16th CIC Normandy Channel Race - Day 3

16th CIC Normandy Channel Race © Jean-Marie Liot

The 16th CIC Normandy Channel Race fleet has spent the entire day navigating meaty conditions. The 25-30 knots of SW'ly wind and heavy seas in the area have made it a real slog to gain access to the Wolf Rock mark, which has resulted in another six regrettable retirements among the competitors today.

However, nearly all the duos have now rounded the lighthouse off Land's End and half of those have even rounded the Chaussée de Sein cardinal, the new compulsory course mark. Despite the harsh conditions then, the Class40s are making headway at a fair old lick. Within this context, the Class40 Esprit Large (209) is leading the way. Corentin Douguet and Axel Tréhin were first around the Breton mark at 12:49 hours French time, before they began tackling the climb up to Fastnet with a slight advantage of 18 nautical miles or so over their rivals.

The lighthouse at the south-west tip of Ireland should be visible to the front of the pack by mid-afternoon tomorrow, Wednesday, after a long sprint on port tack for 263 nautical miles or so. From there, the fleet will head straight back towards Ouistreham via the compulsory course mark of Guernsey, since a second course change has been implemented by Race Management.

Bodies may be bruised and minds weary but the sailors are holding up. The sailing conditions have not been kind to those competing in the CIC Normandy Channel Race 2025 over the past 24 hours.

"The passage across the English Channel was really full-on. There were very heavy, breaking seas, causing the boats to fall flat on their noses," says Fabien Delahaye, skipper of the Class40 Legallais (199) and the event's current reigning champion. "The climb up to Fastnet is shaping up to be challenging as we navigate the rough seas and strong winds on a beam reach," adds the skipper from Caen.

Meantime, Thimoté Polet, skipper of the Class40 Zeiss (208) paints a slightly different picture: "The past 24 hours have been lively but we've managed to organise ourselves to get enough sleep to ensure we feel fresh to deal with the complicated moments. The next section up to Fastnet will be a straight, high-speed dash and we should have time to continue getting some rest and preparing for the next stage of the race."

Indeed, the next section of racetrack has undergone further adjustments on the instruction of Race Management. Mindful of the event schedule and given the tough conditions already endured by the sailors, Race Management, in consultation with the organisation team, has decided to remove the Tuskar Rock course mark. The programme for the coming days then is to make straight for Ouistreham via the compulsory course mark of Guernsey.

The low pressure system sweeping across the Celtic Sea this Tuesday 27 May will quickly give way to more manageable conditions for the skippers. In fact, the sailors are set to round the legendary Fastnet rock with a fair breeze of around 10-15 knots.

From there, weather conditions will continue to improve as Thimothé Polet explains at today's radio link-up: "spinnaker sailing and light patches await us around Cherbourg so it promises to be a crucial phase in this CIC Normandy Channel Race."

After a physically exhausting start to the race then, a tactical and strategic phase of navigation awaits the competitors over the coming days. Doubtless this will test their nerve and it is bound to have a number of surprises in store for the fleet. As such, the crew who strikes the best balance between preserving the sailor and sailing fast to avoid falling off the pace of the leading pack may well secure an advantage in this decisive final phase.

Event website: normandy-race.com/en