Transat Café l’Or: Imoca 60s with Martinique in their sights, restless upwind for Class 40s

Tenth day of racing with interlocal contours at the Transat Café l’Or. There is little movement of the pawns on the Atlantic chessboard of the Imoca 60 class, with the lead group running at breakneck speeds of more than 600 miles in the 24 hours, but with the leading positions seemingly crystallized with no new overtaking on the horizon.

The Class 40s, on the other hand, have come to the crucial decision regarding the Azores: leave them to starboard or port? On the horizon is the passage of a double or triple front, with much upwind sailing still a constant for this edition of their Transat Café l’Or.

What happens in the Imoca 60s

The Imoca 60’s carrier gaits in the Tradewinds continue. Conditions remain ideal, wind between 15 and 20 knots, with slight increases, moderate sea state. Conditions in which Imoca foilers grind out hundreds of miles a day, even over 600, but where it becomes difficult, especially between the leading boats, to have differences in speed sufficient to be able to attempt overtakes.

The wind is outstretched and steady, the boats in these conditions perform evenly, and so over the past 24 hours the gaps have remained fairly firm for the leading quartet: still leading Charal, who retains a 35-mile lead over Macif, 65 over Francesca Clapcich’s 11th Hour Racing, and just over 100 over Ambrogio Beccaria’s Allagrande Mapei.

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Beccaria himself in one of the last updates from aboard admitted how in these conditions it is difficult to be able to catch up. Arrival in Martinique is 1300 miles away, at the averages they are holding it is likely that in less than 3 days the leading Imoca 60 will be at the finish line. No major weather upheavals are on the horizon in the forecast.

What happens in the Class 40s

The 40 may be the class that is encountering the worst conditions. Practically upwind from the start, they will not meet the trade winds and ahead they have two or even 3 fronts transiting eastward in the next few days, with winds even over 35 knots.

The fleet is splitting up, between those who are going further north, and will pass just below or above the Azores: this group will likely encounter the worst conditions, but could gain more with a better westward trajectory. The rest of the group is aiming further south, seeking somewhat easier conditions, but with at least an initially worse course. It is difficult to predict who in the long run might prevail in the game between risks and benefits of these tactical choices.

Leading the way is Corentin Doguet, already winner of the first leg who chose the north option. As for the Italians, Luca Rosetti’s Maccaferri futura and co-skipper Matteo Sericano chose the south action, as did Alberto Riva on Ekinox and Pietro Luciani on Les Invincibles, along with the bulk of the fleet. Of the local skippers, Andrea Fornaro on Influence 2, co-skipper Alessandro Torresani, chose the northern action.

Tracking

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