Class40 Fleet Enjoys Fast Sailing in Les Sables – Horta – Les Sables Race
Since their departure from Les Sables d’Olonne on Saturday in summer-like conditions, the 27 Class40 boats competing in the Les Sables – Horta – Les Sables race have been putting on a spectacular show. From light winds at Cape Finisterre to a torn sail, dolphin sightings, and now exhilarating downwind sailing in a strong breeze, the first leg has had all the ingredients for a thrilling race.
After a challenging start marked by tricky conditions at Cape Finisterre – light and very shifty winds – the fleet is now spread out, but the leading boats remain tightly packed. Less than 10 nautical miles separate the top ten! “These are insignificant gaps,” says Race Director Denis Hugues. “The boats are sailing within sight of each other.”
Eora Leads the Charge
At the front of the pack, Eora is leading the way. On board is a Franco-Australian duo, including co-skipper Antoine Carpentier, winner of the 2021 edition, who is determined to play a leading role:
“What a race! We are having a great time aboard Eora. We were accompanied by dolphins all night again, and yesterday afternoon we were even lucky enough to see a whale. The battle is good with two French crews, an Italian and a Spanish… Who said the Class40 wasn’t international?”
The conditions are ideal for these monohulls designed for offshore sailing: “real sleds,” according to the skipper, who is enjoying this long downwind slide.
Close Racing Behind the Leader
Behind Eora, the race is on. Legallais, Seafrigo – Sogestran, VSF Sports, and Maccaferri Futura are neck and neck in a very dynamic leading group.
“We are a small group of four boats. We are sailing downwind with spinnakers; we are waiting for a transition to switch to gennakers. All is well on board,” explains Fabien Delahaye, skipper of Legallais. “We weren’t very inspired at Cape Finisterre, with quite a few maneuvers last night to avoid entering the TSS. Now it’s a long leg towards the Azores.”
On VSF Sports, Spaniards Pep Costa and Pablo Santurde confirm the intensity of this leg: “Since passing Cape Finisterre, we have been heading straight for the Azores. It’s intense. We will have to hold on.” The duo is confident, despite a difficult night: “We had to stay focused on the settings, with very shifty winds. We are doing well because we are following the plan we had in mind.”
Tactical Choices and Setbacks
North of the fleet, Alternative Sailing / Constructions du Belon is second despite a slight setback. “We tore our large spinnaker yesterday, which penalized us, but now it’s a little better,” says Guillaume Lhostis. The duo opted for a more northerly trajectory to “open up the game,” in an area less congested by competitor traffic.
Other crews are trying to catch up with the leading fleet, such as Vogue avec un Crohn, currently around 11th place: “We are trying to find the controls to catch up with the friends in front… It’s not easy, they are going fast!” says Pierre-Louis Attwell, who is sailing in a small group of pursuers. “Rounding Cape Finisterre was not easy with areas of light wind.”
Challenges at the Back of the Fleet
At the rear, the conditions are more capricious. Some boats are still off Cape Finisterre and are significantly behind. This is the case for ESATCO, which chose to bypass the TSS to the north: “There was no wind to the south, we couldn’t go there,” explains Nicolas Guibal. “We have fallen a little behind, but we are catching the wind again after a long day yesterday.”
As conditions are expected to remain stable and strong in the coming hours, the fleet should continue to progress rapidly towards the Azores archipelago. The first boats are expected in Horta on Thursday morning. And at this rate, the gaps are likely to remain minimal until the end.
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