Class 40. Aymeric Chappellier, one of the favorites in the category, is also an experienced router. And he is planning a difficult time from Tuesday. He explains his routing in video. Be careful, it will go out of business.
North or South Route
"If we take the routes, a bit raw, we would go to Iceland. This is called video game routing, the one that is done in an armchair. But frankly, there is no point in going to put in there, we will take the depressions burst, and we do not know where it will lead us. This routing, gives an arrival in 13 days and a half. After, no routing that avoids the bulk of the sea and the wind. We will cross the tip of Brittany, with a small depression that is located in the Bay of Biscay and whose center is located higher or lower depending on the model. "
Big depression inevitable Tuesday
"Tuesday we will face a second depression, which is a big phenomenon. This depression is very wide since it is located all over the North Atlantic, and it is beefy. Between Newfoundland and the Gulf inlet, the winds are between 35 and 40 knots over thousands of miles. It generates 6 to 7 m of swell. In a sea against the wind, it will raise waves of 8 m, minimum. Before the front, the wind will be oriented to the south west, in the center of Guadeloupe, at 237 °. To fetch this front where there will be 40 to 45 knots of wind and 7/8 m of waves. The transfer, behind the Front will surely be the most scabrous moment, with a sea that will come from the side. It will be necessary to be careful not to be rolled ... We will remain safe and try not to break the boat. What is certain is that we will take dear, we Class 40, and most of the class Rhum boats. "
Faster than in 2014, but not much
"We do not have a very favorable start. After the Brittany downhill, we will do a little reaching, but compared to 2014, we should not win much. For now, we plan a crossing in just under 16 days. We did some routing with the weather last week and it made us arrive in 13 days! Of course we would never have imagined that 10 years ago. Our boats have performances close to the Imocas of 2002. We easily exceed 350 miles per day, and I think that with favorable conditions, we can pass the bar of 400 miles. "
A very high plateau
"There are many excellent skippers. We can mention Phil Sharp, Nicolas Troussel, Yoan Richomme, Luke Berry, Loïc Fequet, Sam Goodchild ... and others. The reliability of the current Class40s and the high level of preparation of the boats, even if we can expect some damage to the passage of the 2nd front. Well whoever will say who will win in Class40, this Route du Rhum. But, it's my goal, it's clear. "