Multi50 match race

As the Vendee-St Petersburg boats tackle the Channel

When you are in a race, conditions can be cruel at times. What the Multi50s in the Vendee-St Petersberg race have just experienced goes to prove that, as the leading boats clearly hold the advantage a day in and the gap is widening and set to continue so for the time being.

The first 24 hours of racing the boats chasing after the two frontrunners, Yves le Blévec's Actual and Franck-Yves Escoffier's Crêpes Whaou! 3 have been severely punished. Only Loïc Féquet’s crew on Crêpes Whaou! 2 managed to avoid the worst as the two leaders rounded the top of the Cherbourg Peninsula against the current, forcing them to stick close to the shore to get out of the foul tidal.

“We’re into the swing of the race and getting organised on board," reported Loïc Féquet from Crêpes Whaou! 2. "We’re pleased to have rounded the tip of Brittany this morning along with the two frontrunners. They got away from us during the night, but there’s no need to panic, as there’s still a long way to go. We’re discovering Crêpes Whaou 2, and yesterday were keeping up with the two more recent boats, which was encouraging for us for what lies ahead. We’re under gennaker heading straight for la Hague at 17.5 knots, so we’re moving along nicely.”

For those behind the top of Brittany was a major headache, with numerous hold-ups. Erwan Le Roux and his crew on Fenêtré A Cardinal saw Pierre Hingant's La mer révèle nos sens make their getaway as they entered the Raz de Sein within sight of them. The boat ahead made it through, while the other, just two miles astern, felt the full brunt of the foul tide.

Fortunately, there is still a long way to go to reverse the situation and sailing along the rocky coast of northern Brittany the crew of FenêtréA Cardinal managed to narrow the gap considerably by 1400 sched.

“Things could be better," Erwan Le Roux from FenêtréA Cardinal. "The crew of La mer révèle nos sens got away from us in the
Sein tidal race. They were only just in front of us, but in the right place and when we hit the current head on, they left us standing. We’ve just spent a few hours tacking our way through the current, which meant getting close to the rocks. I reckon the look-outs at the Raz Headland enjoyed watching us.”

Sadly the forecast from Météo France is far from optimistic for the tail-enders, as the wind is set to die away from the west.

1400 GMT sched

1 Actual (Y Le Blévec) 1454.1 miles from the finish
2 Crêpes Whaou ! 3 (FY Escoffier) 2.8 miles from the leader
3 Crêpes Whaou ! 2 (L Féquet) 43.6 miles behind the leader
4 Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc (L Roucayrol) 106.7 miles behind the leader
5 La mer révèle nos sens (P Hingant) 132.5 miles behind the leader
6 Naviguez Anne Caseneuve (A Caseneuve) 137.4 miles behind the leader
7 FenêtréA-Cardinal (E Le Roux) 142.4 miles behind the leader
8 CLM (H Cléris) 164.4 miles behind the leader
9 Pi R2 (E Hochédé) 200.4 miles behind the leader