Normandy Channel Race - Onwards to Ireland

by Kate Jennings on 28 May 2014 Normandy Channel Race, Passage around Wolf Rock: check for Groupement Flo, which has been well ahead on the ranking since this morning. Heading: Tuskar Rock! The fleet of Class40s are gradually prying themselves from the clutches of the persistent calms thanks to a Cornish thermal.

Groupement FLO has just cleared Land’s End, the south-west tip of England, at the head of the overall ranking and is now entering the Celtic Sea bound for Tuskar Rock to the south-east of Ireland. Not an unpleasant situation for this duo of ‘amateurs’ as business manager and skipper of the red and white Class40, Brieuc Maisonneuve, likes to point out: 'Last night we were racking our brains a bit. We headed offshore to hook up with a bit of pressure and then we repositioned ourselves to the north at the right time seemingly, at the Lizard, which enabled us to overtake Campagne De France and Serenis Consulting. At that point we were still hanging onto a little of our pressure and we were aware that we’ve had it easy for the moment, but we’re staying on our toes for the next stage. Rémi (Aubrun) has the bit between his teeth so I’m in good hands!'

Yesterday evening, after Portland Bill, the decision to dive south to hit the wind was unanimous, or almost. ERDF – Des pieds et Des mains skippered by Damien Seguin and Jeanne Grégoire looked like they were making a solo excursion to Dartmouth in the early evening as they played with the currents and picked up the thermal. A few hours later, La Belle Equipe 2 and Team Picoty – Lac de Vassivière opted for the same strategy. It was a smooth operation since the current ‘northerners’ are making seven knots of boat speed compared with barely two to three knots for the southerners.

L’Express – Trepia, skippered by Pierre-Yves Lautrou and Thomas Ruyant valiantly led the way last night but the wind hole at the Lizard had them pinned down whilst a number of those on a northerly option made good their escape. 'A fantastic night under the stars where Thomas pulled a bit of a blinder enabling us to snatch back the lead for a good eight hours. This morning though, the calms enveloped Lizard Point, so our pursuers came back at us from every angle and we’ve got to start all over again, though we did expect that would be the case!' admits Pierre-Yves Lautrou.

In the meantime, Cornwall has taken on Mediterranean airs. It’s fine and warm aboard the Class40s, but there’s no time for the 32 skippers to top up their tans. 'I don’t think people realise how exhausting light airs are. You can’t imagine all the things you have to do, or rather try to do when there’s no wind. Rest assured that there’s no chance of us getting bored. The calms keep you busy!' Halvard Mabire explains from Campagne De France.

After rounding Wolf Rock, the Normandy Channel Race fleet will make for Tuskar Rock on a beat. Team Picoty – Lac de Vassivière is preparing to weave its way up there: 'We’ve caught up with the leaders! I think we made the right decision to stay close to shore. It’s motivating to have quite a few of the others within sight. As we wait to make Land’s End, we’re watching the situation and trying to make the most of the thermal breeze, but we’re afraid it’s going to be more of the same on the other side in the Celtic Sea. We’re going to do so much weaving we’ll be able to bring you back a pair of socks!' explains Jean-Christophe Caso.

With a succession of wind holes on the cards, the changing position reports are going to make for interesting reading.

Campagne De France - Halvard Mabire: 'Hello! Early morning calms at the Lizard. Just ahead of us is Express-Trepia and the Tuesday morning edition is headlining the show, to windward of us, (or rather to no wind of us), Groupement Flo, down ‘no wind’ of us and a little further back, Serenis Consulting. This whole little group is out on the terrace of the Lizard Bar waiting for croissants, which are proving as elusive as the wind... These days it’s the service that is sadly lacking. In the meantime the weather’s good, for now. It’s been a pretty calm night, especially for me who slept right through. Our watch system on Campagne De France is a little anarchical. Given all that, we don’t know when we’ll make it back to Caen, but back on land they must be tearing their hair out as much as us given the forecast.'

Le Conservateur - Pierre Brasseur: 'We’re powering up again a little bit as we tack along the coast. We’ve bunched up again a bit and we’re in visual contact with everyone so that’s great and we have 3-4 knots of breeze. The second night at sea enabled us to get back into the thick of things. It’s going to be light like this as far as Land’s End in my view. I’m eager to get past Wolf Rock and link onto some fresh breeze but it’s going to be a long day in the meantime. All’s well aboard as conditions aren’t nasty.'

MS Sailing Team – Maxime Sorel: 'Things are going rather well. We’re still in on the action with our playmates alongside us. We’re making the Lizard. We have fair weather with just a little breeze so we’re making headway at 3.8 knots. We didn’t get any sleep at all the night before last so we managed to make up for that a bit last night. For the next stage the wind is likely to pick up, at least we hope so… Pascal (Quintin) reckons it’s a bit slower than on a Multi50, but he’s happy nonetheless.'

Kogane – Patrice Bougard: 'How beautiful Cornwall is! The thermal’s kicked in and it’s summer, but it only lasts for two days in England so we’re making the most of it! We hope to make Tuskar Rock before Sunday! No, I am joking! We’re making headway thanks to the thermal and we’re hoping it will last. It was a fabulous night. We’re very happy with our two options. However, on the other side of Land’s End, we don’t know what the weather has in store for us, but it’s likely that it’s not going to make us laugh much.'

L’Express - Trepia – Pierre-Yves Lautrou: 'A general reshuffling in the calms! It’s working offshore, on the coast, pretty much everywhere. We’ve just this minute hit a bit of wind and we’re making three knots after a long spell with zero on the dial. In lateral terms, everyone seems to be on a new start line with plenty of opportunities for some underhand tricks.'

Obportus 3 – Philippe Burger: 'The weather is glorious. We’ve just rounded the Lizard, which was perfect. Things are getting a bit tough in terms of the weather, with the wind alternating between light, weak and virtually non-existent, but it’s nice to see the other boats so we’re happy. We’ve kept in contact with the fleet so far and now we’re criss-crossing trajectories with the other competitors. We had a few mechanical issues but everything’s resolved now. The grib files don’t correspond with what’s out here so we’re just working with what we have on the race zone. We’ll go the whole way, we are The Incredibles!'

Ranking: (at 1400 GMT)
1. Groupment Flo 658.9 miles to go
2. Campagne De France 0.48m astern
3. ERDF-Des pieds et Des mains 0.76m astern
4. Gdf Suez 0.86m astern
5. Team Picoty-Lac De Vassiviere 1.48m astern
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