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Transat 650

Jorg Riechers first to round Cape Finisterre

Thursday 29 September 2011Information Transat 650

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"5 to 6 knots wind from south / southwest. Moderate sea with swell. Blue sky."(Luciole). "No wind. Calm sea."(Il ou Elle). "4 knots southwest wind. Deep swell from the west. North-west cross-swell."(Edulis). "Deep swell from the west. 5 knots wind." (Pen Ar Clos). "Sun, no wind, strong waves from the west" (Zidibule).

Whether they are at tail of the fleet, near the coast, in the middle of the pack or with the leading group, the indications of the escort boats of the Charente-Maritime/BahiaTransat 6.50 are similar and are not surprising. The conditions were forecasted so "quiet or very calm". They are indeed.

The 78 remaining contestants are seeking for a little breeze. The pressure will be for later; today’s objective is not to be caught in calm zones and to hope for hours to feel a gust. So everyone has more or less indicated a right turn.

Detour via west/northwest

They were four that, as one man, at dawn have chosen the option west / northwest: Bertrand Delesne (754 - Zone Large), Nicolas Boidevezi (719 - Défi GDE), David Raison (747 - Teamwork Evolution) ephemeral leader the day before and Aymeric Chappellier (788 - La Tortue de l’Aquarium - La Rochelle).

These four are chasing the leading duet Jorg Riechers (753 - Mare.de) and Sébastien Rogues (716 - Eole Génération - GDF Suez) in proto, which during the night had pushed them 23 miles away. Those four have almost turned their back to the direct route for several hours, before shifting on the "most logical" southwest option. They, of course, lost some more miles, but in the early afternoon, they seemed to have regained some wind by being more west than the leaders. Not much admittedly, but when Raison sails at 6.88 knots and Delesne at 6,86 knots, Riechers was topping at 6.39 knots. Will this unexpected detour allow them to find Aeolus first? If they did, it is because they hope so. Time will tell if they were right.

Nevertheless, it is obvious that "the northern" surf Surf #Surf faster and even if they are not on the direct route leading to Funchal (given the circumstances, it may be that some even go flirt with the Azores), they are moving in the right direction. Gently. Slowly.

Good deal for Llul and Guo

The night has been favourable to the unexpected Eric Llul (566 – Noble Cocoa) that took control in Series. The cocoa engineer has rushed west earlier than the others and has found (partly) when he has been looking for. He sails at good speed Speed #speedsailing – according- to the forecast. That enables to keep the pressure on one of the favourites Davy Beaudart (674 – Innovea Environnement Environnement ) and on the veteran of the race Jean-Claude Guilloneau (473 – Zerline). Jean-Claude was grumpy the day before the start. He said: “I did this transat again to enjoy great surfs and now, they promise us no wind and beating… I do not like it.” But he is doing great so far.

Thus, today’s sprinter is Chinese. The first ever Chinese to take part to this race, Chan Guo (487 – Vasa) has, since the start gunshot, chosen the North option. He has been really out of the game but he did not change one iota. He just made an incredible come back. 12th at dawn, he was 7th at noon. But mostly, when the other boats was racing at 4,5 knots, he was sailing at 6 knots speed Speed #speedsailing . Guo, should been very lonely over there in the North but now Pierre Cizeau (746 – Masqhôtel), Fabrice Sorin (781 – Cartoffset) and Benoit Mariette (599 – Odalys Vacances) seem to have made the same choice and going to meet the same route than Guo.


Classement Prototypes le 29/09/2011 à 12h00 (heures françaises) – 33 inscrits

  • 1. Jorg Riechers (753 – Mare.de) à 917 milles de l’arrivée
  • 2. Sébastien Rogues (719 – Eole Génaration – GDF Suez) à 923,95 milles de l’arrivée
  • 3. Bertrand Delesne (754 – Zone Large) à 754,14 milles de l’arrivée

Classement Série le 26/09/2011 à 12h00 (heures françaises) – 46 inscrits

  • 1. Eric Llull (566 – Noble Cocoa) à 773,82 milles de l’arrivée
  • 2. Davy Beaudart (674 - Innovéa Environnement) à 779,46 milles de l’arrivée
  • 3. Jean-Claude Guillonneau (473 - Zerline) à 780,38 milles de l’arrivée


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