This Sunday at 2:10 p.m., Armel Le Cléac'h and Sébastien Josse will set sail to defend their title in the Transat Café L'OR between Le Havre and Fort-de-France. From the start, the skippers of the Maxi Banque Populaire XI will face tough conditions before a very demanding first night. After the final weather briefing, Armel Le Cléac'h talks about his first hours of racing, where concentration will have to be at its peak.
Conditions at departure
"These are pretty challenging conditions. At this time of year, we know there's a strong chance of a westerly wind. There's going to be wind early in the night, up to 35 knots with gusts of 40 knots. These are conditions we've already encountered with the boat; we're used to dealing with them. What matters is not making any mistakes when we leave the Channel. Then, we'll be able to get back into the race at 100% from Ushant, where the conditions will improve significantly. There's going to be some pace right from the start!"
The state of mind
"At the start, Sébastien and I know that we'll have to be very vigilant. The first few hours will be intense, especially since we'll have to deal with traffic, no-go zones, cargo ships, fishing boats, etc. We'll be setting off at full speed. We'll soon be at 40 knots. We'll be in the deep end right away. We'll have to be 200% focused!"
The first days of racing
"After Ushant, there's going to be some play. The crossing of the Bay of Biscay will be fairly quick before the passage of a ridge of high pressure, which should happen early Monday evening with quite a few sail changes. Then, we'll have to cross a low pressure system off the coast of Portugal, which will also involve a lot of maneuvering. We'll have 48 hours of physical rhythm before taking advantage of more stable conditions that will allow us to set a course south. There may be some challenges in terms of strategy that could quickly cause gaps. It's likely to start from the front, we can't miss the boat!"
