Pace in the Ocean Fifty, a match in the Class40

Pace in the Ocean Fifty, a match in the Class40s

News, Spotlight, Class40, Ocean Fifty

After enjoying the crazy atmosphere at the start of the race on Sunday, the twenty-five double-handed crews in the MED MAX Occitanie - Saïdia Resorts quickly got into the swing of things, with wind conditions strengthening overnight, accelerating the pace of the sailing. Although they didn't reach breathtaking speeds, they ended up sailing much faster than expected.

As for the Class40s, the descent towards Menorca, along the Spanish coast, downwind, enabled these very fast monohulls with heavy canvas to keep up a satisfactory pace. In this game, the favourites established themselves at the front, with a fierce battle between Amarris, Alla Grande Pirelli , Centrakor , Influence II , and Tyrolit . HaPlus PME, the first of the fleet, did not give up, nor did Prendre la Mer - Agir pour la forêt, which had led the pack for a while. On the other hand, a bubble is waiting for them on the northernmost island of the Balearics, the marvellous Menorca, which is playing a bad joke on them. This could change a lot of things with a little head-on zephyr and a general slowdown.

In the OceanFifty category, after a crazy downwind ride towards Corsica, and a dreamy Ile Singulière-Ile de Beauté crossing, at night under the stars, the leading trio reached the western tip of Sardinia early this afternoon, with Koesio, Solidaires en Peloton and Realites being the first to discover the superb, but dangerous, 'rocks' of the island of Asinara. Before heading up towards the 'funnel' of the Bouches de Bonifacio in a stronger wind at the end of the day, with speeds approaching twenty knots. It should be a sporting night for the nine huge 'spiders' of the sea.

Words from the edge... of laughter

Erwan Le Roux (Koesio) and the rubber band : With Pablo (Santurde del Arco), we're making the boat glide as smoothly as possible. We're also taking the opportunity to rest so that we're as clear-headed as possible for what's to come. We're expecting another rubber band in the Mouths of Bonifacio this evening (editor's note: yesterday evening) or early tonight.

Fabrice Cahierc (Realites) and his wardrobe The end of the night was calmer, and allowed us to test the whole wardrobe, or almost. The sea was perfect, as was the sky, which gave us a magical canopy - it was divine".

Laurent Camprubi (Glaces Romane) and the meatball After our blunder in Sète (bad manoeuvre around the buoy), we lost contact with the fleet... We're working hard to get back, and we're not giving up".

Matthieu Foulquier-Gazagnes (Sotraplants TRS) and sausages We lost a shackle just before the start and put the code O in the water. We quickly repaired and now we're in 8th position, we haven't given up. As for the menu, we've attacked the fresh stuff: sausage, ham and cheese. Because soon, it will be freeze-dried".

Mika Mergui (Centrakor) and Corentin-style humour: "I smiled when I saw my Breton comrades, delighted and surprised by the popular enthusiasm for the event. To tease Corentin, I said to him: "I've never seen you smiling like that at the start of a race! He replied: "That's normal, in Brittany when you smile, you drink the cup.

Mathieu Claveau (Prendre la Mer - Agir pour la forêt) and the icing on the cake We were sailing through the night (editor's note: from Sunday to Monday), in a star shower, at speeds of 10 to 12 knots. Then another hour of direct sailing at 10 knots under spinnaker, beautiful, beautiful seas.... with the icing on the cake being our second place overall. But unfortunately, it's not going to last, so we're not giving up.

Matthieu Perraut (Inter Invest) and the trout: "A quick note on food: after that superb start, we gobbled up the trout fairly quickly... Then a bit of cheese and the rice salad at sunset. We weren't bad. We quickly moved on to hot dishes after last night.