Transat Paprec has new leaders

Reaching in winds of 15-20kts some 110 miles to the NW of Portugal's Cabo St Vincent, the lead group on the Transat Paprec remain closely matched this Wednesday late afternoon the peloton chasing hard behind new leaders Loïs Berrehar and Charlotte Yven (Skipper MACIF). The top five duos are still within four miles of each other after four days of racing.

One clear reason why the fleet leaders are so close is that the breezes have remained very manageable since Sunday's start and there has been no big strategic choices to be made. But that said, life on board his hard and relentless, keeping to a strict rhythm helps, but constantly monitoring the opposition on AIS takes a toll.

Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) who lies fifth, 3.4 miles behind the leaders said today, "I try to sleep but with the constant noise it's not easy," he explained in a video, speaking from his noisy bunk while co-skipper Violette Dorange, takes care of business on deck.

On AGEAS - Ballay - Cerfrance - Baie de Saint-Brieuc, Maël Garnier told the morning radio sesson with the fleet that he is also finding sleep hard "I must have slept no more than two hours a night since the start, I am a bit messed up. Knowing how to manage your time off watch, your recovery time is one of the lesser known challenges on a Transat like this."

Garnier also underlines the relentlessness of monitoring the rivals on AIS "It doesn't sound hard but it is. We often see Edenred and Région Bretagne - CMB Performance and sometimes even Cap Ingélec up near the front and so you push harder trying to catch up!"
It has been a speed test, a straight line drag race down the Portuguese coast

"It's mainly a straight line with a few small gybes in there," explains Anne-Claire Le Berre (Brittany Region - CMB Performance) on a video.

Garnier spoke earlier today of winds of twenty knots with crossed, disorderly seas. "The sea is really coming at us in all directions," he explained.

Cyrille Duchesne, meteorologist at Météo Consult underlines, "What will count above all just now is the ability to maintain a constant high average speed."

The leaders are starting to think about how to approach the Canary Islands and the La Palma passing mark some 450 miles down the track in front of them. According to today's routings the fleet should get there this this weekend.

"The time to make choices is getting closer" Yann Chateau, Deputy Race Director highlighted this morning. "The big question is how they approach the waypoint at La Palma either directly or going through the islands."