Topics in this article
- Transat CIC: Boris Herrmann with caution in the top ten
- Justine Mettraux fights her way forward in the Transat CIC
- First failures in the Transat CIC
The opening show at the Transat CIC belongs to Charlie Dalin. The 39-year-old from Le Havre, who had to skip the two Transats at the end of 2023 for health reasons, is making an almost spectacular comeback. With his Verdier design "Macif Santé Prévoyance" from 2022, Dalin, who himself studied yacht design in Southampton, had already sailed to a lead of almost 20 nautical miles over his first rival Yoann Richomme ("Paprec Arkéa") after day one on Monday evening at 6 pm.
He was followed by Nico Lunven ("Holcim - PRB"), Paul Meilhat ("Biotherm"), Justine Mettraux ("Teamwork - Team Snef"), Louis Burton ("Bureau Vallée"), Maxime Sorel ("V and B - Monbana - Mayenne") and Boris Herrmann on "Malizia - Seaexplorer" in eighth place after several changes of position. Jérémie Beyou ("Charal"), who had been in the top two for a long time, suddenly dropped back on Monday afternoon. The live tracker showed the Frenchman on his way back before there was any official information on the reasons for this.
Transat CIC: Boris Herrmann with caution in the top ten
"Malizia - Seaexplorer" skipper Boris Herrmann had taken the reins of his 2022 Imoca a little shorter towards the end of the first night at sea in winds of more than 30 knots for reasons of caution, while others continued to push hard. As a result, Boris Herrmann initially slipped back a few places in the ranking before he was able to make up some ground. In his first report from on board, Boris Herrmann had already described the night's progress from his point of view on Monday morning:
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"The first night at sea was okay. At one point I was in sixth position, things were going well and then, at the very end of the strong wind and swell, some of the others pushed a bit harder. I had the feeling that it was already pretty tough for the boat. So I lost a bit this morning. I can see Justine Mettraux on the right and I can also see Maxime Sorel on the AIS. The wind has dropped, it's 12 to 16 knots with a very choppy sea, which was the real problem last night. Sailing against this swell was a bit crazy for the boat. Nothing broke, everything was fine. But there were a few very hard bumps into the waves. That night I sailed with J3 and one reef. It was already rough with 30 knots of wind against the swell. That made it quite uncomfortable. But then the wind came up, just a little under 30 knots. Everything as predicted, the models came true, so there's not so much to report from the last night on board the Malizia - Seaexplorer. All good. I didn't really get much sleep, but I'll make up for that now. Voilà, I hope you all have a great day."
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Like Boris Herrmann, at least the majority of the fleet seems to have survived the initial hardships on the way to the finish in New York largely unscathed after the boats passed the TSS exclusion zone at Ushant around midnight. At the front, sailing conditions have now improved. The leading Imocas have already passed the southern tip of Ireland.
Justine Mettraux fights her way forward in the Transat CIC
Justine Mettraux reported on her challenging start on Monday: "I had a few communication problems, no satellite connection and couldn't send or receive anything, but that's solved now. Yes, it was an exhausting night trying to make the boat fast and not do any damage during the sail changes. I'm going to try and get some food and some sleep to prepare for the next 20 hours, which should be a bit calmer. So all's well!"
And how well! Justine Mettraux moved up into the top five by Monday evening. The Brit Sam Davies was in tenth place at the time. "L'Occitane En Provence" skipper Clarisse Crémer had recently risen to 13th place. The German-French skipper Isabelle Joschke, on the other hand, was in 19th place and travelling suspiciously slowly.
Among the other non-French participants, the Italian Giancarlo Pedote on "Prismyan" was able to fight his way past Clarisse Crémer on "L'Occitane En Provence" and into 13th place. The Japanese Kojiro Shiraishi ("DMG Mori Global One") was initially in 19th place, while the British James Harayda (Gentoo Sailing Team) and the German-Swiss Ollie Heer (Oliver Heer Ocean Racing) were in 23rd and 29th place respectively in their battles to qualify for the Vendée Globe.
First failures in the Transat CIC
Race director Francis Le Goff explained the alignment of the fleet, which is distributed somewhat crosswise in a north-south direction. The experienced French transat conductor assumes that the routings "will probably offer alternative solutions in the south" and that not everyone will head for the northernmost point, as was the case with the performance routing. Following yesterday's withdrawal of Jean Le Cam ("Tout commence en Finistère - Armor Lux") for personal reasons, there are now 46 sailors in three divisions still at sea in the Transat CIC.
However, Arnaud Boissières ("La Mie Câline") had informed the race organisers during the night that he was returning to Les Sables d'Olonne with foil damage. However, Boissières has not yet officially abandoned the race. Neither has Jérémie Beyou, who apparently turned back on Monday evening.
At the same time, the suspense continues in the Class40, where five favourites are battling it out at the front. Nicolais d'Estais ("Café Joyeux"), Ian Lipinski ("Crédit Mutuel"), Fabien Delahaye ("Legallais Team Voile"), Ambrogio Beccaria ("Alla Grande Pirelli") and Alberto Bona ("Ibsa") were separated by less than seven nautical miles after 28 hours. Behind them, Amélie Grassi ("La Boulangère Bio"), the only female skipper in the field of 13 Class 40 yachts, remained close to the leading male quintet, eleven nautical miles behind "Café Joyeux".
Replay! The transmission of the start of the Transat CIC off Lorient:
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