Following the passage of storms Ciaran and Domingos, a big start is on the cards for the IMOCAs and racing resumes for the Class40 and Ocean Fifty.
- The Class40 and Ocean FiftyRacing restart from Lorient Monday 6 November.
- The 40 IMOCAs will start from Le Havre on Tuesday 7 November.
At the start of the week a suitable weather window is set to open which will allow all of the record fleet of 40 IMOCAs to start the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre two handed race to Martinique on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile the six Ocean Fifty multihulls and Class 40 fleet will resume their race Monday from Lorient where they were stopped to avoid the storm force winds and big seas.
To avoid the worst winds and the deep low forecast for the 11th-12th, a mark has been put in place that the sailors will have to pass to take them to the South.
That is Santa Maria in the Azores for the IMOCA and Class40 boats and a waypoint in the south for the Ocean Fifty boats.
Monday at 10:30hrs local time, the six Ocean Fifty will set sail on the second leg between Lorient and Fort de France leaving the island of Sal (Cape Verde) to starboard.
This 4320-mile long course will mean that the duos will have to dive south as soon as they are out of the Bay of Biscay. Their speeds should allow them to get away from the front moving into the near Atlantic on Wednesday.
At 10:45hrs local time on Monday, the Class40 boats will set sail on a 3500-mile long course to Fort de France, leaving the island of Santa Maria (Azores) to starboard.
Two boats have officially retired in the Class40 class (Movember and Acrobatica). Three boats are undergoing repairs (Crédit Mutuel, Sogestrans-Seafrigo and Dékuple top image) and they have said they intend to set sail again on Monday.
Tuesday at 9:30 a.m local time, the 40 IMOCAs will start from Le Havre on a 3,750 mile course that also leaves the island of Santa Maria (Azores) to starboard.
ULTIM Fleet Sunday 5 November 15:00 Hrs
1st Maxi Banque Populaire XI – 23.8 kts 4,137 nm to finish
2nd Maxi Edmond De Rothschild – 24.4 kts +85 nm
3rd SVR Lazartigue – 24.7 kts +103 nm
4th Sodebo Ultim 3 – 21.1 kts +153 nm
5th Actual Ultim 3 – 9.5 kts +214 nm
ETA arrivals in Fort-de-France in Martinique for the 4 classes:
– ULTIM: between 12 November in the evening and 13 November in the morning
– IMOCA: 17 November
– Ocean Fifty: 18 November
– Class40: 22 November
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