At the head of the multi-class double-handed race is the duo Franck Cammas / Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild), which has passed off Lisbon and is sailing towards the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, at an average speed of 24 knots (44 km / h).

The skippers Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, aboard their maxi-trimaran "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild", during its delivery between Lorient and Le Havre, on October 27, 2021, where the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre will be given on the 7th November Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS AFP / Archives

In their wake are the four other Ultims (32m maxi-trimarans).

Much further back the Class 40, the slower category (12 m monohull), still cross the Bay of Biscay.

"We make knots in the brain! It's a bit of a permanent drawing of lots, we do what we can, we do our best. It goes right to left. We are not the happiest nor the most more unfortunate ", underlines to AFP David Sineau, co-skipper of Aurélien Ducroz (Crosscall), aboard one of the 45 sailboats of the Class 40.

The two sailors were able to enjoy during the night a rare spectacle offered by dozens of dolphins, who came to play around the hull.

"It's neat anyway, you have to know how to appreciate it", explains Ducroz, who knows that the road will be very long to Fort-de-France (Martinique).

"It's nerve-racking, I find it tough anyway! Overall it's okay, even if it's hard and complicated. Now we realize that it will be long, we are going to enjoy a long time is good!" , he adds.

On the Imoca side, the star boats of the Vendée Globe, Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat (Apivia) are still in the lead and sail off Cape Finisterre.

French skippers Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat perform maneuvers aboard their Class Imoca "Apivia" on September 24, 2021 off Concarneau, before the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, on November 7 from the port of Le Havre Fred TANNEAU AFP /Archives

Less at the party, Nicolas Troussel and Sébastien Josse (Corum L'Epargne) are chomping at the bit after a bad road option.

They occupy 16th place (out of 21 Imoca in the race).

"We have just mortgaged a lot of our chances, it's still the competition of the year, in two days we have spoiled everything a bit", laments Troussel, aboard a last generation boat and which had to abandon in the first days of the Vendée Globe 2020 after a dismasting.

"We had some misfortunes in the Vendée Globe, some real ones. Our goal in this race is to finish it, it's important after what happened to us in the Vendée. The sporting objective was to achieve a top 5, here we are far from it, we will fight to get back to it, ”he said.

Rankings Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.:

Monohulls

.

Class 40 (12.20 m)

1. La Manche #EvidenceNautique (FRA) 4,161.9 miles from the finish

(Nicolas Jossier, Alexis Loison)

2. Lamotte Module Création (FRA) 10.4 miles from the first

(Luke Berry, Achille Nebout)

3. Volvo (BEL) 14.1

(Jonas Gerckens, Benoit Hantzperg)

4. Edenred (FRA) 16.6

(Emmanuel Le Roch, Pierre Quiroga)

5. Milai (JPN) 21.1

(Masa Suzuki, Anne Beaugé)

.

Imoca (18.28 m)

1. Apivia (FRA) 5,080.2 miles from the finish

(Charlie Dalin, Paul Meilhat)

2. LinkedOut (FRA) 34.1 miles behind the leader

(Thomas Rouillard, Morgan Lagravière)

3. Initiatives-Cœur (GBR) 55.2

(Sam Davies, Nicolas Lunven)

4. Charal (FRA) 56.4

(Jérémie Beyou, Christopher Pratt)

5.11 Hour Racing Team - Malama (USA) 61.5

(Charlie Enright, Pascal Bidégorry)

Multihulls

.

Ocean Fifty (15 m)

1. Koesio (FRA) 4,873.4 miles from the finish

(Erwan Le Roux, Xavier Macaire)

2. Solidaires En Peloton (FRA) 30.0 miles from the leader

(Thibaut Vauchel-Camus, Frédéric Duthil)

3. Primonial (FRA) 39.4

(Sébastien Rogues, Matthieu Souben)

4. Les P'tits Doudous - The Arch (FRA) 68.1

(Armel Tripon, Benoit Marie)

5.LEYTON (GBR) 75.3

(Sam Goodchild, Aymeric Chappellier)

.

Ultimate (32 m)

1. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (FRA) 6,818.6 miles from the finish

(Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier)

2. Sodebo ultim 3 (FRA) 32.0 miles behind the leader

(Thomas Coville, Thomas Rouxel)

3.SVR-Lazartigue (FRA) 54.8

(François Gabart, Tom Laperche)

4. Actual Ultim 3 (FRA) 60.8

(Yves le Blévec, Anthony Marchand)

5. Banque Populaire XI (FRA) 84.6

(Armel Le Cléac'h, Kevin Escoffier)

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© 2021 AFP