A small week after departing from Le Havre, our Fives Group IMOCA duo still battles at the head of the drift boats flotilla for the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre. Louis and Rémi, confident in their West option, are about to fight two depressions: the last before the trade winds.
Louis Duc: "It's a bit of a routine. For the past 48 hours, it's close, with the same sail setup. It's quite cool, even if we live on the span. We have 15 to 18 knots as for the wind, with a bit of sea."
Stimulating
"We are three boats neck and neck with Freelance.com and Monnoyeur. Monnoyeur is faster, but this isn't much of a surprise at these speeds. Freelance.com is a bit more at ease compared to us too, but we keep him close. It's stimulating and we talk in VHF."
The South foilers will logically go back across, but regarding drift boats…
"Regarding the two foilers ahead, I feel like it won't go as well as for us, comparing foilers to foilers and drift boats to drift boats, going South.
South foilers will go back across us this morning. They will speed up at more than 20 knots... As for dift boats, they still need to go down towards te Southern Canary Islands and trade winds won't be good enough for them."
"Tonight, the weather will change. Two depressions ahead, including a big one from North Atlantic. This new week seems very active with sail changes. We'll need to be on top of things to make the boat work well."
3 days before the trade winds
"It's going to be tense again with sail changes. Within three days, once the weather issues will be gone, we should be able to open our sails. We will start having trade winds. And for the very end, there will be another tropical depression: depending on how it evolves, it can disrupt our West Indies approach."
Rémi sets the sail to perfection
"Rémi is in good shape! He sets the sails to perfection, always, it allows me to get more out of the boat. We see a lot of useful things. We learn everyday, that's cool!"
A respectuous and circular sporting event
The Fives IMOCA is an "upcycled" boat. Thanks to Louis, it lives a 2nd life!
Louis and his team gave a new life to a very damaged IMOCA because of a fire. This refurbishment undertaking was a real technical challenge... that succeeded in only 10 months!
Louis and his team continue to apply this upcycling principle and optimization research with a constant effort on sobriety throughout this Vendée Globe program.
Louis is also very keen on respecting everyone's work and giving a chance.
The Fives Group, a major partner in this Vendée Globe program, has been seduced by such commitment and values, as it shares the same values and responsibilities.
Fives, your partner for a more virtuous industry
For over 200 years, the Group has designed the breakthrough solutions and technologies that make industry what it is. From the first railways to the Eiffel Tower, through the spatial conquest, Fives always spearheaded the industry of the future. Pioneering decarbonization, the Group is an unconditional partner of the industry's energy transition. Through digitization, the promotion of a circular economy and the development of new processes and new energy sources, Fives puts its technological leadership to its customers' service.
www.fivesgroup.com