After a fine start in the southern harbor of Marseille on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., the Class40 fleet headed towards Corsica in very light conditions, with a mark to round in the Bay of Calvi. Mathieu Claveau and Victoire Berger (Class40 No. 89 – PRENDER LA MER / AGIR POUR LA FORÊT) were able to maintain the lead along the banks of the Var River and until the middle of the night on the crossing to Calvi.

But during the night, with a northeast wind of around fifteen knots, it was difficult for the Marseille Class40 to hold its own against the new generation of “scows” (round-nosed boats); An architectural innovation that appeared in the Class40 in 2019, these new, more rounded bows have brought about a technological leap forward in the fleet; the older Class40s (“pointed noses” – numbers below 158) can nevertheless remain competitive in certain conditions, such as light airs, with the skippers’ talent taking care of the rest. In the CIC MED CHANNEL RACE, two rankings are in place: an overall ranking for the entire fleet, and a specific ranking for the “pointus” (sharp noses).

Currently in the lead, the crew of CREDIT MUTUEL (no. 158), Ian Lipinski and Alberto Bona, are heading towards the superb bay of Calvi, which they should reach by late morning. The other scows, CENTRAKOR (no. 183) and CROSS CALL (no. 166), are a short distance away. Mathieu Claveau remains in ambush a few miles away, awaiting the next leg of the course.

Indeed, after the Calvi mark, a new complex phase awaits the crews with the descent towards the Strait of Bonifacio; the wind off the Corsican coast, which extends a considerable distance offshore, will force each crew to make a difficult choice between seeking the wind or the shortest distance to cover. Everything remains to be seen.

Message of the night from Mathieu Claveau

“Good evening Earth,

This first night is going well. We ended up being overtaken by the Scows on the reach (a crosswind where they are much faster than us) after a great afternoon in the lead, battling through squalls and clouds. It was intense, and we’re quite proud of having managed to maintain the lead we’d gained for so long after a great start. A great first day of racing for Victoire! It’s currently 3:04 UT, and we’re heading for Corsica, 45° off the apparent wind and under genoa, while the rest of the fleet seems to be managing to make progress under code 0. Centrakor, Crédit Mutuel, and Crosscall are ahead, but we’re staying in the leading pack. We’re not giving up and taking advantage of this stretch of open water to rest. The pleasure of being at sea is still intact; the night is pitch black: we can see the stars and the Milky Way perfectly, it’s sublime! We were treated to a magnificent sunset, and we Same sighting of dolphins. We hope not to lose too much ground to our competitors on newer boats on this crossing. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the wind doesn’t pick up too much: if we have to hoist the staysail, it would cost us the windward lead we’re trying to build.

Everything’s going well now. Mathieu’s asleep, I’m eating candy, then we’ll switch gears! We’re trying to rest as much as possible before arriving in Calvi! There are about a dozen knots, and we’re still ahead of the pointus!”