#fullirish – The first night of this year's Solo Concarneau has been a tough one writes Marcus Hutchinson. The first 12 hours of the race have been a solid beat in 25 knots of wind. To add to the complexity the first few hours of darkness fell at the point on the course where the fleet had to short tack along the beach of the Bay of Audierne to avoid the strong south going tide.
The passage through the Raz de Sein took place just as the tide was turning favorable meaning this notoriously dangerous stretch of water could be navigated safely. And then the first of the tactical options played out
Getting to the left hand side of the course initially to benefit from a stronger north going tide was what seemed to work for several boats on the way to the ultimate windward mark the Pierre's Verte buoy just South of Ushant. One of the biggest gainers on this leg was Artemis Rookie Sam Matson who moved up 10 places to round in the top eight.
David Kenefick's Full Irish kept a steady pace working with the group he was in, managing the risk of moving away from the pack to round in the high teens. The next leg, sailed in the pre-dawn hours of this morning was a simple broad reach against the tide allowing all skippers to get some rest and som food afterthought 12 hour beat before the next section
As of midday Friday the fleet is running downwind in best VMG mode past the pointe de Pen March. The tracker shows some boats tubing earlier as they attempt to position themselves better in anticipation of an initially shift to the right and fresher breeze coming from offshore as the sea beesw may fill in. Those that haven't gybed early are not so sure about the thermal situation as the sky is still fairly overcast over the course area.
The rest of Friday will play out according to the evolution of the thermal component on top of the gradient wind that is itself shifting around to the N orth East.
Keep watching the tracker (above)
