Route du Rhum: after 48 hours of racing, François Gabart draws up his first logbook


Martin Lange, edited by Romain Rouillard

While the 130 skippers still involved in this Route du Rhum are currently heading for Pointe-à-Pitre, François Gabart, winner of the 2014 edition, gives an overview of the race for Europe 1. The 39-year-old sailor expects more maneuvers in the hours to come.

They set out to conquer the Atlantic. The 130 skippers still competing in this 12th edition of the Route du Rhum are setting sail for Guadeloupe. The fastest of them must dismount in the West Indies within a few days while eight abandonments are already to be reported, including that of Armel Le Cléac’h, victim of damage. Still in the race, François Gabart, winner in 2014, draws up a daily logbook for Europe 1 in which he discusses the sailing conditions of the last few hours and what awaits him for the coming days.

“Today we are in somewhat tough conditions because we are crossing a front,” he says in a sequence where we can hear the sound of the waves crashing on the boat. “But it’s pretty nice, we’re not in the worst part of this front,” he continues. The skipper maintains “a good speed” and underlines the few sail changes he had to make. “There haven’t been many maneuvers in the last few hours, which has allowed me to sleep,” he says.

Little sleep in the next few hours

A rest that promises to be short-lived. “Once we’ve passed the front, we’ll have to maneuver and change sails. Paradoxically, sometimes it’s when there’s little wind, behind the front, that we have to maneuver to get out of the way. this windless area,” he explains. The hours of sleep should therefore be reduced to a bare minimum in the hours to come.

Not enough to impress this seasoned sailor, winner in 2014, therefore, but also titled in the mythical Vendée Globe in 2015 and in the Transat Jacques-Vabre also in 2015.





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