At the helm of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Cammas and Caudrelier picked up speed by leaving the doldrums, this area feared by sailors where the wind can be very violent or nonexistent.
During their passage, the wind was hardly there and the skippers had to take their trouble patiently to make their sailboat fly.
"It's pitch black, we're breaking out of the doldrums, finally," Cammas said in a video.
"We are waiting for the day to break to see more clearly, we are struggling to reach 14-15 knots (approximately 26-28 km / h), we will cross our fingers that this will be the exit".
Their boat is part of the Ultim category (32 m), the fastest in the fleet, which takes a significantly longer route than the other three classes (Ocean Fifty, Imoca and Class 40) to offer a group arrival in Martinique.
After the doldrums, the Ultim descend to the Brazilian archipelago of Trindad and Martin Vaz, located some 1,200 km east of the Brazilian coast, to then ascend to Fort-de-France.
Behind them, the multihulls of the Ocean Fifty class (15 m), led by Sébastien Rogues / Matthieu Souben (Primonial), will turn well before the Ultim, around Fernando de Noronha, just like the Imoca.
The Vendée Globe boats (Imoca, 18m monohull) battle fiercely as they approach Cape Verde.
Charlie Dalin / Paul Meilhat (Apivia) took the lead from Thomas Rettant / Morgan Lagravière (LinkedOut), second.
At the back of the fleet, the Class 40 (12 m monohull), the most represented class with 45 boats, stretch from the Canaries to the Azores.
"We would like it to speed up a bit! We are still very late on our chart," said Kito de Pavant (HBF - Reforest'action).
"What seems more or less guaranteed is that Friday will be difficult for everyone with the general strike, renewable, decreed by all the trade unions of the Trade Wind. All the flying fish will be nailed to the ground … The Cape Verdean authorities could be brought to lead the negotiations in order to unblock the situation at the end of the week, at best… ”, he added with humor.
Rankings Monday at 3:00 p.m .:
Monohulls
.
Class 40 (12 m)
1. Redman (FRA) 2,889.0 miles from the finish
(Antoine Carpentier, Pablo Santurde Del Arco)
2. Banque du Léman (SUI) 9.1 miles from the leader
(Valentin Gautier, Simon Koster)
3. Volvo (BEL) 27.4
(Jonas Gerckens, Benoit Hantzperg)
4. Edenred (FRA) 35.8
(Emmanuel Le Roch, Pierre Quiroga)
5. La Manche #EvidenceNautique (FRA) 44.1
(Nicolas Jossier, Alexis Loison)
.
Imoca (18 m)
1. Apivia (FRA) 3,545.9 miles from the finish
(Charlie Dalin, Paul Meilhat)
2. LinkedOut (FRA) 15.0 miles from the first
(Thomas Rouillard, Morgan Lagravière)
3.11 Hour Racing Team - Malama (USA) 55.0
(Charlie Enright, Pascal Bidégorry)
4. Arkea - Paprec (FRA) 55.6
(Sébastien Simon, Yann Elies)
5. Charal (FRA) 71.3
(Jérémie Beyou, Christopher Pratt)
Multihulls
.
Ocean Fifty (15 m)
1. Primonial (FRA) 2,862.3 miles from the finish
(Sébastien Rogues, Matthieu Souben)
2. Koesio (FRA) 196.0 miles behind the leader
(Erwan Le Roux, Xavier Macaire)
3. Solidaires En Peloton (FRA) 212.3
(Thibaut Vauchel-Camus, Frédéric Duthil)
4.LEYTON (GBR) 283.0
(Sam Goodchild, Aymeric Chappellier)
5. Les P'tits Doudous - The Arch (FRA) 289.0
(Armel Tripon, Benoit Marie)
.
Ultimate (32 m)
1. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (FRA) 4,616.2 miles from the finish
(Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier)
2. Banque Populaire XI (FRA) 133.4 miles from the leader
(Armel Le Cléac'h, Kevin Escoffier)
3.SVR-Lazartigue (FRA) 150.7
(François Gabart, Tom Laperche)
4. Actual Ultim 3 (FRA) 178.3
(Yves le Blévec, Anthony Marchand)
5. Sodebo ultim 3 (FRA) 520.2
(Thomas Coville, Thomas Rouxel)
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© 2021 AFP