with the wind at their backs.
