The Incoming high pressure zone ramps up stress for final miles for Transat CIC IMOCA leaders.
While the IMOCA race leader Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA) was still making more than 20 kts this afternoon, a nerve racking slow down is still expected for the final miles to the finish of the Transat CIC solo race from Lorient to New York.
The winner of last Autumn’s solo race in the opposite direction, from Martinique to Lorient, Richomme may be on course to do the double on his first time ever sailing into New York, but in the light conditions which are forecast when a high pressure ridge imposes itself across the route into the finish line, anything could happen.
The 40 year old French ace has many times proven a level about his rivals – most recently on that Retour à la Base when he leveraged a small tactical hitch into a significant lead.
But this time at 330 miles to the finish he can feel the hot breath of Germany’s Boris Herrmann (Malizia Seaexplorer) who is just 16 miles behind (or just over an hour at current speeds) and Britain’s Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur) who is a further 40 miles behind her German rival.
With it being likely that if the shut down does occur overnight it will happen from the front, and the weather modelling is far from clear on this and the foiling IMOCAs will keep moving well in just 10 or 11 knots of breeze, then the international skippers Herrmann and Davies still have a fighting chance of victory.
And one might add their names the last non French winners on this race which was started in England in 1960, Ellen MacArthur who won at the age of 23 into Newport in 2000 and Mike Golding who won into Boston in 2004.
Led by Ambrogio Beccaria on Alla Grande Pirelli, the top Class 40s have now passed below the symbolic 1000 miles to the finish.
They are sailing downwind in 35 knots of established wind with gusts to 40 knots, conditions which are not usual according to Francis Le Goff . Making speeds worthy of an IMOCA – 19-21 kts – Beccaria is on fire on his Musa 40.
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