The second in the last Vendée Globe broke away slightly at the head of the Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race in tough conditions.
They don’t hang around, it’s not the kind of house. After leaving Brest on Sunday afternoon, the first of the 24 sailors in the Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race, the first event of the Imoca season, rounded the famous Fastnet rock on Monday. And it was Charlie Dalin, second in the last Vendée Globe, who was the first, this Monday at 4:12 p.m., to greet the legendary Irish rock and begin the descent to the Gallimard crossing point off the coast of Spain.
Even though the first night of racing slowed down the Imoca monohulls, the 24 sailors were quick to pick up some wind on Monday morning, with a drastic change in the weather and gusts of 25-30 knots which hardened this first part of race. And plunged the skippers back into an atmosphere “fight on board“, far removed from that which the earthlings live under a hot sun.
“Since the beginning of the afternoon, it sends the block, it bombards really hard! It shakes a lot on board. You have to readapt to high speeds soloconfirmed Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut), in 3rd position, 14 miles behind Charlie Dalin and 7 miles behind Jérémie Beyou (Charal) in the 6 p.m. standings, the latter being raised 45 minutes from Dalin when passing the Fastnet.
This trio has dug a micro gap with the rest of the fleet led by Nicolas Lunven (Banque Populaire), double winner of the Solitaire du Figaro and who is making a good start to his first solo race in Imoca. Far behind, and while a front passage is announced for this Monday evening, the Hungarian Szabolcs Weores retired following problems with communication and navigation systems. Not enough to disturb the leader and his pursuers engaged in a terrible chase