Top News

Now in the trade winds, the foiling Open 60 can show off their qualities: In flat water and moderate winds of around 20 knots, they are chasing southwards at 30 knots. ----- Sam Goodchild GBR ('Vulnerable') is back in the lead, Sébastien Simon FRA ('Groupe Dubreuil') follows 42 miles behind, and Charlie Dalin FRA ('Macif') has moved up to third place, 58 miles back. Jean Le Cam FRA ('Tout commence en Finistère') dropped back to 11th place, with Justine Mettraux SUI ('Teamwork/Team SNEF') right behind in 12th place, 122 miles behind. Alan Roura SUI ('Hublot') and Oliver Heer SUI ('Tut gut') follow in 34th and 36th, respectively. ----- The race tracker and the reports.

François Gabart FRA and his team have been on stand-by in Lorient since Monday to wait for a suitable weather window for their round-the-world record attempt. The record is 40 days and 23 hours, set in 2017 by Francis Joyon FRA and his trimaran 'IDEC'. ----- The report.

Jean Le Cam FRA (tout commence en Finistère) back in the lead! Yesterday, Jean Le Cam FRA was the first to reach the trade winds and accelerate: This morning he is ahead by 48 miles. The next hurdle now is to find the best passage through the Doldrums. South of the Cape Verde Islands, Le Cam is heading west. The first chasing group with all the favorites has also reached the trade wind zone this morning. Among them is Justine Mettraux SUI ('Teamwork/Team Snef'), 117 miles behind in 11th place. Boris Herrmann GER ('Malizia') follows in 23rd place, 211 miles behind. Alan Roura SUI ('Hublot') has lost a lot (320 miles behind) and is now 31st. Oliver Heer SUI ('tut gut') follows in 36th place. ----- The race tracker and the news.

Another change on top yesterday: in the lead is Sam Goodchild GBR ('Vulnerable'), one of the first in the western group to turn south and continues to benefit from good winds - still - as today, he will reach the flat transition zone to the trade winds. Sébastien Simon FRA follows in second place 38 miles behind, and Thomas Ruyant FRA ('Vulnerable') is already 70 miles behind in third place. Yesterday's leader Jean Le Cam FRA ranked 4th with a 96 miles backlog, currently in the doldrums on the extreme east of the course, is not far from the trade winds. Alan Roura SUI ('Hublot') has dropped back to 8th place, Justine Mettraux SUI ('Teamwork Team Snef') has improved to 14th place, 166 miles behind. Among the day's losers was Boris Herrmann GER ('Malizia'), who dropped back to 30th place, 266 miles off the leader. Directly behind him in 31st place is Oliver Heer SUI ('tut gut'). ----- The race tracker and the reports.

A spectacular 5th race of the 18-Footer Spring Championship was held yesterday in Sydney: at 25 to 30 knots, only 8 teams reached the starting line, 4 of which finished the race, characterized by capsizes and high-speed sailing. The experienced teams fought a close duel until the end, with Rag&Famish and Harry Price taking the win. ----- The replay (1h 45) and the report.

A race in a class of its own! The first week of racing at the Vendée already exceeded all expectations: Regular lead changes, record speeds, a compact fleet in which even the non-foilers kept up, inconsistent winds with many options for strategic attacks ! This morning Jean Le Cam FRA (Tout commence en Finistère) was still in the lead with his conventional Open 60. In the meantime, he has also reached the flat transition zone to the trade winds in the far east. Also sailing to the east of the fleet, Alan Roura SUI (Hublot) has moved up to second place, just 13 miles behind Le Cam! The former leaders, on the other hand, are sailing in the far west in fresh northerly winds, but are not making any progress towards the equator and are far behind in the classification. Two-time Paralympic gold medallist Damien Séguin FRA (Groupe Apicil) has moved up to 9th place (58 miles behind), Clarisse Cremer FRA (Occitane) is the best ranked woman in 10th place, 76 miles behind. The 23-year-old Violette Dorange FRA (Devenir) has moved up to 15th place, ahead of Boris Herrmann GER (Malizia - 18th place). The winners of the day also include Oliver Heer SUI (Tut gut), who has moved up to 20th place 169 miles behind, two miles ahead of Justine Mettraux SUI (Teamwork Team Snef) in 21st place. There are likely to be numerous changes of position again today. Who will reach the trade winds first ? Louis Burton FRA (Bureau Vallée), who was sailing in the top group in the west, reported structural damage with cracks in the deck, it is questionable whether he will be able to continue the race - the report. The race tracker and the reports.

As expected, there was an upheaval in the classification yesterday when the doldrums zone was reached: ----- Jean Le Cam FRA (Tout commence en Finistère) was able to get around the leading group in the doldrums in the east along the coast of Morocco and is also the only one sailing at a speed of more than 10 knots this morning. Gian-Carlo Pedote ITA ('Prysmian') is in 2nd place, 7 miles behind, Benjamin Ferré FRA ('Monnoyeur') is in 3rd, 25 miles behind. Alan Roura SUI ('Hublot') has made a huge leap to 4th place, 29 miles behind. Samantha Davis GBR ('Initiatives Coeur') is now the best classified woman in 6th place. Justine Mettraux SUI ('Teamwork/Team Snef') has dropped back to 17th place, 77 miles behind. Oliver Heer SUI (tut gut) was able to reduce his deficit to 156 miles and is now 31st. Jean Le Cam FRA is the only one trying his luck in the south. It remains to be seen who will be the first to reach the trade winds. The weather conditions are still very unusual. ----- The race tracker and the reports.

Maxime Sorel FRA was the first to retire from the Vendeés Globe yesterday: He injured his ankle and could barely walk. He also damaged his rig, and repairing the halyard swivel in the masthead was beyond his capabilities. The report.

After dominating the qualifications, Maxime Chabloz SUI and Bruna Kajiya BRA also came out on top in the finals. ----- This is Chabloz's first World Cup victory after a series of 2nd places. Arthur Guillebert FRA followed in 2nd place, Finn Flügel GER was 3rd. ----- In the women's final, Kaja Lehmann GER finished 4th behind the clear winner Bruna Kajiya BRA. ----- The results, the report and the Facebook page.