Transat Jacques Vabre: the Gabart-Laperche duo puts the turbo on with SVR Lazartigue and takes control

The giant multihulls of the Ultim class are racing at high speed across the North Atlantic after a big day of racing and a start on Sunday in wild conditions. Monday, at 6:00 p.m., SVR Lazartigue helmed by the pair François Gabart and Tom Laperche was traveling at 34.2 knots. The leader of the premier category should exceed the latitude of Cape Finistère in the evening by taking the westernmost route. A strategy that is paying off for the moment, but the road leading to Martinique is only just beginning.

Behind, Maxi Banque Populaire (Armel Le Cléac'h-Sébastien Josse) is at 24.9 miles after occupying first place in the morning. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is third with Charles Caudrelier and Erwan Israel at the helm, 33.9 miles from the leader. Thomas Coville and Thomas Rouxel are slightly behind the leading trio, at 89.9 miles while Actual Ultim (Anthony Marchand and Thierry Chabagny) are at 149 miles.

The competitors in the Ocean Fifty category (15 m multihulls) all returned to the port in Lorient to take shelter before the arrival of a storm. The Class40 boats are sailing along the Breton coast to reach the port of Morbihan on Tuesday and make a nice, warm stopover. A first abandonment is to be deplored in this event, that of Movember (Bertrand Guillonneau and Kito de Pavant) after a shock at the start.

As for the Imoca, the Vendée Globe boats, they are still stuck in Le Havre and could wait several days before setting off. On Sunday, they were unable to take part in the start because no Breton port was able to accommodate them until the very bad weather had passed.

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