Sunday or not, there is no rest for the racers in the North Atlantic. The winds are still strong and seas big on the Bay of Biscay for those who are approaching Lorient and the finish of the Retour à La Base. The saving grace for Sunday’s expected finishers is their home straight should be that….straight! 

Indeed for small posse led by Boris Herrmann (Malizia – Seaexplorer), the route should in fact be “as straight as possible”, says meteorologist, Christian Dumard. The first four will arrive from the North, and should enjoy a slight shift in the wind from the South-West to the West-South-West and the wind currently blowing at 30-35 knots, should ease to around twenty knots. 

“It’s going to slacken a bit that’s why Bureau Vallée has gone very north,” explains Christian Dumard. It almost appears, for the meantime, that Burton is heading home to Saint Malo! 

In eighth Nicolas Lunven (Holcim-PRB), currently on starboard gybe will come in from a more southerly direction. 

Behind, Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) will hold on to strong southerly winds for a finish on Monday morning. For those who have still to pass the second gate of the course a move to the North will be required near Cape Finisterre.

The course of Antoine Cornic (Human Immobilier) may look confusing but Dumard explains. “He is looking for stronger winds than the others, is it because he cannot use certain sails, maybe his mainsail is torn? We feel that on all the boats at the rear of the fleet, there is more or less damage, and the trajectories are affected,” recalls Christian Dumard.

For the remainder of the fleet which left on November 30, the target time is now set. In effect Yoann Richomme set the time for the line closing.  Everyone must arrive within an elapsed time of one and a half times the time of the first finisher to validate their race. 

“That sets the limit at 4:05 a.m UTC on the morning of December 14,” recalls Christian Dumard, who sees “everyone capable of arriving on time, but Jingkung Xu (China Dream) needs to keep up the pace”.

For Jean Le Cam (Tout Commence en Finistère – Armor-lux), who left on December 6, he will have until the 20th to complete his  race. “For the moment, he is really not fast he has been upwind the last few days, but now that he is reaching it is more surprising,”  And it will get more complicated and colder as the wind will go east and he will have to tack to the finish.