At the grand bal musette, everyone is celebrating on this third 625-mile stage. With as a star piece, a waltz playing the Yvette-style accordion. Even those who have been making wallpaper since leaving Saint-Nazaire have found themselves in the lead. She was predicted to be tricky when she left Fécamp. This sleeve where the Celtic sea has been rolled up to Wales and the South cardinal buoy of Saint Gowan, keeps its promises. The leaders succeeding each other as if in confession. While a thick mist enveloped the body of water in the direction of the Isles of Scilly, Corentin Horeau (Mutuelle Bleue for the Institut Curie) led the orchestra in the mud: “
This ranking is very pleasant but the next few hours promise to be complicated. It was a nice night, downwind to Saint Gowan in places you never go. Lundy too, it was a great first. Finally, we did a spinnaker. The weather is very random, you have to do with what you have. Last night, we had up to 20 knots and at the moment, there are 10-11 knots. The mist fell half an hour ago. You can't see 2 meters away. We look at the AIS a little more, it's a beautiful British atmosphere. In addition, it is very unstable and it is difficult to sleep. This is the big lottery this step, until the end everything can still be turned upside down. You have to have strong nerves, but it is better to be in front than behind.
"
The leader of the general classification, Pierre Quiroga (Skipper Macif 2019) also felt exhausted, despite his good second place in the classification broadcast on the VHF at 5 am: "
It's an ordeal!
I was very satisfied with my first part of the night after Saint Gowan under gennaker.
And I collapsed completely, the wind kicked in, I found myself 4 miles from the pack.
And this morning, the fog arrived in force, I do not see the top of the sail lighting up.
In short, not easy tonight.
The wind moves a lot, with rotations that can go up to 30 °.
I have just repacked the gennaker, I am under a high mainsail and genoa.
It's supposed to take a right, so we'll have a tack before Bishop.
There may be grains at the Scilly but if it holds like that we can be there late in the morning.
"
It will probably be early afternoon, at 8 am, they were making 6 knots.
Alexis Loison (Normandy region) had the same tone of voice: “
I'm not very fast, I was saying bad words! We're heading for Bishop lighthouse, close-hauled. I made a very nice downwind edge, I held the large spinnaker for a long time while the others were under the gennaker. What a step. Between what happened yesterday and the compact fleet, it is not easy. And besides, it's not over yet. There is not really a leader who stands out. It starts to pull, the conditions are not easy to sleep. I changed sail too late because I fell asleep. But it's the same for everyone. This morning, we do not see the lights of the other boats even though they are very close, but with AIS, we are being watched from all sides. Earlier, I heard talking on the VHF but in fact nobody spoke, Itry not to get into the red. We have a wind of 10 knots with a very short sea, a tight chop which makes the advance difficult. You have to find the right settings. We still have 40 miles to reach Bishop Rock lighthouse knowing that right now we have the opposite current.
"
Once the Scilly have passed, they'll all enter the home stretch, so to speak.
100 miles to go for a ball end in the pebbles of the bay of Morlaix.