Weather and strategy analisys of the third leg by Sylvain Mondon from Météo France

Adrien Hardy left Brest with a south westerly wind of around 8/13 knots on Monday afternoon and sailed out the Goulet de Brest on an upwind tack. At night, as the boats approached the passage of Fur between Ouessant and Brittany Point, the south westerly strengthens significantly to 14/18 knots caused by a warm front and the rain starts falling on the fleet. The SW keeps increasing in the Channel, after the skippers rounded Portsal (on the northern coast of Finistère). It’s with a 20/25 knots strong wind that Agir-Recouvrement pass Wolf Rock offshore Cornwall, on the second racing day. The arrival from the West of a small low pressure system that formed on Monday afternoon south of Ireland is affecting the SW wind producing a temporary decrease in wind force. Yet, the SW quickly regains strength in the proximity of the low pressure centre that is moving to Wales. Behind the system, the wind veers to the North fast reaching 10/15 knots, in less than 15 minutes. The swell is strong at the passage of Wolf Rock and on the first third of the way up of the Celtic sea, slowing the fleet’s progress on Tuesday afternoon. The skippers have an upwind sail to the Fastnet with a north westerly/northerly between 15 and 20 knots. In these conditions tacking on the wind is quite hard. Adrien Hardy makes the best options in this windward stretch as he rounds the Fastnet “upwind mark” in first. The coastal sailing along the Irish cliffs for the last 45 miles of Leg 3 profits from a north westerly breeze from 8 to 12 knots for both Hardy and Eliès. The rest of the fleet who opted for a more offshore route encounter less stable conditions and thus loose some speed at the approach of the Old Head of Kinsale and to the finish. Agir Recouvrement will then sail free to the river mouth that leads to Kinsale and to Bullmann mark.