2nd Vendée Arctique Les Sables-d'Olonne: Brutal ride ahead, Dalin dominates the fleet

In addition to lack of sleep and regatta stress, the current second edition of the Vendée Arctique is now also facing a worrying weather scenario that will provide the fleet with tough tests over the coming days. While Charlie Dalin continues to dominate the field on the outgoing fourth day of the race from Les Sables-d'Olonne around Iceland and back with a whopping 100 nautical mile lead, the competition is struggling to catch up and position themselves as best as possible in the expected heavy weather.

Some of the "rookies" and non-foilers in the race, who are currently heading north and still across the Hebrides, are particularly at risk. Louis Duc on "Fives - Lantana Environnement", Antoine Cornic on "EBAC Literie" and Denis Van Weynbergh on "Laboratoires de Biarritz" could feel the full force of the approaching depression, which is moving eastwards in a considerable north-south direction. Correspondingly rough winds in excess of 40 knots and brutal swell are to be expected. The North Atlantic around Iceland could become a minefield in terms of wave height. The movements of the front are easy to follow on the live tracker if you overlay the wind and look into the forecast future at the top by clicking on the time. Click here for the tracker (please click!).

The majority of the fleet is currently still enjoying downwind conditions. On Thursday morning, frontrunner Dalin still had around 250 nautical miles to go to the waypoint in Iceland. Hot on his heels are "Charal" skipper Jérémie Beyou, who won the premiere of the race in July 2020, and "LinkedOut" skipper Thomas Ruyant. After strong phases, "MACSF" skipper Isabelle Joschke is currently in 17th place in the field of 24 Imocas. An extended period of calm had previously put the nerves of the soloists to the test. Even those of experienced and mentally strong sailors such as Italian philosophy graduate Giancarlo Pedote: "Stress doesn't change anything. We learn to keep things mentally under wraps. We just do our best to get a taste of the new wind." The same applies to "Apicil" skipper Damien Seguin: "I'm not someone who is stressed on his boat. I'm pretty zen, but I hate the calm of the doldrums. I try to stay calm, even when it gets on your nerves. There's an area of low pressure coming in from the west. That will bring the wind back and allow us to get up to Iceland pretty quickly."