The road to Fort-de-France is still long for multihulls in the Ultimate category, more than 5,600 miles from the Caribbean island on Saturday morning. Above all, it is strewn with pitfalls as we approach the always dreaded Doldrums, this extremely unstable area where sailors can expect anything: heavy squalls or, on the contrary, extremely calm seas. Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, at the top of their category, should be the first to enter in less than twenty-four hours with a lead of 105 miles over the Gabart-Laperche pair (SVR Lazartigue). The first four are held in less than 200 miles. Trips for these sea giants capable of catching up very quickly. Only Sodebo Ultim 3 stalled, 491 miles away,after his setbacks encountered in the night from Wednesday to Thursday.
Six Imoca in a pocket square
Among the Imoca monohulls, the battle rages on with a regrouping of six boats as they approach the Canaries.
Linked Out, helmed by Thomas Rettant and Morgan Lagravière, still leads the way but the 21.31 mile advance over his hunter Apivia (Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat) does not allow him to relax.
Charal, Initiatives-Coeur, Akera Paprec, 1st Hour Racing also sound the charge just behind.
The passage of the Spanish archipelago and the various options available to navigators could lead to a redistribution of the cards.
"
We will decide where we will go based on the latest weather forecast. It is not necessarily simple because there are the winds to manage, areas of weak wind, acceleration, bands in which we are not allowed to navigate, traffic, we must take all this into account in our choices,
”warned Charlie Dalin.
In the Class 40 category, La Manche #EvidenceNautique still leads the standings in the Portuguese trade winds with a tiny lead over Redman, 2.3 miles behind.
Ederned is on the podium within ten miles (8.4 miles to be precise).
Finally, the Ocean Fifty continue their way along Africa.
For the moment, the shift to the west of Primonial, in the hands of Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben, has paid off compared to those who preferred a route closer to the coast of the continent.
Rankings Saturday at 9:00 am:
Monohulls
1. The Channel #EvidenceNautique (FRA)
(Nicolas Jossier, Alexis Loison)
2. Redman (FRA) 2.3 miles behind the leader
(Antoine Carpentier, Pablo Santurde del Arco)
3. Edenred (FRA) 8.4 miles behind the leader
(Emmanuel Le Roch, Pierre Quiroga)
4. Lamotte Module Création (FRA) 11.8 miles behind the leader
(Luke Berry, Achille Nebout)
5. Banque du Léman (SUI) 23.6 miles from the leader
(Valentin Gautier, Simon Koster)
Imoca
1. LinkedOut (FRA)
(Thomas Rouillard, Morgan Lagravière)
2. Apivia (FRA) 21.3 miles behind the leader
(Charlie Dalin, Paul Meilhat)
3. Charal (FRA) 21.5 miles behind the leader
(Jérémie Beyou, Christopher Pratt)
4. Initiatives-Coeur (GBR) 23.7 miles behind the leader
(Sam Davies, Nicolas Lunven)
5. Arkea Paprek (FRA) 42.6 miles behind the leader
(Sébastien Simon, Yann Eliès)
Multihulls
1. Primonial (FRA)
(Sébastien Rogues, Matthieu Souben)
2. Koesio (FRA) at 01, mile from the first
(Erwan Le Roux, Xavier Macaire)
3. LEYTON (GBR) 65.8 miles behind the leader
(Sam Goodchild, Aymeric Chappellier)
4. Solidaires En Peloton (FRA) 80.6 miles behind the leader
(Thibaut Vauchel-Camus, Frédéric Duthil)
5. Les p'tits Doudous (FRA) 118.5 miles behind the leader
(Armel Tripon, Benoît Marie)
Ultimate (32 m)
1. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (FRA)
(Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier)
2. SVR-Lazartigue (FRA) 105.2 miles behind the leader
(François Gabart, Tom Laperche)
3. Actual Ultim 3 (FRA) 156.4 miles behind the leader
(Yves le Blévec, Anthony Marchand)
4. Banque Populaire XI (FRA) 180.1 miles from the first
(Armel Le Cléac'h, Kevin Escoffier)
5. Sodebo ultim 3 (FRA) 491 miles behind the leader
(Thomas Coville, Thomas Rouxel)
