29.07.2010 Back to news
As hard as they can go!
 | © JC.Marmara / Le Figaro |
After more than 48 hours of racing, during which they scarcely slept so that they could watch out for the rocks, the sailors are now making grouped progress around the latitude of Belle-Île en Mer.
Armel Le Cleac’h was leading the dance in the ranking at 16:00, followed by Yann Eliès and Thomas Rouxel, but we must admit that the 25 leading racers are all lying with 5 miles of each other, and in relation to the 515 miles of this leg, this shows just how much they will need endurance and a lot of patience to be able make the difference.
On board Group Bel, Kito is keeping up the pace. At a distance of 10 miles from the leader after the first night, to a certain extent, the skipper sailed independently, after the Cotentin, looking for an offshore wind, while the majority of the fleet pulled towards the coast. This was a good choice, followed by well negotiated veering in the Le Four channel, and here our Kito came back into 18th position, and 3.80 miles from the head of the pack.
Driven by a northwesterly windflow of 6 to 12 knots, the 45 strong Figaro cavalry charged into the Bay of Biscay as though they were one. Some pulled closer in, while others remained well offshore, and already a first lateral gap formed over the hours. Groupe Bel is making progress among those who chose to stay between the direct route and the coast, and at the moment is setting a course to the furthest east of the fleet.
Getting away from the rocks, seaweed and currents, and getting back to more stable sailing conditions under spinnaker should enable the sailors to gain precious minutes of sleep before attacking the passage through a high pressure ridge this evening, i.e. an area with far less wind, where, more than ever, they will need to stay alert on deck.
There remains 230 miles to sail before Gijón, where the racers are expected sometime between Friday and Saturday.
Armel Le Cleac’h was leading the dance in the ranking at 16:00, followed by Yann Eliès and Thomas Rouxel, but we must admit that the 25 leading racers are all lying with 5 miles of each other, and in relation to the 515 miles of this leg, this shows just how much they will need endurance and a lot of patience to be able make the difference.
On board Group Bel, Kito is keeping up the pace. At a distance of 10 miles from the leader after the first night, to a certain extent, the skipper sailed independently, after the Cotentin, looking for an offshore wind, while the majority of the fleet pulled towards the coast. This was a good choice, followed by well negotiated veering in the Le Four channel, and here our Kito came back into 18th position, and 3.80 miles from the head of the pack.
Driven by a northwesterly windflow of 6 to 12 knots, the 45 strong Figaro cavalry charged into the Bay of Biscay as though they were one. Some pulled closer in, while others remained well offshore, and already a first lateral gap formed over the hours. Groupe Bel is making progress among those who chose to stay between the direct route and the coast, and at the moment is setting a course to the furthest east of the fleet.
Getting away from the rocks, seaweed and currents, and getting back to more stable sailing conditions under spinnaker should enable the sailors to gain precious minutes of sleep before attacking the passage through a high pressure ridge this evening, i.e. an area with far less wind, where, more than ever, they will need to stay alert on deck.
There remains 230 miles to sail before Gijón, where the racers are expected sometime between Friday and Saturday.
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