François Gabart (Macif) : « This night we crossed a zone without wind. And although our exceptional boats only need a small breath of air, when there is no wind at all, they do not move forward. Thus we made a little slalom to try to tack and remain opportunist in this type of situation which are never too well mastered. The ice zone does make our life any easier, it slows us down a little. We have to take it into account for the upcoming strategy in the next few days. In any case, Queen Mary 2, with its engine’s carburation, she did not bother to cross the forbidden zone. Life can rather be unfair! But it is true that a small growler under the ocean liner’s bow, should not change much. On the other hand, for us, it can become much more catastrophic. 1 m3 of ice, which is some centimetres above the water, could have much more dramatic consequences for our boats. »
Jean-Luc Nélias (Sodebo Ultim’) : « There is a route with restricted zones, and Queen Mary 2 crossed it, which is not very fair-play. In this kind of situation, the jury can impose penalties! ... On a more serious note, we were able to catch up a bit at the anticyclonic ridge passage where the first ones are currently. There is necessarily a compression of the fleet. But these first ones are going to be back in the game which will create an extension and the elastic is going to loosen again. Thus it is necessary to wait for a few hours to know the real gap between boats. The mismanaged situation waiting for us after the passage of the ice zone - with an anticyclone off New York at the arrival level - could play a little bit in our advantage. The best chances we have, is within last 24-48 hours of the race. If high pressures settle down, then we maybe can tack, and why not make a small hold-up ! »
Stan Thuret (Actual) : « The boats ahead got in a small bubble first. At this moment for us, it as going well at the back with a pace a bit tight in the wind. And now, it is going to be in our turn to stumble a little in rather quiet and sunny conditions. Currently, we are sailing at 5 knots in a 5 knots wind. We are going to try not to dive too much into the small bubble, but the day risks to be a bit long. Then, we are going to need to be close-hauled. But we are satisfied to have gained back a little of our delay, and we stay on our start routings of a little more than 10 days, which is not bad. »
Alex Pella (IDEC SPORT) : « We just got out of a slack. We are in an unbridled close-hauled and it is going well. We have dreamy conditions: flat sea and sunny. Our companion ahead navigates very, very well aboard a very good boat, it is not that easy to hang to. Nonetheless we are happy to be on the water, on this wonderful race and all is good on board. »