As they left the pontoons yesterday, all the skippers agreed that the Bay of Biscay was not going to be that simple. They were all aware of the dangers in such tricky conditions with strong winds and violent gusts in the squalls on heavy seas, causing the boats to slam.
While leading the fleet of Ocean Fifty boats around fifty miles off La Coruna, Sébastien Rogues and Jean-Baptiste Gellée, aboard Primonial, suffered damage to the port float. No injury has been reported and the crew is safe and sound and currently sailing under reduced sail to preserve the boat, while they are looking at where the boat should head for. A few hours later, Koesio (Le Roux-Ogereau) suffered in these nasty conditions. Just before 0800hrs UTC, 60 miles off Cape Finisterre, the crew discovered that the surface of the crossbeams on the trimaran was damaged, and that the pulpit had been ripped off, leading to an ingress of water. With so much damage, they decided this morning to divert to carry out a pit stop.
“Can’t wait to get out of here”
At the same moment, Thibaut Vauchel-Camus, co-skipper of Solidaires en Peloton sailing close to Primonial during the night, told us of the harsh conditions during this first uncomfortable night of racing: “We got straight into the rough stuff. We thought that the wind would strengthen sooner and so we weren’t that fast, until we got into some 30-35 knot squalls. We were battling it out with Sébastien and Jean-Baptiste (on Primonial), until we got the message that they had broken a float. Then, we heard about Luke and Antoine (Rire Médecin dismasted). That’s hard. We now have fewer friends to play with. It was a great race with 35-40 knot gusts. Now, we can’t wait to get out of here.”
This morning the way out was not far off for Solidaires en Peloton, confirming the experience of the two co-skippers aboard a boat that has been tried and tested. As the IMOCA fleet enters the race off Le Havre, the blue trimaran was close to the coast of Spain making her way towards Cape Finisterre. Thibaut confirmed that the worst was now behind them: “Now, we are able to find angles that are more fun and don’t have to hoist as much sail. It’s quieter, but this is a race, so the aim is to deal as easily as possible with the next transition, which means we have to keep the pace up.”
“Like riding a pony when reaching”
As for the Class40 boats, the start of this second leg has shown once again how the Bay of Biscay can punish the boats. Late in the night, the Class40 Curium Life Forward (Lepesqueux-Dehareng) declared some problems with her electronics, meaning she had to turn back to Lorient. In these tricky conditions, the battle is raging at the front with boats close together, meaning that the position of leader changes rapidly.
As they passed the trough extending from the low, the fleet split into two groups. To the south, the leaders seem well placed to make their getaway from the Bay of Biscay. Aboard Alternative Sailing -Constructions du Belon, sailing in the pack (17th, 24 miles behind the leader), Estelle Greck said, “The pace yesterday was set by the squalls with some very unstable winds. It was like riding a pony when reaching in gusts of more than 30 knots. The squalls continued during the night accompanied by thunderstorms. We’re now on the starboard tack and waiting for the wind to come around to the right.” They now need to try to avoid the lighter winds associated with the High, which are likely to trap the slower boats in the North. In 25th place, in the second pack and the leading pointed bow, Nestennn-Entrepreneurs pour la Planète (Bonnier-Follin) is now some 70 miles behind the leader, and is likely to pay the cost by being left behind. Her speed is likely to slow on the route towards better conditions, where it is warmer and speeds can be kept up.