“Patience and length of time are more important than strength or rage”. (Jean De la Fontaine)
The last few hours of racing are going to be long. And we’re going to have to be patient to find out who will negotiate this final night phase best. The weather models are not clear. Well, in a way they are: not much wind. And we’ll also have to deal with the currents. All the ingredients for a slow race to the finish. Which will annoy some?
In the Prototypes, 1081 XUCLA’s lead has shrunk to 8 miles. Frederico Waksman and Léo Bothorel’s 1019 Repremar Logistics is leading the chase, followed by Thaïs Le Cam and Arno Biston’s 1068 Frérots TPM and Federico Sampei and Lucas Rosetti’s 1046 DMG MORI.
In the Series, the 921 Barillec Marine-Actemium, sailed by Michaël Gendebien and Quentin Riché, and the 1056 Da Gousket, sailed by Justin Baradat and Thomas André, are in close contact and appear to be rounding Ushant to the north. Is this a strategy to take advantage of the currents or has the current carried them off course? Behind them, many are hoping for a comeback from the ‘pointed nose’ 520 Gintonic, who has led an exemplary race and is currently around 6 miles behind the third-placed 1034 GPnot.fr sailed by Peter Cools and Damien Fleury.
Meanwhile, 1037, sailed by Louis Wessels and Kilian Cabanes, has announced that it has dismasted. The support boat Diego is heading towards her.