It's actually a merciful start, you might think: There were mild temperatures at the start and with 5 to 8 knots of wind, just enough pressure to get the Imocas planing. It's weather that gives the skippers room to manoeuvre and doesn't leave them shaking around in the cockpit like at the start of the outward race, the Transat CIC. However, this light wind phase is extremely demanding.
The sparse number of interviews, videos and photos that came from on board today shows just how much. Because on the border to the Gulf Stream, the weather is notoriously capricious, requiring constant sail changes and trim adjustments - and making it almost impossible to follow a tactic because you are often forced to make the most of the current and wind - even if that means sailing in an unintended direction for an hour.
Boris Herrmann in sight of former team-mate
Boris Herrmann's race so far illustrates the dilemma. After a strong start, he slipped down to 21st place in the classification at one point, but quickly improved to 6th place late this afternoon thanks to a weather-enforced haul to the east - and sailed within sight of his former team-mate Nico Lunven, the Malizia navigator on The Ocean Race, who is now racing for "PRB Holcim".
Boris' speed also oscillated wildly: In the fronts, some of which were accompanied by thunder and lightning, his "Malizia - Seaexplorer" jumped on the foils and flew across the Atlantic at more than 20 knots, only to almost come to a standstill shortly afterwards. Having started far to the west, as he had worked out with Will Harris, he was suddenly one of the skippers positioned furthest to the east in the afternoon.
A start like this saps strength and nerves. Because the light wind phases, which were always only briefly interrupted, require large cloths and a lot of work on the grinder to trim them. And there is always the worry of catching the next turn, the next front later than the competition.
The situation is not easy. Weather phenomena occur practically directly above our heads. That makes it complicated to anticipate anything." Jérémie Beyou, "Charal"
Beyou, who is one of the top favourites, is currently still struggling with glitches in his on-board electronics that are affecting the autopilot. This explains his slow start. But Thomas Ruyant, who has won three of the last five transatlantic races, was also impressed by the ups and downs in the wind strength.
Despite light winds: Some early starts at New York Vendée
"At the moment I have three knots of wind and am barely sailing faster than the Gulf Stream, which is shaking the boat a little," he said. In the morning, however, he chased along in a front that had formed in front of him. "It was very active, very impressive, even a little terrifying. The atmosphere was downright apocalyptic. You had to make sure you kept the boat under control."
According to the latest models, the weather lottery should soon be over and give way to a somewhat more pronounced situation that will bring west-north-westerly winds as a result of a low pressure system. They promise higher speeds. But no one is relying entirely on forecasts here. Because this area of the North Atlantic is known for its pitfalls. "It's an area of cyclogenesis," explained Boris Herrmann in a lengthy interview with YACHT online earlier this week. "The models don't cope very well with it." Boris knows this from his own experience, having spent weeks in New York waiting for the right weather window for a North Atlantic record, back when he was still part of Giovanni Soldini's "Maserati" team. He won't be surprised by the vagaries of the start - but he will be annoyed.
The light wind after the start played into the hands of at least a handful of skippers: Benjamin Dutreux, Eric Bellion, Maxime Sorel and Oliver Heer actually crossed the line too early and received a three-hour penalty for it. Because the other boats were only drifting at two or three knots, Dutreux, Sorel and Bellion cleared up their penalty straight away - and without being pushed back too painfully. There are still a good 3,100 nautical miles to go to make up for the slip-up at the start.
Jochen Rieker
Herausgeber YACHT
