Here is the latest news that has been received on board Queen Mary 2, sent over by IDEC SPORT and MACIF. The two boats are at the top of the standing since the departure – the race is tight. Tonight, the advantage is for Francis Joyon’s crew. Although they have skeleton crew, the latter boat is 10 miles ahead.
Francis Joyon (IDEC SPORT) : Even though we were very focused on our manoeuvres last night, we could not help but be moved by the amazing send off in Saint-Nazaire. We could see the incredible crowd along the pier. We are doing quite well against MACIF, a latest generation boat. Our multi-purpose “old” yacht works wonder. We played at the entrance of Morbihan golf yesterday night and our knowledge of places and currents helped us a lot. We are currently going on a direct route to New York, searching for depression to lead us in the west of Ireland. There will be more wind and more sea as well. For the time being, the sailing is peaceful and the South Westerly warms us a bit. Our skeleton crew of 5 men has a lot to maneuverer since the departure. We were all on the bridge until 2am. We are only starting to get organised, as we were too occupied by the yacht’s maneuverers before. We are probably going to be very exhausted by the end of this race.
Yann Riou (Macif) : We are currently sailing through our first ridge of high pressure. The wind, which has not been that strong since the start, has dropped slowly until now, and we are moving at a pace of six knots. When we will over this ridge of high pressure, the wind will be progressively stronger. Obviously, the first boat getting some wind will further the gap with its competitors thus the importance of what is at stake at this moment.
There is a good atmosphere on board. Yesterday, the day has been physical, with multiple tacks, including some under J1, our biggest Genoa, therefore the longest to trim on again. Today, is a bit less physical but we remain focused to exit the winds.We keep an eye on IDEC SPORT as they are in our sight as well as the SODEBO Ultim’ on AIS. All of it is accompanied by a light musical background – Francios' playlist that is heard due to the small speaker in the cockpit.