Corentin Horeau is the next skipper due across the finish line in the Route du Rhum, with the MACSF IMOCA sailor expected late on Tuesday local time. The wind, however, has other ideas. A stubborn patch of light air is testing his patience before he reaches dry land and the flavours of Guadeloupe.
That same lull has already turned the finish into a nail-biter further up the fleet, where Thibaut Vauchel-Camus is hunting down race leader Basile Bourgnon in the Ocean Fifty class.
Becalmed, basically. "The scenery has completely changed! I've managed to make progress with three small puffs of wind, but I'm on the helm constantly. It's quite funny, it feels like a Figaro race! The whole fleet seems a bit stuck in the lull. Sometimes you get a great phase, dead straight on course, you think it's all sorted. You go for a quick nap, you wake up, everything's still fine, and five minutes later you have to tack because the wind has swung round the other way! There's really nothing out there. But according to the weather files, it should pick up again, first for us in the southern group. You just need patience. It would be good to start making progress, because I can't wait to see you all again!"
Keen to arrive. "I've dropped below the 100-mile mark to Tête à l'Anglais, which is wonderful. I'm sick of it, for sure, but I also tell myself I could be 200 miles further back. When I start getting worked up and the pressure builds, I repeat to myself: calm down, you could be in a far worse position! So I try to keep the boat moving as best I can. I'm not sleeping that well, with the excitement of what's coming. There are still Ocean Fifty boats around, which is nice company. We were sick of going flat out, now we're getting plenty of that! It's true we're never happy: when it's too fast we want to slow down, and vice versa. It's all very uneven."
Closing in on Guadeloupe now, sargassum weed is an added headache. "Normally in an IMOCA it's not too much of a problem, but after a while, if you don't clear it off the rudders, the pilot starts doing strange things. I also know I need to get some sleep before the lap around Guadeloupe. Several people have reminded me of that! But it's very hot, and I made a bit of a silly call. I went to extremes and pulled out all the fans to save weight. Now I'm paying for it a little! Inside, it's almost unbearable. I managed a short nap outside, with a light breath of air, and that was actually quite pleasant."
The warmer conditions are no surprise, with the whole Rhum fleet finally trading quarter-watch jackets for t-shirts as the warmer seas close in.
On his finish, he's hoping for daylight. "I hope to be at Tête à l'Anglais before sunset in Guadeloupe. After that, the lap around the island can take a while. I'd really like to arrive in daylight because, so far, I've always arrived at night and it's starting to wear me down! From the start, I've only been plotting my routing as far as Tête à l'Anglais, just to rough things out. But I'm regularly ahead of the forecasts, so maybe I'll get there a bit earlier than expected."
