The Azores high is slowly moving back into position over the Atlantic, with the trade winds expected to return. Order hasn't fully returned, though. On Thursday, as the IMOCA podium takes shape off Pointe-à-Pitre, duels are raging further back in the fleet and the wind is still testing skippers' patience.
The Ultim fleet is now complete. Alexia Barrier (IDEC Sport – CIC) reached Pointe-à-Pitre last night just after 8.40pm, meaning every giant trimaran has now finished. Among the Ocean Fifty boats, Anne-Claire Le Berre (UpWind by MerConcept) moved into seventh this morning as the last of the 50-footers benefit from a more favourable east to east-south-easterly flow.
In IMOCA, Corentin Horeau (MACSF) has already taken the win. Boris Herrmann (Malizia 4) currently holds second, with Élodie Bonafous (Association Petits Princes – Quéguiner) breathing down his neck. The notorious tour of Butterfly Island around Guadeloupe has a habit of wrecking the best-laid plans, and fifth place is just as unsettled. Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil – Air Caraïbes) has Davy Beaudart closing fast after a tactical gamble roughly 50 miles to the south-east paid off, trimming the gap to just ten miles at this morning's rankings.
Beaudart, sailing Bureau Vallée, didn't expect to finish with this much in the tank. "I had this little option in the back of my mind after the tropical depression. I hesitated between going straight or trying something different, a bit further south. Since I was behind the pack, I tried it. It worked well, I gained two places and now I'm fighting for fifth! It was totally unexpected for me at the start. It's just fantastic," he said.
He knows Simon's boat is quick in these conditions, but he's not backing off. "I don't know what state he's in. For my part, I'm at 107% of the polar, which isn't bad. I'm giving everything I can. These last 48 hours have been hugely exciting. Coming back on your mates at the end of the course is an enormous pleasure!"
Further back, the fleet has run into a messy patch of weather near the Azores high, far from the calm conditions forecast. Class40 leader Achille Nebout (Amarris) described squalls arriving unseen at night, wind jumping from zero to twenty knots in a heartbeat and swinging through every direction. "It's a bit of a mess!" he said.
Guillaume Pirouelle (Sogestran – Seafrigo) reported similarly bizarre readings, including a brief north-westerly with no cloud nearby to explain it. "We're doing a bit of a reverse transat. Here we are upwind four days from the Antilles!" Robin Follin (Solano) has torn his gennaker on the spreaders for the fourth time and is desperate for the wind to settle.
Elsewhere, there's real drama away from the racing. Mathieu Claveau (Inhérent – Phare 40) discovered a 40cm crack in his forward bulkhead after a violent wave impact at fifteen knots, a weak point that had also failed four years earlier under Kito de Pavant. He's abandoned his northern route in favour of a safer, slower southern option to make repairs.
Sasha Lanièce (Alderan), forced to retire after dismasting on 6 November, reached the Azores this Thursday morning following days adrift and a jury rig improvised from her race pennants.
Among the Rhum Multi fleet, Éric Péron (French Touch – Oceania Hôtels), second behind Damien Seguin (Arkéa – Handicap International), finally saw his anemometer come alive after 48 hours becalmed. "It went up to fifteen knots all of a sudden. It felt like we were in a storm!" He's had his share of troubles too, tearing a sail early and rebuilding his autopilot ram mid-ocean. "It's a bit of a jury-rig situation on board," he admitted.
Romain Pilliard is still waiting to learn the sporting consequences of his collision with Violette Dorange (Initiatives-Cœur). The international jury found Dorange at fault on Wednesday, though no further sanction could be applied following her retirement. Pilliard, skipper of the trimaran Use it Again, has requested a time allowance. That decision remains pending.
A high of around 1024 hPa is expected to strengthen over the central Atlantic tomorrow, bringing steadier trade winds to those further along the course. For the rest of the fleet, the wait goes on.
