After nearly 48 hours at sea in the third edition of the Vendée Arctique, the fleet is flying along, very close to the Irish coast.
Sailing solo, non-stop, and without assistance, they will cross the Arctic Circle at the point of their choosing and return to the Vendée port.
Leader Tuesday morning is Sam Goodchild on MACIF Sante Prevoyance sailing at 19.9 knots.
Second is Elodie Bonafous on Association Petits Princes – Queguiner (+43 nm) and third Violette Dorange on Initiatives Coeur (+89 nm).
The boats have been on port tack all the way to Ireland and are set to continue on this point of sailing as they power-reach north.
Up ahead, the west-northwesterly air flow still dominates for the next day or so, but then the weather options become more complicated as the boats race towards five exclusion zones designed to protect sea mammals, which are positioned between Scotland and Iceland.
In the longer term, there is also the question of which side of Great Britain the boats use to return from the Arctic Circle to the finish at Les Sables d’Olonne, France.
Monday the second-placed skipper, Corentin Horeau (FRA) onboard MACSF, was forced to retire and return to Lorient after the staysail tack fitting pulled out.
