{"id":50173,"date":"2026-06-01T15:22:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T13:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/normandy-race.com\/?p=50173"},"modified":"2026-06-01T15:22:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T13:22:33","slug":"words-from-onboard-1st-day-of-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/normandy-race.com\/en\/words-from-onboard-1st-day-of-racing\/","title":{"rendered":"Words from onboard – 1st day of racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

VSF Sports – Pep Costa et Pablo Santurde Del Arco<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hi everyone,<\/p>\n

The start of the race went just as we expected: very intense, with plenty of obstacles right from the off. There were already loads of counter-currents before the marks, so lots of manoeuvring and all that. After that, we got a nice, smooth run under the gennaker heading towards the Isle of Wight. The only thing is, the wind was still quite shifty, so we had to stay on the wind. It wasn\u2019t easy. Then we made a very pleasant arrival on the Isle of Wight in the middle of the night. And now, since last night, we\u2019ve had very flat seas under gennaker, in 5, 6 or 7 knots. So it\u2019s really lovely. We\u2019ve got the sun right behind us and we can see the other competitors, so that\u2019s cool. We worked hard last night on board VSF Sports, especially towards the end of the night, to try and optimise our course around the Isle of Wight. And it was absolutely beautiful. Right now, we\u2019re in the westernmost part of the Solent, which we know well from having sailed it on the Fastnet, and it\u2019s absolutely lovely. The sun rose half an hour ago and it\u2019s a chance to enjoy this moment before the next stage of the adventure.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve just received an update from the race director saying they\u2019ve removed the mark at Lundy. Lundy was the island near Wales. So that mark no longer exists. That means that after Land\u2019s End, we\u2019ll head straight for Portsall and continue the course as planned. I think it\u2019s because the weather conditions are a bit rougher in the latest forecasts. Otherwise, everything\u2019s going very well over here. We\u2019re giving it our all and none of our competitors are giving up. So there you go, we\u2019re enjoying doing this.<\/p>\n

ODD5 TEAM EQUAL SEAS – Sophie Delannoy et Calliste Antoine<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It was tough getting going with all the gennaker and spinnaker changes on the course set off Ouistreham, but we really picked up speed in the late afternoon and overnight, making a great climb up the rankings. Calliste, a local to this leg, knows the ins and outs of the rocky sections in the English Channel like the back of his hand! A brilliant manoeuvre beneath the fleet stuck at the entrance to the Solent allowed us to catch up with Nicolas and Sophie as the sun rose. We\u2019re tired but we\u2019re hanging in there!<\/p>\n

Hirsch – Centrakor – Mika\u00ebl Mergui – Benoit Hantzperg<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hello everyone,<\/p>\n

This is the \u2018Over 1.90m\u2019 team (Ben and Mika) All\u2019s well aboard the Class40 Hirsch Centrakor. We had a good start \u2013 we didn\u2019t quite understand what the race committee were on at, but in the end we did pretty well on the short course. This was followed by a battle of tacks to get to Barfleur, and there were ups and downs; we\u2019re limiting the loss and pulling away from the chasers. And for the night, a short run under the big gennaker to round the Isle of Wight; we took the opportunity to each have two 40-minute naps. Sailing round the Isle of Wight was superb, with the sunrise and its treacherous currents \u2013 it was incredible, even if we lost a bit of ground; for a Mediterranean sailor, this movement of the water isn\u2019t exactly intuitive!!! And finally, we\u2019re tacking along the English coast; it looks very pretty, all under a bit of sunshine<\/p>\n

Magenta – Djemila Tassin et Kevin Bloch<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The conditions were superb for the 153 as we set off on the leg to the Cotentin. We enjoyed breathtaking views of the cliffs and the D-Day beaches, under a blazing sun and with the fleet sailing close together. A night-time sunrise in the English Channel \u2013 we could see as clearly as in broad daylight! At that point, it became harder for our little pointu to keep up with the scows We did our best, getting very little sleep\u2026 if any at all\u2026 Once we reached the Isle of Wight, we made a big mistake by trying to shelter from the current and ended up completely stuck, watching the fleet sail past. We went on to make a string of bad decisions in the Solent\u2026 in short. We\u2019re starting well behind and we\u2019ve got four days left to make fewer mistakes! Luckily, the head chef on board will soon be preparing his legendary pressure cooker for a proper first meal on the Normandy Channel Race 2026\u2026<\/p>\n

Women of Course – Th\u00e9a Khelif – Maxime Mesnil<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Everything\u2019s fine on board the Class40 158! We had a slightly tricky start to the race, with a minor blunder at the start that left us trailing right from the outset. After that, we had to deal with shifting currents that were out of sync with the rest of the fleet, which wasn\u2019t easy. We\u2019re starting to rest and eat this morning. The boat\u2019s doing well too\u2026<\/p>\n

Sireco-Ose – Thomas Lurton – Alexandre Le Gallais<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

After a slow start where we struggled to pick up speed, we made good progress last night as we rounded the Isle of Wight to get back in the race!! It was a very strategic and enjoyable race! Now we\u2019re giving it our all to get the settings right and keep fighting!<\/p>\n

Ekinox – Benoit Sineau – Maxime Bensa<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It was a busy night on board the Ekinox after we got caught in a fishing net yesterday, which caused us to lose a lot of ground and drop to the back of the fleet. So the order of the night was to make up ground. Apart from that, everything\u2019s fine on board; we had a lovely wake-up call at Wright Island this morning, with sunshine and mist. As promised, our hands are already aching. See you tonight !<\/p>\n

D\u00e9fi Solidaire avec Ellye et l’Arche – Sophie Faguet – Nicolas Jossier<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

After a mild but restless night, here we are basking in the last rays of the English morning sun. It\u2019s a hard-earned trip out of the Solent, and we\u2019re having a great time with our fellow sailors. What\u2019s less fun is the gap that\u2019s opened up between us and the leading group \u2013 they\u2019re just too fast! We\u2019ve still got a long way to go, but all\u2019s well on board!<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VSF Sports – Pep Costa et Pablo Santurde Del Arco Hi everyone, The start of the race went just as we expected: very intense, with plenty of obstacles right from the off. There were already loads of counter-currents before the marks, so lots of manoeuvring and all that. After that, we got a nice, smooth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-words-from-board"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWords from onboard - 1st day of racing - CIC Normandy Channel Race<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/normandy-race.com\/en\/words-from-onboard-1st-day-of-racing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Words from onboard - 1st day of racing - CIC Normandy Channel Race\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"VSF Sports – Pep Costa et Pablo Santurde Del Arco Hi everyone, The start of the race went just as we expected: very intense, with plenty of obstacles right from the off. 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