Amused leader Ferré resists in the east, Iceland on Friday
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As the Vendée Arctique Les Sables d’Olonne race rolls into the third day, the older generation daggerboard IMOCA boats and their skippers who positioned themselves in the east, closer to the Irish coast, continue to profit with more wind and are resisting the sporadic advances of Charlie Dalin (APIVIA) who remains third, over three knots slower than race leader Benjamin Ferré
IMOCA rookie Ferré who is racing one of the two most potent daggerboard boats in the fleet, smiled this morning, “ Everything is going well, the days are exhausting, there are a lot of maneuvers to do. I had Guirec (Soudée) on the VHF, we had a good laugh listening to the rankings. It's funny to be in the lead even if the ranking is a little skewed by the spread of the fleet. In any case, it's cool, the paths and routes seem more or less coherent and the speeds too. The course is still very long so I will try to rest. »
Ferré has had a decent night and is 16 miles ahead of pre-race favourite Dalin, who is 75 nautical miles to the west of the race leader. As the leaders of both packs negotiate another zone of lighter winds Dalin should exit sooner in the west, ready to be slingshot north of the heels of a low pressure system and SW’ly winds. The leaders, Ferré and Guirec Sourée who is 13 miles astern, have a stronger SW’ly breeze on the south east of the ridge and so will either have to stay east and work down a corridor of good SW’ly wind on the east of the ridge or bite the bullet and go NW through the ridge. Either way Dalin should accelerate later today. Kiwi Conrad Colman (Imagine) in 12th is repositioning himself to the east after gybing last night.
This second front is proving frustrating for the foilers, wider than maybe first thought but the yellow and white APIVIA should emerge later today and recent routings still show the leader passing to the east of Iceland on Friday in favourable conditions whilst those arriving later will encounter a strong north Atlantic gale.