Normandy Channel Race 2026 Day 4 - Epic ride in the English Channel for the Class40s

Alderan during the Normandy Channel Race 2026 © Jean-Marie Liot / CIC NCR2026

The Class40 LEGALLAIS reached the Wolf Rock lighthouse on the southwest tip of England in the lead. Wednesday, June 3 at 05:03: SOGESTRAN-SEAFRIGO rounded the mark off Dieppe in the lead.

Between these two points, the leading group was 12:00 off the Côtes d'Armor at the Portsall mark and 21:00 at Cap de la Hague at the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula. A thrilling ride in the English Channel, and an exceptional event for both the CIC NORMANDY CHANNEL RACE, which has certainly seen its share of challenges, and the Class40 class. Speedometers and averages soared throughout the day, reminiscent of certain stages of the GLOBE40: VSF SPORTS reached a top speed of 29 knots, while the leaders in the Raz Blanchard, with the current, reached 22 knots.

The speedometer rarely dipped below 20 knots during this exhilarating day sailing downwind in 20 to 30 knots of wind. Unfortunately, the day was also marked by the dismasting of ZEISS, skippered by Thimoté Polet and Alexandre Demange, at 6:00 PM, though the crew escaped unharmed. A final, tactical phase awaits the competitors, with an upwind leg in strong winds over approximately 80 miles from Dieppe to Ouistreham, where the first boats are expected between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM.

Having rounded the Dieppe mark in first place this morning, the Le Havre-based project of Guillaume Pirouelle and Jules Ducelier, SOGESTRAN-SEAFRIGO, will have already covered 730 nautical miles since departing Caen/Ouistreham last Sunday, averaging 11.30 knots. It's been a complex course in the challenging English Channel, with the calms of the Solent passage and a highly tactical route where, apart from the stretch between Wolfrock and Portsall, tacking has been essential, whether upwind or downwind.

The competition is relentless in the leading group, as in all aspects of the race. While the Le Havre boat had a 40-minute lead at Dieppe, with the start of the upwind leg, they now only have a 4 to 6 nautical mile advantage over the first group of pursuers: VSF SPORTS, CUSTOPOL, and MACCAFERRI FUTURA. The day promises to be very challenging given the weather forecast for the area: 20 to 25 knots from the southwest in the morning, 25 to 30 knots with gusts up to 35 knots in the afternoon, followed by a calmer phase at 20-25 knots from 6:00 PM onwards. A southwest/south wind is expected to prevent the sea area from becoming too rough, and the Cotentin Peninsula is providing protection from the worst of the low-pressure system.

In the leading group of 10, LEGALLAIS and BLANC BLEU PLANETE LOCATION are neck and neck as they round Dieppe, while SOLANO and HIRSCH-CENTRAKOR are expected to follow at this mark. An intermediate group of 6 Class40s is spread out between 62 and 78 nautical miles behind the leader, led by the all-female crew of ALDERAN, Sasha Laniece and Axelle Pillain, whose performance deserves recognition. Logically, the two "pointus" (classic Class40s with pointed bows) are bringing up the rear, as the downwind legs in the breeze don't allow them to compete with the latest technology Class40s known as "scows" (with rounded bows). The Class40 SIRECO-OSE is planning a technical stopover in Cherbourg.

So, a final, highly tactical, and exciting episode will conclude this 17th CIC NORMANDY CHANNEL RACE, decidedly never the same, "yet never quite different", as the poet says (Baudelaire). A thrilling epilogue to a unique event, just as the race itself has been from the very first minutes of the coastal course last Sunday. And twists and turns are never out of the question before the final crossing of the finish line: a record to beat - a 6-second gap between the first two finishers!

To follow the race: normandy-race.com/suivre-la-course