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An update from the Transat Quebec-St Malo

Some good news at sea: A strong westerly flow generated by a depression is filling the sails of those boats still racing in the Transat Quebec-St Malo. This should allow the final miles into the finish to be completed at a good pace with more boats finishing over the next 24-48 hours. This is encouraging news for the crews involved in the final sprint. Today, St Malo has been awaiting the arrival of An Ocean of Smiles (Christophe Bullens), the first FICO monohull, as well as Forget Formation (Pascal Quintin), the 45ft multihull. They are due to reach the finish line late this afternoon.

"We have reached the Héaux Mark at Bréhat 50 miles or so from Saint-Malo," explained Christophe Bullens earlier. "We have a little wind and a little current with us. We hope the wind will stick with us to allow us to finish late this afternoon. We have a few electronic problems, which held us up somewhat and forced us to sail the old way: watching the clouds and the ripples on the water, for example. We also exploded a spinnaker and the code 0, so we’re rather handicapped in the light airs. However, on board everyone is fully concentrated on the final few hours of sailing."

The Belgian monohull is slowly but surely approaching the finish line off the harbour breakwater in Saint Malo. As for Pascal Quintin’s trimaran, she was 33 miles from the Breton port at 1300 GMT. With a speed of 6-7 knots she will soon be appearing off Saint-Malo to join her 50ft rivals already moored up in St Malo's he Vauban Basin. The two crews are almost home and cannot hide their desire to finish after a fortnight of racing. The same is true of Prévoir Vie, Benoît Parnaudeau’s Class 40, which is currently arriving off the tip of Brittany. Just a quick run up the Channel and he will almost certainly be taking fifth place tomorrow morning.

Further back in the Class 40 boats, the pace has stepped up a notch and they find themselves being propelled along downwind by strong winds, so are threatening to catch up those ahead of them. While the pace is increasing, the crews are tired and their equipment has been through a lot after two weeks of exhausting sailing. They are all likely to be able to start zooming along again on the long magical surf.

"We have 20-30 knots of wind and some fairly exceptional conditions," said Jean-Edouard Criquioche ( L’Esprit Large-Talmont Saint Hilaire). "When the sea is safe, it allows us to sail quickly without taking any risks. There are five of us on board and we are taking it in turns to enjoy ourselves at the helm. The aim now is to continue to make good boat speed along to the tip of Brittany to gain back some ground." In 11th place, he appears to be well placed to steal 10th from Appart City, which is making slower headway on a route further north.

There is a similar situation for Pierre-Yves Chatelin on board Destination Calais: "Since yesterday, we have been sailing very quickly, always keeping between 10 and 15 knots with some impressive surfing waves. The wind has strengthened since last night and after reducing the canvas a few times, we are now under jib and one reef in 30-34 knots of wind. Land is getting closer and it’s about time! The stress and tiredness have been building for some time, so it will be nice to finish, even if we still have some moments when without us understanding why the sea becomes smoother for a time, allowing us to sail along even more quickly. We’re remaining cautious to avoid breaking anything, as we must hold out!"

25 miles behind the stern of Khat 7 (Eric Galbard), which is 20 miles behind Groupe Partouche, Esprit Large’s crew, currently bringing up the rear, have found their wings and energy and are moving along nicely on the Atlantic swell. If you believe in the famous ocean racing adage, that 'speed makes you intelligent', we are likely to see some upsets in the scheds over the next 24 or 48 hours…

The skippers describe what's been going on...

Yannick Bestaven ( Cervin ENR) :"Conditions now are much easier to handle: downwind sailing. Yesterday we reached peak speeds of 19-20 knots. Last night, we were sailing with the wind on the beam under gennaker and full main at an average speed of 13-14-15 knots. We’re pleased to be clocking up the miles. Our ETA is for tomorrow (Tuesday) and taking into account our pit stop in Newfoundland, we will only be finishing 24 hours after the first FICO monohull, which isn’t bad. On the other hand, we remain disappointed that we couldn’t get up with the multihulls: at Gaspé, we weren’t far behind Crêpes Whaou! If we’d been a metre away, maybe we wouldn’t have hit a whale. But there’s no point in going through all that, as what is done is done. You just have to accept it and the crew all worked hard together to ensure the pit stop was as short as possible. We’ll be pleased to finish the race tomorrow evening..."

Hervé de Carlan ( Delirium) : "We’re currently on the direct route towards the tip of Brittany sailing downwind and averaging around 12 knots. Yesterday we had a bit of everything: wind holes, a southwesterly flow, force 4-5: we reached peaks of 22 knots. The smiles returned to our faces, but then we were becalmed and the sails flapped. The atmosphere on board is very good. We’re dealing well with the tiredness. We remain true amateurs. Four years ago, I didn’t have a boat and I started out from nothing to build this catamaran to try a different form of sailing and a way to sail quickly out on the water. Today, we know what is required to sail her and we have come a long way in terms of sailing. We’re still learning and are spending a lot of time at the nav desk to think about and discuss the various route options. We made a big mistake in the Saint Lawrence: it was a suicidal option that really delayed us.»

Erwan Thiboumery (Laiterie de Saint-Malo) : «Since a few moments ago, we have fewer than 300 miles to go to the finish. We were sailing towards Fastnet last night. Currently, we’re making reasonable headway: 8-9 knots VMG. We’ll be approaching the Scillies and will see what happens after that. We still haven’t fitted the rudder we made: it is more or less ready, but we’ll only fit it at the last moment. We’re still steering with a drag line and the jib headsail. We’re still sailing a bit too quickly. I think we need to slow down to 7-8 knots. This rudder should allow us to go quite a long way towards the finish line channel. Our nerves are still on edge, but we’re remaining patient. Our first goal was to save the boat and so far, we have achieved that as we’re not very far from the coast. At the moment, our reward will be finishing the race… we’ll go as far as we can and try to complete the race.»

Miranda Merron (40 Degrees) : «40 Degrees is in the light airs of a ridge of high pressure, while the boats behind are taking advantage of the strengthening of the wind, as another depression arrives, which is allowing them to close the gap on us. This morning, we saw some sunshine, which hasn’t happened very often in the two weeks of racing, and then this morning, we saw some whales blowing. Yesterday evening, we saw the stars for the first time and we can now go out on deck without our foul weather gear, which is wonderful! The light airs do offer some positive things, but for the moment, we’re dreaming of a nice hot shower and a pint of beer, of course. We’re really begging for some stronger winds, even if they do mean more exhausting work and getting soaked right to the core.»

Eric Galmard (Khat 7) : «It’s a tough battle on board! We shall perhaps be hoisting the genoa instead of the gennaker to calm things down. The crew is beginning to feel tired and we can’t wait to finish… We have a problem with our mainsail and cannot take in two reefs: one is not enough and three are too many. The wind is to continue: we’re taking it in turns to the finish. We only have another two days to go. The boat just went over: this is certainly not smooth sailing!»