17th Transat Café L'or Day 9: Max Power, Max Concentration
by Transat Café L'OR 3 Nov 19:17 GMT
3 November 2025
Tom Laperche on SVR Lazartigue during the Transat Café L'OR © Martin Keruzoré
Even for the Class40s which only restarted their TRANSAT CAFÉ L'OR race to Martinique on Saturday the intensity and pace is starting to tell, maybe especially in the IMOCA class where the leading trio are engaged in a close drag race in the trade winds.
The ULTIM leaders, Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas on SVR Lazartigue have 160 nautical miles in hand with just less than 1600 miles to the finish line in Fort De France whilst the Ocean Fifty pack leaders Man Le Roch and Basile Bourgnon on Edenred 5 seem unable to really make a decisive break. Meanwhile the Class40 leaders are very much watching to see their nearest rivals unfold their strategy, making choices which could likely shape the race.
ULTIM
The ULTIMS are really into the final leg of their race, gybing down the South American exclusion zone to their west. On course to set a new record for victories on this race, five, Franck Cammas is 'in the zone' doing what he loves.
"This is why I love multihulls. It's always a bit of a challenge to maintain those speeds and control these big machines alone, or with one other person. It's a constant balancing act, and at the same time, you still have to live, sleep, eat, and rest on these boats that never stop and are always on the edge. So, it's exciting, enjoyable, a little stressful, but definitely not restful." Cammas highlighted early this morning, "There's a certain amount of stress from having the responsibility for the boat, with a few adjustments in hand, tweaking things dynamically, so we're steering as if we were alone on board, we switch roles, but we can't make any mistakes, we can't fall asleep even for a moment in the watch seat, because a gust can come at any time, so there's always someone who's really in charge, with the autopilot remote control, in their hand."
OCEAN FIFTY
With a little less than 1300 nautical miles to go to the finish line Edenred 5 have broken south of the rhumb line, the direct course. They have 35 miles of a cushion over Baptiste Hulin and Thomas Rouxel (Viablis) and should extend as they get into the strong trade winds. Manu Le Roch, Edenred co-skipper explained, "To an extent we would like to be just in the same winds as them because we know we are faster and that should be reassuring now. This is so incredibly enjoyable. Honestly, when you look at the chart and where we already are, you realize how fast we're going. And we still have 1500 miles to go."
IMOCA
After losing 20 or 30 miles yesterday when they hit the transition zone first, Jérémie Byou and Morgan Lagravière on Charal are back on track. The US flagged 11th Hour Racing have been quickest for periods early this morning and today, Francesca Clapcich and Will Harris pressing extra hard after being required to take a 30 minutes penalty for an inadvertent break of the seal on their liferaft. "Will is driving the big bus like he stole it" grinned Clapcich this morning.
Sam Goodchild today noted how relentless the pace is, reflecting: "We are through that transition that light patch when we sae Jeremie losing 20 or 30 miles last night. The breeze is now picking up gently, we have only got about 15 knots and so the speeds have got faster as we are no longer VMG downwind and so the boats around us are going pretty quick we are are trying to keep up. And it is really intense, everyone is pushing each other hard. We take turns at making sure the boat is going fast and then there is everything else. There is one person on speed and the other helps with trimming but does everything else that needs doing. The priority is going fast. The boat is quite complicated to keep going fast, there is always something changing, the wind angle, the sea state. I don't like making excuses but this is not a point of sail where Macif has an advantage of everyone else. We saw it at the beginning of the race when we could stretch away and downwind we are struggling to keep up rather than having speed to burn as it were. We are almost surprised how well it is going, And as soon as there is a bit of wind and sea state 11th Hour gets going and there is Mapei which won this Transat two years ago is quick downwind as well. Those three are the big hard hitters in these conditions."
CLASS 40
The top six duos are within six miles of each other as they take on a low pressure trough. SNSM Faites un Don, who were first into La Coruña, have a small lead in their most southerly position whilst Spanish duo Pep Costa and Pablo Santurde continue to prefer to be the most northerly on VSF Sports, there being some 35 miles of lateral separation.
When asked what option her preferred co-skipper of SNSM Corentin Douguet teased this morning, "I'm not going to tell you, even though I think everyone's going to do pretty much the same thing. But we'll keep that to ourselves for now. But the tactic is to regain the lead and accelerate. I don't think there will be any significant difference right away. We'll see, it's hard to say at the same time. We need to see how the front we're supposed to cross tonight develops."
Find out more at www.transatcafelor.org and track the fleet here.