"I'm in the 17 to 23 knot NE'ly trade winds: finally, I managed to catch them after a rather strong Doldrums which made me and the boat quite tired. There's a swell: it's a bit rough... But we're heading north, so that's good! It's moving forward but there's still time before reaching all the way right, that is to say when the wind will turn to the East. And after that, we'll have the centre of the anticyclone to manage before heading towards the Bay of Biscay...

It's the first time I've done this route in this direction, usually in a Mini or IMOCA, doing the route in this area from North to South...It's a bit less comfortable this time. The boat is very heeled and as soon as you have to intervene, it gets complicated! And then, I’m going to spend a lot of time on starboard tack so I’ll have to check the equipment from time to time, because for the moment, it's a real tight reaching.

The boat is doing well, but I have very small foils: it's Jean-Pierre Dick's former Absolute Dreamer, but it can't take off like the others, which are going two or three knots faster than Prysmian Group in these conditions. In fact, the "tip" (the "vertical" part of the foil) is much smaller than the other boats of the same generation: Bureau Vallée 2 or Maître CoQ IV. This is also what makes the difference. I'm a bit obliged to do oceanic close-hauled sailing, because if I pull the helm, the boat doesn't accelerate that much. It's more like a breeze foil..."

Giancarlo Pedote / Prysmian Group