15 miles before the arrival, everything is possible!

Only half the course
The race committee couldn’t give the start in shifty and light winds. Hence the decision to go to Sète with the engines of the M 30s. After a thunderstorm this morning, the competitors finally left at 9.56am in ten knots of NE’ly wind. The race keeps a rating of two anyway: the outcome will be of the utmost importance!

A distinct leading group
Student crew led by Hervé Gautier CSC – HEC – Ecole Navale ranked first at the first buoy, and managed to keep the lead for a long time. At 4.20pm, the leaders were in front of the river Rhône, only 500 or 600 meters apart from one another. INSA – Sopra Group (Simon Troel) and Elcimaï – Ville de Marseille (Dimitri Deruelle) took an extreme option and sailed their way near the cost… That’s how Deruelle hopes to arrive first in Marseille!

Tactical conditions
The fleet has been reaching all the way to Marseille. Two distinct groups appeared very soon, one ashore and one offshore. At 2.30pm, Dimitri Deruelle explained his position: “we went through a zone without any wind, all the boats were almost stopped. The wind was very shifty, and so were the rankings, as a consequence. Due to the stormy conditions this morning, the wind is still very light, and it changes a lot”. Skipper of Elcimaï – Ville de Marseille thinks the mistral will start blowing in the evening.

At 5pm, the competitors were 15 nautical miles away from the arrival. If the wind keeps blowing up to there, the M 30s should reach Marseille around 8pm. But everything may change before that!