The backdrop of the fifth edition of the DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE changed completely on Wednesday, as the whole fleet was held back by a high-pressure bubble that settled over the tip of Brittany. The result was a general slowdown and the ETAs are constantly being pushed back. The MOD70 Drekan Energy and the monohull Teasing Machine are expected at the finish in La Trinité-sur-Mer on Thursday morning.
The first 24 hours of the fifth edition of the DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE were rather intense, as shown in the the average speeds and videos sent by sailors who were happy to speed along, despite living at an angle, the race entered a second stage on Tuesday night, that of low winds and patience. The first to feel the effects of the high pressure system that is (finally) settling over northern France, particularly Brittany, was MOD70 Drekan Energy, who was considerably slowed down during his second night at sea.
After covering three quarters of the course in just over 24 hours, the trimaran sailed by Eric Defert saw its average speed fall sharply shortly after passing the virtual DRHEAM-CUP point late on Tuesday. “After a first night along the south coast of England, the second was a bit complicated between the DRHEAM-CUP mark and the Penmarc’h point as there was no wind, we were a bit desperate at times, said the skipper at midday on Wednesday. The wind was back this morning and since 8 o’clock we’ve been making way at 5 and 6 knots upwind, our morale is better, we’ve just tacked and we’re off on port tack heading for Hoëdic. We are doing our best to arrive as fast as possible.”
As fast as possible looks to be the early hours of Thursday morning, after just over two and a half days of racing. The MOD70 should be followed fairly closely (a few hours) by the first monohull expected in La Trinité-sur-Mer, Teasing Machine (Eric de Turckheim), who was around fifty miles from Drekan Energy on Wednesday afternoon. Some fifteen miles behind Teasing Machine, the ORC 50 GDD (Bruno Jacob) is keeping up, while the match has tightened up between the four other Multi 2000s in the running, expected at the DRHEAM-CUP mark late on Wednesday afternoon. Wellness Training/MG5 (Marc Guillemot) is in the lead, followed by ACapella-Proludic-La chaîne de l’espoir (Charlie Capelle), Perros-Guirec (Thierry Roger) and Minor Swing (Didier Bouillard).
The first two Class40s, Jack Trigger’s Mach 40.6 Swift (the latest addition to the class) and the defending champion, the Pogo S4 Groupe Snef (Xavier Macaire), rounded the DRHEAM-CUP mark, located around a hundred miles west of the Pointe du Raz, at around 2pm on Wednesday. The two boats have been engaged in a gripping race in sight of each other almost from the start. Behind them, Viranga (Emmanuel Hamez) is still in the game, some twenty miles behind, especially as there is still a long way to go for the Class40s, on the 630 mile course. The result of the race between the pointy-bow Class40s is just as uncertain. On the run towards the DRHEAM-CUP mark, they have regrouped, with TrimControl (Alexandre Le Gallais) in the lead, followed by Belco (Louis Mayaud) and Esatco. Nicolas Guibal and his Italian-American co-skipper Roger Junet said on Wednesday: “We’re sailing down towards the DRHEAM-CUP buoy under gennaker in 11 knots of wind, upwind and under the sun. We made a bad technical and tactical choice in the bay (south of England), but we’re not going to give up and we’re going to try and catch up our friends.”
Similar conditions for the three crewed IRCs chasing behind Teasing Machine, Fastwave 6 (Eric Fries), Stamina Sailing Team (Charlie Ageneau) and Moana (Frans Van Cappelle), while behind them, the bulk of the fleet, with crewed IRCs, two-handed IRCs and Sun Fast 30 One Designs, is making slow, upwind progress towards the infamous DRHEAM-CUP mark, with a little more wind, but not for much longer. In a video sent at dawn, the crew of the Sun Fast 30 Collectif Espoir Terre Bleue explains: “It was a very long night at an average speed of 2 knots, if we’re being positive… A beautiful sunrise and dolphins made up for for it.”With the rankings getting closer in the one-design class, the young Cherbourg sailors caught up with the top three, SL Energies Groupe (Laurent Charmy), Red Dolphins Espoirs (Jonas Gerckens) and Gaia (Lina Rixgens) on Wednesday afternoon.
The finish line is still far for the bulk of the fleet, since, according to Christian Dumard, the weather consultant for the DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE, “the wind will really fall after they pass the DRHEAM-CUP mark, and it is likely to last, they probably will not arrive before Friday evening.”In other words, all the crews are going to have to be patient, as will those waiting for them in La Trinité-sur-Mer, where the official village opened on Wednesday, but at least they can enjoy the entertainment and the beaches of the Bay of Quiberon…