A fifteen-mile margin now separates the top five boats in the Class40 fleet at the front of the Route du Rhum, and the gap is closing by the hour. Guillaume Pirouelle (Sogestran-Seafrigo) still leads, but Pierre Leboucher (Institut Imagine) and Robin Follin (Solano) are closing in, poised to strike.
What lies ahead matters more than who leads today. A heavy weather front looms, and surviving it intact is shaping up as the fleet's next real test. Depressions and squalls have already turned the race into a weather puzzle in recent days, rewriting routes across all six fleets.
Pirouelle has felt his advantage shrink. "I'd built up a bit of a lead, but my pursuers got better conditions and the gaps have closed right up. It was expected, but it's never pleasant," he said. "I went through a slower patch late in the day and early in the night, crossing a front, before the wind came back. The battle stays intense."
Another system waits beyond this one, and by his account, it sounds worse.
"As we get closer to the centre of the low, we'll need to stay particularly alert," Pirouelle said. "Conditions are going to become much more unstable, with wind shifts that could be very strong and very sudden. It's really that passage that demands attention. After that, in strong wind, it'll be hard to get any rest. The system should stay with us as we head south-west, which means we could be in difficult conditions for a day and a half, maybe two days. We've already seen plenty of damage in the fleet these last few days and nobody wants to be added to that list. We'll need to be careful."
That damage has already been real elsewhere in the fleet. Armel Le Cléac'h and Mathieu Perraut both capsized, stark proof of how fast conditions can turn on a solo sailor.
For now, though, there's a window to breathe.
"At the moment we're lucky because conditions are really pleasant. Apart from a patch of light wind, the sea is quite smooth, the boat's sailing itself and it's good for resting," he said. "Today the goal is to make the most of this breather, because what's coming promises to be far less comfortable. Yesterday I managed to check the front of the boat to make sure nothing was wrong. And just being able to move around on board without having to hold on at every step, that feels good. You can eat a bit better, live more simply, sleep more deeply. Since yesterday my sleep's been heavier, and I think that's directly linked to the conditions improving. But that's going to change fast."
The calm is only a pause. Everyone at the front of the fleet knows what's coming next.
