All lined up and ready for action! Class 40 and Ocean Fifty go Monday, IMOCA set off Tuesday

Imoca boats in the docks during the Transat Jacques Vabre, in Le Havre, France © Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

The Class 40 and the Ocean Fifty classes resume the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre on Monday morning while the record sized, 40 strong IMOCA class will start their race to Martinique on Tuesday morning setting off from Le Havre on a shortened course direct to the French Caribbean island with a turning mark at Madeira.

Their 3765 miles course looks like being rough and tactical until they reach the trade winds which will allow them to make high speeds downwind towards Martinique.

It will be an early start Tuesday morning for the IMOCA duos who need to start moving out of the Paul Vatine dock and through the sea lock out on to the Bay of Le Havre from 0400hrs until about 06030hrs.

The start for the IMOCA fleet is 0930hrs local time. "The SW'ly wind is forecast to be around 15-20 knots with decent seas for the start and the passage around the Cherbourg Peninsula," according to Christian Dumard, who has carried out lots of routing analysis over the past few days to establish the course for each of the classes with the Race Directors.

After their extra week waiting to start, the 40 double-handed crews will not have much time to settle into the race. By the morning of Wednesday 8th November, with the final boats rounding the tip of Brittany, a front awaits them with 30 knots of wind, gusting to 35-40 knots. "They will be sailing in the same sort of winds they saw in the Fastnet," said Christian Dumard. "The seas behind the front will not exceed 4m with a long period for the waves."

Strategically wide open

The routing will probably take them via the North across the area of high pressure, which is splitting into two highs, so that they will be able to pick up a second low on Thursday and Friday. The 60-foot boats will be able to get behind the associated cold front to make headway south. The slower monohulls, and those who really want to look after their boat, may decide to go for a more cautious route to the south, but the weather option would take some IMOCAs a fair distance north. That is why the

Race Directors have set up an intermediate course mark, the only one before Diamant Rock, at the island of Santa Maria, the most southerly island in the Azores, which the fleet will have to leave to starboard.

In any case, there will be a lot of strategic choices for the IMOCAs with quite a few options and routing choices, as soon as they leave the English Channel. They will face five or six days of upwind sailing or reaching to begin their race, before hoping to be able to sail downwind.

The ETA of the first boats in Martinique is estimated to be around 17th November. Tris go to virtual mark

The trimarans will have to head for a virtual mark to the north of the Cape Verde Islands, being careful to avoid the wind shadow. They will sail a theoretical 4200 miles from Lorient to Fort de France. The smallest monohulls will head for the island of Porto Santo to the north of Madeira, which they will have to leave to starboard. They face a theoretical 3750 miles on their way to Martinique.

The atmosphere appeared serious in Lorient La Base this morning, as you would expect on the eve of the start of any transatlantic race, but in blue skies interspersed with sharp showers, everyone seemed happy to be getting ready to go.

Italian skipper Ambrogio Beccaria who resumes racing with French co-skipper Nicolas Andrieu on Alla-Grande Pirelle carrying a margin of one hour and 15 minutes, commented, "We are good. In the end the course is very much the same, as usual some upwind on Biscay and a big front, the weather models do not really agree at the moment but it looks like two fronts for us before Cap Finisterre, it's not clear right now if we cross the second one. Our objective is to go as fast as we can from the start because it does look like there might be some little opportunities to get through and away and get an advantage."

There has been a race against time for the teams on Crédit Mutuel and Sogestran Frigo for whom the delay has granted them a second life. The pair on Crédit Mutuel suffered a dismasting in the first part of the race and thanks to a commando operation, have managed to fit a new mast aboard their Class40. Although they have received a penalty of six hours added to the time of the last boat to reach Lorient, Ian Lipinski and Antoine Carpentier still intend to get a good final result at the finish in the sunshine in Martinique. Together they have clocked up four wins in the race between them and are now ready to set sail again.

As for Cédric Chateau and Guillaume Pirouelle, whose boat was severely damaged in a collision not long after the start in Seine Bay. And today they could not hide their pleasure at being in Lorient and ready for the start. Not only did they manage to get their Seafrigo-Sogestran back in shape to allow them to race, but they have a good chance of ending up well-placed in the final rankings, as they were granted redress by the Jury after this unfortunate incident in the race.

Unable to complete the first leg, their final race time will be calculated by adding their race time between Lorient and Fort-de-France to the time achieved in the first leg by the boat whose position they take at the finish in Martinique. "We are in the same mindset as last Sunday and the days that followed and remain determined. In spite of not having sailed that much together on this fantastic boat, we will be aiming to grab any opportunities in this second leg" said Cédric, who has been through all the emotions in the past week.

Course for the second leg for the Ocean Fifty boats

Lorient-Fort de France: 4200 miles leaving the island of Sal (Cape Verde) to starboard.
The start is scheduled for 1030hrs local time off Talud Point in Lorient.
ETA: 18th November

Course for the second leg for the Class40 boats:

Lorient-Fort de France: 3750 miles leaving the island of Madeira to starboard.
The start is scheduled for 1045hrs local time off Talud Point in Lorient.
ETA: 22nd November
They said:

Basile Bourgnon (Edenred), Class40: "This is like a new start, but to the same destination we had been expecting, even if it was a bit odd to go home in the middle of the race. We're paying attention to how the weather is developing. The start of the race looks fairly complicated in terms of strategy with various phenomena, which could lead to big gaps developing. The forecasts vary a lot for the moment. Even if the wind is not as scary, the first part is going to be fairly fast, which is good, as we don't like hanging around in the Bay of Biscay. For the first 24 hours, we will have the wind on the beam and should pass Cape Finisterre after 48 hours of racing. We're ready and now just have to load up some fresh supplies, based on a 14-day trip."

Quentin Vlamynck (Solidaires en Peloton), Ocean Fifty: "The weather isn't looking that easy to deal with, even if conditions have eased in the Bay of Biscay, in comparison to what we were facing after the initial start. There is still quite a lot of wind, with passing squalls. After that, we'll see the situation more clearly tomorrow and over the coming days with our routers. We're taking it one step at a time. During the stopover, we were lucky to be able to continue our preparation, sort out a few problems and make further improvements to the boat. Even if we're a bit ahead for now, we'll be trying to be the first to finish in Martinique, so we don't have to worry about any calculations. Our advantage is more psychological than anything else. There was a strong likelihood of breakages in the first leg. Now, with less wind forecast, the standard of racing should be that much higher."

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