Finally downwind sailing for the Route du Rhum fleet

Finally. No reefs, wind from behind, warmer weather and big sails up. That is the enjoyable situation for the leading boats in the Route du Rhum. Ecover and Kingfisher are continuing leading the monohull fleet. Head to head, and never time for a rest. Ecover was 9 miles ahead of Kingfisher at 1500 GMT. Stève Ravussin on TechnoMarine is far ahead of his fellow multihull competitors. The trailing pack is also experiencing better conditions and looking forward to some pleasant sailing. The leaders should soon be on their way out of the lighter area of the Azores High, and hit the road of the trade wind highway.

In 16-20 knots of breeze the frontrunners are gliding with the wind from behind on the southern border of the Azores anticyclone. Blue skies and stabilising conditions are very much welcomed, but the hard work is not over. The two British rivals leading the monohull fleet are continuing sailing side by side, neither of them willing to let go. There is no time for rest. Ellen MacArthur reported: “I hardly slept last night, there were constant wind shifts and changes of sails. It is very tiring. Mike Golding is right next to me and there is a little bit of a battle between us…We have crossed each others paths several times but now our courses will separate. Mike is heading north, but I am heading down south. I will be reaching on one long port tack and it will not be easy. You really have to be careful in the last bit to the Caribbean."

Mike Golding, some miles ahead of Kingfisher since yesterday afternoon, agrees with MacArthur. The battle is on: “She’s [Ellen’s] doing very well. I’m sure we will both fight until the end. …Also Bilou [Roland Jordain on Sill] is a fighter and a very strong man. He will undoubtedly bounce back. I wish he was still racing near us. Anyway, I’ve still got 1,900 miles to go, so it’s all still open.”

Sill left Madeira yesterday evening, after a 12 hour pitstop. With his southerly option he is reaching the trade winds sooner than his British contenders, but as he is several hundred miles east of the leaders he has a lot of catching up to do. “I would need the two Brits in front to give me a helping hand so that I can come back, but unfortunately I do not think they will give me that present. It will be hard to catch up, but I am happy and will push as much as I can,” said the French pre-race favourite.

Australian Nick Moloney on his 50-foot monohull Ashfield Healthcare is following Ellen MacArthur’s foot steps, reflecting on when she won the 50-foot monohull class and was fifth overall in the 1998 Route du Rhum. Moloney is catching up with the second group of 60-foot monohulls and is 35 miles behind the fifth IMOCA Open 60’, Miranda Merron (UK) on UUDS.

The 50-foot trimarans have ploughed through the hard conditions without the damage caused to their bigger brothers, the 60-foot trimarans. Frank Yves Escoffier on the 50-foot trimaran Crepes Whaou has performed a perfect race so far and is 130 miles ahead of Anne Caseneuve on Yachting Casino.com. Crepes Whaou is second overall in the multihull fleet behind Stève Ravussin on TechnoMarine! Escoffier is giving a lot of credit to his router Jean Yves Bernot, who is also routing Kingfisher and Ashfield Healthcare. Interesting to note is that Anne Caseneuve, second in her class (2 multihull) is not using any router at all and is doing all her navigation strategies onboard herself.

Michel Desjoyeaux on Géant left Porto Santo this morning and is back on the course, with only three more 60-foot ORMA trimarans racing (note that Marc Guillemot, Biscuits la Trinitaine - Ethypharm is still at port in the Azores and will not leave until tomorrow Sunday or Monday). Last to abandon was Bonduelle, which left port yesterday to attack the race once again. The skipper Jean Le Cam experienced winds of 45 to 50 knots last night and the fore and aft beams of the yellow green trimaran were damaged. He will have to head back to port once again.

At this point of the race the arrival dates are starting to be estimated. The first multihull is estimated to finish in Pointe à Pitre in Guadeloupe 21 November, the first monohulls are expected 23 or 24 November. With these ETA’s it is very uncertain if there will be any records broken in this year’s Route du Rhum. The record for monohulls dates back two editions, set in 1994 by Yves Parlier on Cacolac d’Aquitaine in 15 days, 19h, 23 min. The race record for multihulls was set in 1998 by Laurent Bourgnon on Primagaz (now Rexona Men – capsized ) in 12 days, 8 h, 41 min, 6 sec.

Update on the trimaran breakage:

• Karine Fauconnier (Sergio Tacchini dismasted) was not able to be picked up by a freighter yesterday due to the heavy weather. Bob Escoffier on Acecco Etoile Horizon (6th in monohull class 2) was asked by the race committee to head towards Fauconnier and will arrive on site in short time. The 50-foot contender will have to drop off Fauconnier in Madeira.

• Alain Gautier Foncia arrived in Madeira yesterday afternoon.

• Sodebo arrived in Cascais, on the Portuguese coast this morning

• Yvan Bourgnon on Rexona Men refused to leave his boat and has stayed on the overturned trimaran for three days.

• Sopra is being towed towards the Spanish coast.

• Peyron hopes to get to his boat Fujifilm tomorrow morning and start towing it towards the coast.

Quotes:

Mike Golding (UK) Ecover (1st IMOCA monohull) “I am tired after the first week, but hopefully this weather will give me an opportunity to recuperate. I’m able to moderate my sleep efficiently. I’m not steering the boat much, as I’m using the time to sort out problems. I’ve done a lot of work on my mainsail. The boat took a tremendous thrashing and pounding. Things we thought would be reliable have broken!”

Ellen MacArthur (UK) Kingfisher (2nd IMOCA monohull): “the pace of the race has been very high, from the challenging upwind start battles - to the safe passage through some of the worst, but most beautiful conditions I have ever seen at sea.”

“it feels wonderful to remove my wellies (rubber boots), and to be able to go into the cockpit without getting instantly soaked - oh how things change.. I remember sitting in the gale - holding tight onto the chart table edge - just thinking 'that in 36 hours we'll be sailing with our spinnaker up..' I guess it's these things which keep you going, together with the mesmerising beauty of the ferocious waves, foaming crests and seas so large and rolling you could have built villages in their valleys.”

Miranda Merron (UK) UUDS (5th IMOCA monohull): “It's beautiful weather, still blowing dogs off chains, and since we are heading for the Azores, it has to get lighter. Sometime anyway. …Harness required to get back to cockpit once the breeze hits, grappling hooks would have been useful too, but not good for the carbon deck. Since the start of the race the only sails we have used are the trinquette and main, never once to full hoist. It is 6 days in and I am starting to get fed up with the constant pressure of heavy weather. So is the boat, I think. This is the North Atlantic, not the Southern Ocean.”