Onwards towards the ocean...

A low to the north
Still leading the way and retaining the vast majority of its lead amassed in the waters of Saint Lawrence Bay, Crêpes Whaou! battles onwards. "We've got good visibility again and the sun has put in an appearance, says skipper Franck-Yves Escoffier. The boat is slipping along nicely at 16-18 knots. We're peaking at 20-21 knots at times which is great. We're tacking downwind. A low is building above us to the north of the Atlantic, and we're going to play with the lift. We hope to be able to drop down with it as far as Saint Malo. It won't be stormy so all the better for us. We'll hit 25 knots max. and then we can make 400 mile days...”

4 multihulls and a monohull in the Atlantic
Off Cap Race to the SE of Newfoundland, the crew of Laiterie de Saint Malo are also feeling chirpier. Victorien Erussard and his team, who left Saint Pierre and Miquelon behind them shortly before midnight, have picked up the pace and are relishing the speed after a slow start to the race. This Saturday afternoon, after covering 1,100 miles, four 50 foot multihulls have now made it into the Atlantic. Solely Délirium, Hervé de Carlan is still making headway in the waters of the Cabot Strait.

In the FICO monohull camp and following the pitstop of the 60 foot IMOCA Cervin ENR (Yannick Bestaven) on the south coast of Newfoundland, An Ocean of Smiles is making headway through Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. Christophe Bullens' crew are sailing alongside the Class 40s, the latter also passing through the French archipelago this Saturday.

The 40 footers in the midst of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon For the 40 footers still making headway in contact regatta mode enveloped in thick fog, yet another restart would seem to be the order of the day. In the downwind conditions which are enabling everyone to finally open their sails, tactical coups are par for the course. At the 1300 UT ranking, the unshakable Giovanni Soldini is still leading the dance aboard Télécom Italia. A little separation is in evidence to the south of the banks of Newfoundland, with shifty winds in terms of strength in line with the coast, which closes off the vast Saint Lawrence Bay to the north. 5 miles astern, the trio aboard Pogo Structures isn't dropping their guard in conditions which are ripe for upsets in the ranking, as skipper and French sailing legend Halvard Mabire bears witness: "We're going great guns in 15 knots of breeze under spinnaker, making around 12/13 knots. A seal has just come to investigate us. Intriguingly the weather scenario is such that it keeps seeming to favour those who are behind so we should see a new start at Saint Pierre. The conditions are really, really strange. I think the fog is making us all a bit crazy. It's a bit of a shame we have to round this mark between the islands which we're not even going to see! When you've been enveloped in fog and it suddenly lifts, it's fabulous. It's like you can suddenly see again! It feels like we've been working flat out since the start but there's always some coup to be had. It's great racing, though at this rate we're going to break the slowness record. For now we're concentrating on getting out of this zone and out into the Atlantic.” The Norman is being tailed by Mistral Loisirs (Oliver Krauss) and Novedia Group (Tanguy De Lamotte), who together make up the top four. For these leaders, the ocean beckons just a few miles away and with it the grand crossing. Roll on Sunday!