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What's worse for a skipper than the absence of wind? Without this fuel in the sails, it's simply impossible to move the boat forward. And in a speed race, staying still is painful for the competitors. Yesterday, Tuesday, May 6, the fleet barely reached 10 knots. The leaders of the Wings of the Ocean race, skippered by Alexis Thomas and Pauline Courtois (at the time of the final whistle), were making progress at only 5.6 knots. The record belongs to the crew Skipper Macif (Charlotte Yven / Hugo Dhallenne), who remained stuck for some time at a speed of 0.9 knots. From the beginning of the second week of racing, around April 29, this famous windless zone began to appear on radars. Expected for the end of the second week of racing, this light wind, which blocks the direct route to reach Saint-Barth, forced the skippers to shift their course. However, the 17 crews still in the race were hesitant. "It's the most important decision of the race," explained Romain Bouillard (Décrochons la lune). Many waited until the last moment to commit to a specific route. "The situation is so uncertain that it feels like no one is positioning themselves, everyone is paying attention to each other," complained Thomas André (Cap St Barth).
A hard blow for the leaders
Aboard Cap Saint-Barth, the Breton admitted the difficulty of choosing a trajectory: "We're going to have to rack our brains a bit to find the right route. There's one to the north, one more south, and one central. There are different arguments, and we don't know which one to choose yet. We'll see what our two competitors do; we might just follow along to avoid taking any risks." » While some boats seemed to be heading south, the entire fleet ended up following the leading group north at the end of the second week of racing. This option was not without risks, however, according to race director Francis Le Goff: "It's as if they had left the motorway and were on a small country road. There aren't many places to pass and there are ditches: along the edge of this road, there are significant areas of light winds." Like Skipper Macif, some crews actually got stuck in windless areas. The unstable weather with unpredictable squalls and storms also gave the sailors a hard time. "We were stuck in a cloud with rain but no wind," confided Hugo Cardon (Humains en action). While on Hellowork, the squall was rather beneficial, according to Davy Beaudart: "We came across a nice squall that rose to almost 30 knots, it was really hot. » Regardless, all the crews eventually encountered this lull zone upstream of Saint Barth. The leaders, who were the first to attack it, were slowed considerably, allowing the rear group to catch up. A tough blow for Thomas André (Cap St Barth): "Personally, it was a bit hard to take knowing we were going to be caught anyway. Racing in that kind of situation is never easy. You can be incredibly proud of what you've done so far, but that's not what will determine the rest of the race."
An outcome still uncertain
As Thomas explains: "The challenge isn't just to get around the windless zone, it's also to position yourself well for what comes next. » The fleet is now grouped on a line of nearly 120 miles (222 km) laterally, with three options emerging: one very far north (like Cindy and Thomas), heading south, or those who maintain the direct route to Saint-Barth. But for the moment, it is impossible to know which trajectory will bear fruit, while the crews are now only 500 nautical miles from Saint-Barth (926 kilometers). "The routings do not match: there is one that rewards the southerners, another suggests that the northerners could win, underlines Yann Chateau, deputy race director. Moreover, one observation is clear. The fleet should arrive very tightly grouped with only a handful of hours between the majority of competitors. The gaps will be so small that each aspect to manage (squalls, sargassum, technical aspects) will have a decisive role in the final stretch." According to the latest estimates, the first boats should cross the finish line between Thursday evening, the 8th, or Friday morning, the 9th. The suspense is still intense.
