From the fleet this morning

Nicolas Lunven (Banque Populaire):  “I came out of the ridge yesterday morning. I didn't do so great because a group of boats in the north with Benjamin Ferré, Eric Bellion, Guirec Soudée played it really well, congratulations to them. They sailed less miles. I thought there would be less wind on the direct route. I was wrong, it was a mistake. It's good to find some wind, it's going well towards the target but the rest is really not easy. A cold front will pass over us tonight. Behind, it looks soft and complicated. Getting to Iceland I think that the first group will manage to pass without incident, behind that there is potentially some very strong wind. I watch this carefully. You have to rack your brains a bit. I was side by side with Giancarlo and Damien, when the wind came in they gave me the slip. Now in these conditions with 20 knots downwind I'm struggling to fight with my daggerboard boat even if it was going pretty well in the light weather of the ridge. »

Sebastien Marsset (Cap Agir Ensemble): “It took me a little time to get rid of the emotion at the start. These ten days in Village have been demanding and I may not have managed to rest enough before leaving. I'm starting to find my little rhythm of life on board. Everything is fine ! I left on a fairly east route in the ridge. The foilers set off on a much more westerly route as the initial forecast suggested westerly routes instead. This ridge did not go as they thought and they did not expect to see boats pass so easily to the east. They took advantage of this gap to pass behind the residual front that I will have to negotiate this morning. They are betting on the southwest flow. Foils or no foils, this necessarily means different courses I hope that the daggerboard boats will still hang in there for a long time, I will do everything. My boat is not very young so it is obviously difficult to compete with much more recent boats. VMG or weaker wind speeds are less unfavorable to us. There are some very good daggerboard boats like Benjamin (Ferré) or Nico (Lunven) which are equal in certain conditions. I think it's great that the established order has been shaken up at the start of the race, it's changing, they are getting back into the game, it's challenging. »

Benjamin Ferre (Monnoyeur-Duo For A Job):  “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 biased 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. »

Kojiro Shiraishi (DMG MORI GLOBAL ONE): “I regained some strength by eating a little during the passage of the ridge. One of the constrictors to hold the mainsheet on the piano does not work, so I have a winch now dedicated to this. It's a small problem. The passage of the ridge was complicated, I stopped several times but it was not that bad. It will be quite fast to Iceland. I will try not to break anything. The watchword is to pay attention to the boat. »