The battle has already begun

“And we’re off for the Vendée Arctique!” First video and first smile for Corentin Horeau. The MACSF skipper, who was in a particularly good position at the start, savoured the moment just like all his fellow competitors. “It was lovely weather and a lovely sea with the lads alongside and an incredible start!” Under a sun that serves as a reminder that summer is just around the corner, conditions were particularly light. “We had between 5 and 8 knots of wind as we crossed the line,” says Mathias Louarn, the race director.

Already two distinct strategies

No sailor made a mistake, the line wasn’t crossed too early, and there were no technical glitches. So all systems were go for the battle to begin. The light winds made one man happy: Nico d’Estais. Whilst his centreboarder struggles to keep up with the foiling boats in rougher conditions, that wasn’t the case this afternoon.  “I’m surrounded by Élodie (Bonafous), Violette (Dorange) and Sam (Goodchild),” he smiles in a video. “As long as the wind doesn’t pick up, that’s how it’ll stay.”

At that moment, Nico was pondering which route to take as they approached Île d’Yeu. Two strategies emerged: a more westerly course, taken by Manu Cousin (Coup de Pouce) and Arnaud Boissières (April Marine – seeking co-sponsor), and the rest of the fleet, which passed between Île d’Yeu and the coast. “The key at the start of the race is to position yourself to the west; some tried to make that initial move to maintain their position,” explains Mathias Louarn. 

“Tomorrow, the real action begins”

In the main fleet, the seven other sailors are bunched within two miles of each other. They have left Île d’Yeu to their west and are now approaching the first exclusion zone, the wind farm off Île d’Yeu. They will be able to round it either to the east or the west, which could break up the group. In any case, the sailors will continue to make progress in light winds. “Later this afternoon and overnight, they should have fairly light north to north-westerly winds,” explains the race director. 

It should be a relatively quiet night, although that’s never really the case in ocean racing. “They’re sailing close to the coast, so they need to watch out for fishing nets, traps and the many pleasure craft in the area,” Mathias Louarn points out. The skippers also need to get back into the rhythm of solo racing after a week of preparations and inevitably intense demands. “We’ll have the night to get back into the swing of things,” admits Corentin Horeau. And then? “The serious business begins,” adds the MACSF skipper. “We’ll have strong winds as we head up to southern Brittany and then on towards Ireland.” It promises to be a hell of a day, even at this early stage, in their long journey northwards.