Arkéa Ultim Challenge - Brest day 4 morning update

A night of light winds and multiple gybes, passing about 30 miles west of Maderia and its no-go zone to protect its cetaceans, has seen Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) take the lead on the ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest.

Negotiating an anticyclonic zone since yesterday has been something of a high wire act, go too close to the centre and there is less wind and to the east the skippers are sailing further and taking longer to get to the favourable shift. But this morning speeds are back up in the order of 22-25kts in 12-15kts of SE'ly winds.

Undoubtedly the SVR Lazartigue routing cell led by Jean Yves Bernot has done the best job over this short term passage, though the VPLP design is known to be quickest in the light and upwind. Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire XI) has not done so well in the east and has dropped a few miles. Nonetheless it is all relative considering the big low which will is coming in for the fleet from this afternoon. It seems Banque Populaire XI was hoping for more wind further from the center of the and approached from further east and then he just had to deal with the conditions Armel found himself in.

"We danced very close to the flame along with Gitana, Actual got burnt and it seems SVR got it just right. They do also go quicker in the light." Noted Will Oxley of the Sodebo routing cell this morning."

Laperche (SVR-Lazartigue) this morning says he has taken the opportunity to sleep and take care of the boat: "I have my bearings, I have tidied up well, I went around the boat yesterday, I will do it again this evening (Tuesday)."

Speaking of the incoming big low Anthony Marchand (Actual), like the others, has been preparing himself and his boat: "Going into six metre waves, after three days at sea, I feel good, I am starting to switch to 'offshore' mode, less in tactical regatta mode. You can quickly get caught up in the game of in contact racing, which can be a bad idea. I have to manage to put the cursor where I want it, especially to get through this depression which will, I know, be more complicated."

On the ranking at 0700hrs this Wednesday, the Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue was leading the way, with a 13-mile lead over the Maxi Edmond-de-Rothschild, 20 over Sodebo Ultim 3, around forty over the Maxi Banque Populaire XI and around sixty over Actual Ultim 3. Everyone has the Canary Islands in their sights.

And it will be a complicated day. Rest needs to maximised but the breeze will head all the way round to the SW as the front comes in. The leaders will go through it tonight with winds over 35kts before getting into the NW'ly wind behind it which will be very beneficial to the first into the new, strong breeze.

Follow the race tracking on www.arkeaultimchallengebrest.com/en