A bord d’Express,
16th in the classification of the first heat, 21’33” from Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan), Hugo Dhallenne has given himself wings on this start of the second stage course to Roscoff. Having opted for a route close to the Irish coast last night, the Saint-Malo sailor has reaped the rewards of his carefully considered investment. Prancing in the lead at the intermediate sprint mark, he made progress upwind this afternoon, with an average speed of 8 knots. Taking advantage of a strong favorable current in this entry into the Irish Sea. This intermediate sprint will give him a 5-minute bonus in the general classification. “I had planned to go to the coast the first night. And it paid off. It’s great to be in the lead on a Solitaire stage, 24 hours after the start. But this is far from over. Now, there is a mark on the right to look for, still upwind and a strong current which will hinder our progress,” explained the skipper sailing towards the next mark, the Chicken Rock lighthouse, in the south of the island. of Man.
The sea was nothing like an earthenware tray, a breeze as they say in Switzerland, made the waves quiver. A few minutes before passing the course mark, also contacted by VHF, the umbilical cord of the sailors with the media boat, Jules Delpech (Orcom) had a banana: “It’s great, we are discovering new territory in our trip . With nice weather even if it’s a little chilly. In addition, we have fun with the currents. It’s a nice regatta. There were sandbanks with current ripples on either side. You had to deal with that, it was fun. I went to play with it and did pretty well. I’m second for the moment behind Hugo and it’s great because I hesitated a long time in my choice. Go east with the group behind now, where to land. What I have done. I am delighted with my decision. The goal is to overtake Hugo but it won’t be easy. And I have to watch the little buddies behind me. In particular Alexis Loison (REEL Group) who is getting closer every hour. The Norman who never gives up. We started in this area of anticyclonic North-East wind which will last. It’s quite nice. Afterwards there are a lot of uncertainties about the end of the course. » A course which then offered more than 430 miles to ingest.
For his 17th participation, Alexis Loison had said that he was not coming to do figuration. The demonstration is made: “It’s good to go fast but you have to go to the right place. And the road is still long. We are currently ahead of the timings. I hope we can see Chicken Rock by day. For the moment I am well placed. Fighting with Hugo and Jules. When the fleet separated that night, our shore party prevailed. That’s a few serious opponents behind, but after, given the course, they will have opportunities to come back. Perhaps it is also a possibility for us to escape for good. For the intermediate sprint, I was one of the three lucky winners of the first stage. If I can scratch for a minute, I’ll take it this time too. The current is currently with us but it will go bad around 4 p.m. We will then have to take shelter closest to land where we will have to tack. »
Far behind, the grimace soup vermicelli was certainly struggling to pass the uvula. Relegated to the devil Vauvert, some big names in the series could only pray for a mistoufle at the end of the journey. The ones who had chosen the sea route last night. Corentin Horeau (Banque Populaire) was 1h 38′ late at South Arklow. Loïs Berrehar (Skipper Macif 2022) 1h 39′ and Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) 1h 45 on the leader.