Route du Rhum

No more wind than 6km/h (3,2 Nds) for the next 17 h according to the Pointe a Pitre meteo and still 30 Miles to do : meteo pointe a pitre

 

Tracker--- Cartography | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

 

Yay !! the old guy is in front !!! we'll show those young buggers a thing or two....hehehe
can he maintain ???

 

Idec made the pass. It looks like Gabart is having to do some major work with each tack. Swapping rudders maybe. Or nagging hydraulics trouble.

 

Damn-what a shame for Gabart! Two great sailors..................
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Gabart is going faster now and headed for the finish-Joyon has to tack. This is going right down to the wire! Gabart still has his port ama foil and center rudder t-foil so he can foil on stb tack! Just a bit more wind!
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Idec is back up to speed-may be impossible for Gabart to catch him..

Go Francois!!

 

Gabart .1 mile behind and going faster-1.2 m left!! The two images on the tracker are really close but over the last few minutes they've been headed which is an advantage to Joyon because when they tack he'll be ahead.
It's going to come down to who tacks their monster fastest.....
In the last report Gabart jumped from .1 behind to .6 m behind and slightly slower...
Joyon tacked, Gabart hasn't and seems like he's in a bad position..

Joyon has won......what a job he did.
Gabart finally tacked-too little ,too late
====================================
Joyons time: 7d 14h 21m 47s

Gabarts time: 7d 14h 28m 55s

Margin after 3510 miles: 7m 8s !!! (actual distance covered over 4000 miles)

 

They are going to be closer at the finish line than they were at the starting line.

 

Here is the video of this final by night :

 

What a thrilling finish,as Doug says,two great sailors really giving it maximum effort.Its impossible not to be impressed by the way they fought to the finish line and they can both be proud of the way they have raced all the way from St Malo.

 

I'm very excited to see how the Multi50's finish. It looks like almost a match race through the trades. Erwan le Roux on Fenetre Mixed Buffet has managed to overtake Vauchel Camus and is now in second place with Solidaires en Peleton Arsep on their much newer Multi50 relegated to third. Lalou Roucayrol on Arkema looks likely to get back into a podium position despite his stopover. Armel Tripon's gamble of staying out through the rough stuff looks to have paid off with Reaute Chocolat the easy leader but who knows what will happen around the Island where there is often heaps of compression of the fleet. Pierre Antoine on Olmix is looking like he joined the wrong class being closer to the Multi50 fleet than the Rhum Multis

 

picture by Alexis Courcoux: Joyon 1st, Gabart 2nd: Two heroes-----

 

An interview today of Erwan Le Roux who is presently the fastest of the Multi 50 fleet, 22,5 knots during the last hour , currently 20 to 25 knots he said :
https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com/mediapla...-bonjour-en-direct-de-son-bateau-1116828.html
To note that the fleet of 6 Multi 50 is still in race (Ciela village re started from Cascais) and all sailing at their nominal speed despite the hard conditions of the first week really not favourable for them. Skippers were very cautious during the storms and eventually faced minor technical problems.
The cartography :
Cartography | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/cartography

 

Arkema capsizes … , Lalou Roucairol is safe inside his boat , a rescue plan is underway :
Roucayrol capsizes on Arkema as Tripon heads for the line

 | Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe https://www.routedurhum.com/en/news/958

 

Major bummer, glad to hear Lalou is safe onboard.

 

Yeah, major bummer . Arkema is my favorite amongst the 50's it is a good looking boat.
Ohh well...