2023-11-12 08:50:25
Home Sports Sailing Transat Jacques Vabre 2023
Ultim leaders, Armel Le Cléac’h and Sébastien Josse are expected at the finish line in Martinique around midnight on Sunday.
France Télévisions – Sports Editorial
Published on 12/11/2023 09:43 Updated on 12/11/2023 09:50
Reading time: 2 min The Ultim Maxi Banque Populaire XI following the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, October 29, 2023. (LOIC VENANCE / AFP)
Barring an accident, victory seems already won. The duo Armel Le Cléac’h – Sébastien Josse is on track to win the Transat Jacques Vabre 2023. Their Maxi Banque Populaire XI is expected at the finish line in Fort-de-France, Martinique, Sunday 12 November, around midnight (6 p.m. local time). At 9:00 a.m. he counted 146.1 nautical miles ahead of the SVR Lazartigue of François Gabart and Tom Laperche at the time when there remained less than 500 miles to go for the boat in the lead.
On the podium twice (3rd in 2011 among the Imoca, 2nd in 2015 and 3rd in 2021), Armel Le Cléac’h would put his name on the race list for the first time. As for Sébastien Josse, this would be his second victory on “the Coffee Route”, twelve years following his success in MOD70 with Charles Caudrelier. Only a last minute breakdown seems to be able to upset the hierarchy, so the Maxi Banque Populaire should arrive around four hours early.
No change in the other categories, but rankings are increasingly difficult to read. Among the Imoca, the two strategic options blur the hierarchy with the two leading boats Teamwork.net of Justine Mettraux and Julien Villion, and Groupe Dubreuil of Sébastien Simon and Iker Martinez, which are more than 180 nautical miles ahead of the rest of the the fleet. This is divided between those who took the gamble of heading west to avoid an anticyclone, and those who sail in the middle of the Canary Islands, and temporarily relegated to around 250 miles from the lead. But these differences should smooth out over the days, and confirm the right choice of trajectory.
In the Canaries, the Imocas meet the Class40s, still led by Amarris and the duo Achille Nebout-Gildas Mahé, 44.5 minutes ahead of the new provisional runner-up at 9 a.m., Groupe Snef of Xavier Macaire and Pierre Leboucher. Thibaut Vauchel-Camus and Quentin Vlamynck (Solidaires en peloton) also retain control of the Ocean Fifty, with an advantage stabilized around 120 nautical miles over Réalités of Fabrice Cahierc and Aymeric Chappellier.
View comments
1699785620
#Maxi #Banque #Populaire #lead #expected #FortdeFrance #evening
