The skipper who comes originally from Dunkirk, positioned further North than Charlie Dalin and Yannick Bestaven, is watching the complex weather situation closely and crosses his fingers that Bestaven’s lead will not extend further. The skipper of LinkedOut remains on the lookout and ready to pounce if there is the slightest opportunity.
We are going a bit faster than I had expected, so it's pretty good. Now the situation is pretty much undecided as far as the routing for the hours and days to come. I am closely monitoring the complexity of the weather and I hope that there won't be any bungee jump effect from the front. I keep my fingers crossed. I'm in a good phase where I still have a little bit of wind and making good progress along the course. I went to look for the shift near the centre of the high, but it is moving quicker or slower depending on the models and each time we get a new weather forecast, it's different. I am trying to deal with what I have and it's not very easy, you don't know what to expect and when. There are small areas you can make progress through and then some lighter patches around them; it is not a perfectly formed bubble or high. I have a little more wind than forecast and I am happy. But the big question is: "is the high pressure going to be fast enough to catch Yannick?". (laughs).
I chose to stop heading towards the South, I think that Charlie (Dalin) and Yannick stay to the South but I am looking to get to the right corner of the centre of the anticyclone. I chose the shift rather than the pressure, it's not so bad. We'll see, it's difficult, I'm looking forward to the forecasts coming out in two hours to adjust my course.
The sky is a little grey, the sea is smooth, I've put all the sails up and try to keep fast so as not to slow down, and make progress towards the East. It is less cold. These are light conditions, we'll have this for several days, which are not necessarily the best conditions for our boats. We have hulls pushing wate and our foils. It's a slow Vendée Globe in spite of our fast boats which we know how to go fast with. Since the end of the Atlantic, we've had weather conditions that have not allowed us to go fast, but this is a race, it's not a record attempt, that's the difference. The game is how best we position ourselves, to finish before the others. It's always better when there are fast finishes and record times at the finish, but this won't be the case. I'm not in a hurry to get back as long as there's confinement and the bars are closed!
Yannick manages his routing perfectly
This could be a time we see a barrier drop down in front of us and he gets away or we could all regroup. What I hope is that Yannick doesn't get away too far ahead. He is sailing very, very well and he makes few mistakes, he knows how to go fast with his boat, and you can feel that he is at ease. He has confidence in himself, I wish for him, but I don't want him to get away ahead, despite him deserving it. He is in his place and was able to seize the opportunity when Charlie had to slow down. He knew how to come back; he knew how to take advantage of our small problems and is managing his course and the lead really well. For the time being, he is doing a perfect course. I'm trying to hang on, I'm not going to let go, I'm ready to pounce and hope to keep close.
Thomas Ruyant / LinkedOut
