After nine days of racing, the Transat Paprec fleet remains tightly packed: at the 16:00 hrs ranking Tuesday 29 April.
Only 40 nautical miles (74 km) separated leaders Alexis Thomas and Pauline Courtois (Wings of the Ocean) from the next seven boats.
Despite the fatigue and repeated efforts, skipper Alexis Thomas on his first transatlantic race, and Pauline Courtois (Wings of the Ocean) are off to an impressive start.
Since their bold maneuver around La Palma on Sunday, they’ve held first place in the rankings.
After a particularly intense night between Monday and Tuesday, Alexis took the time to reflect on their performance and look ahead to the rest of the race. While their bodies are tired, their spirits are far from worn down.
“I think there’s going to be a big compression of the fleet soon. The weather models agree there’s a depression ahead to navigate around in two days, followed by a huge windless area spanning 500 miles (926 km).”
“We’ll need to decide whether to go north or south of it, but it’s still a bit early to tell. I’m studying every new weather model, comparing them… What’s certain is that more drama is coming !”
Tuesday afternoon, Jules Ducelier and Sophie Faguet, skippers of Région Normandie, announced their retirement from the race. The reason: the impossibility of repairing their two A2 spinnakers, which were damaged over the past few days. The duo is expected to reach Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, within five days.
This marks the second retirement for the same reason, following the withdrawal of Arno Biston and Vittoria Ripa Di Meana (Article.1) on Monday.
