Virtually all the fleet has now hung a left around the legendary Fastnet lighthouse, which has a starring role in a whole host of offshore races. Following on from Sogestran – Seafrigo and Legallais, this latest compulsory race mark saw yet another Class40 snatch the provisional top spot. This time honours went to Groupe SNEF, which moved up into the lead at the south-west tip of Ireland. As a result, Xavier Macaire and Carlos Manera were first to launch off on the return sprint across the Celtic Sea. Just 11 and 14 minutes later respectively, the Franco-Spanish duo was followed by Guillaume Pirouelle / Cédric Château and Fabien Delahaye / Benjamin Schwartz. With today’s decision by Race Management to remove the ‘Island of Guernsey’ from the list of compulsory race marks, the competitors now have free rein to take whatever route they like to make the finish line off Ouistreham. Though the decision was made for safety reasons, it naturally increases the competitive appeal of the race by opening up multiple strategic opportunities.
After a tactical gybing battle right the way along the southern coast of Ireland, the current atmosphere is drastically different aboard the Class40s as they take on a long tack back towards Cornwall, heeled over in a building NE’ly breeze of around 15-16 knots. With the strategic options being limited here, the sailors will have to busy themselves with making small tweaks to both the sails and their course in order to gain an edge. “We’re really on top of it, pulling out all the stops as we try to sail the best possible trajectories and make fast headway,” explains Xavier Macaire, contacted at the radio link-up. In this close-contact sailing, the aim is to try to reduce the deficit in relation to the boats in front whilst trying to maintain the lead over the skippers breathing down their necks. Mentally, this is a challenge and a half given how tightly bunched the fleet is, as Cédric Château explained at today’s link-up: “We’re making fairly similar speeds. We’ve been sailing with Project Rescue Ocean for more than 2hrs just 20 to 30 m apart. You really have to put pedal to the metal to claw back a metre at a time.” The fun doesn’t end there though he admits: “I think we’ve just finished our green run and that we’re about to attack a short red run to get to Land’s End before finishing on a good old gnarly black run with its patches of ice for our return sprint across the English Channel…”
Meantime, there has been a shake-up in the battle of the sharps. Shoulder to shoulder since the start of the race, Free Dom launched onto a radical strategic option fairly close to the Irish coast as her crew continues to go all out to get the better of Trim Control. Ultimately it failed to bear fruit since it was Alexandre Le Gallais and Henri De Malet who were the first to line themselves to round the Fastnet lighthouse. The upshot of this is that they have opened up a sizeable lead in relation to Thibaut Lefevere and François Martin who are now some 15 nautical miles astern having lost 14 miles in their bold move. All is not lost though for the duo on the Class40 from Réunion Island. Throughout the fleet, there is still plenty of time for the situation to change as the CIC Normandy Channel Race is renowned for throwing something unexpected into the mix. Watch this space…
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