Special correspondent on board Express
After a rather humid night, at milk time when the crescent moon was preparing for breakfast, the fleet progressed this Monday morning towards the first obligatory course mark of this final stage between Roscoff and Piriac. The pilgrimage around the Breton calvaries completed at the tack, it was necessary to have the night vision of the swallow-tailed gulls to progress towards the buoy. Gaston Morvan (Région Bretagne-CMB Performance) greeted her first. Followed by Alexis Loison (Groupe REEL) and Élodie Bonafous (Quéguiner-La Vie en Rose).
The leader of the moment narrated his start to the final stage two hours earlier: “At the start, I was a little too playful on the line. I got called back by the race committee. It wasn’t so bad because I came back. Especially since I then had the pleasure of crossing the coast where I come from. With a beautiful sunset, dolphins, it was really pretty. The beginning was also very invigorating, intense and physical, it didn’t stop turning. There was also algae. We haven’t been idle.”
The wind was beginning, like a teasing rascal, to weaken. He had not finished playing with the nerves of the most hardened: “This night was interesting,” commented Gaston Morvan. “In the Iroise Sea, it’s quite tactical. There isn’t much wind. There are small eateries coming on the road towards the western Sein buoy. I didn’t really have in mind to make a marked option, but more of a small shift. We will really see at the western Sein buoy who was wrong, who was right, are there any differences or not. We’ll see at the end of the fair. There, I am at 6 knots of speed in 8 knots of wind. We have a few hours before arriving in the calm. It is expected to soften again at any time. The conditions are cool to move forward. But this night, it’s not very pleasant, it’s very humid. Inside too, it’s all soaked. I hope we will have a little sun at the end of the morning to dry the boat.”
Jules Delpech (Orcom) also had a good start to the race: “I don’t know how many transfers we made but it’s starting to add up to a nice score. It was really nice, I had a lot of fun and it worked out pretty well for me. What is good in this battle of tacks is finding the rhythm between the current and the wind to optimize them. So as not to lose a little length each time, because in the end it can add up to a lot of distance. Afterwards, there was timing to manage with the change of tide. In fact, there was no wind on land and with the current coming against me I thought I would still have to go there to find shelter. It didn’t work for me. I lost a lot in a very short time. So I’m a little disappointed to lose so much distance with the leading group. But there are still quite a few possibilities to return. There, I came back on Gaston Morvan and it’s not bad because he had made a good sequence after the Four to be close to the lead. Under my lee I have Benoît Mariette (Génération Sénioriales), Alexis Thomas (La Charente Maritime) and Arthur Hubert (MonAtoutEnergie.fr). In front, there are Alexis Loison and Élodie.”
The long road to a buoy which will be moored by race management has therefore begun. The options will emerge and the lateral differences will certainly be significant. You will then have to choose the right side.
