After leaving Brest harbour and the bay of Camaret, the fleet will sail back up the Four channel which may prove to be difficult due to weak winds and cross currents. The Molène archipelago and the isle of Ushant to be left to port side, the Four channel will be left off the reefs of the Portsall plateau leaving the cardinal west Grande Basse de Portsall to port side. A channel crossing of 89 miles to reach the Cornish coast, marked by Wolf Rock to be left imperatively to port side. The direct route will take the fleet between the Scilly Isles and Land’s End. The 165-mile long sail up the Celtic sea will bring the fleet together at the mythical Fastnet lighthouse, to be passed and left to starboard before heading east. The last 45 nautical miles will be exhausting before reaching Kinsale harbour, end of the 3rd leg, where the race has not returned to since its 28th edition in 1997.

If this leg is the shortest, it certainly will not be the easiest. The passage along the coast of Finistère and the long and cumbersome route from the Fastnet to Kinsale will no doubt be the hardest parts of this leg to negotiate for the competitors.