At the north-west tip of Brittany

Setting sail from Le Havre yesterday at the very start of the afternoon, the fleet participating in the 14^th Transat Jacques Vabre had a rather bracing first night, as expected, with up to 30 knots of breeze in short seas. Within the scrum, Giancarlo Pedote and Anthony Marchand quickly got their bearings and were bang on the pace. Indeed, the two co-skippers of Prysmian Group bounced around between 5^th and 7^th place for a long while, perfectly negotiating the Cotentin peninsula and the formidable Raz Blanchard at spring tide. This morning, they’re lying in 12^th position, between two of the latest additions to the fleet, Apivia and Arkea-Paprec, some 17 miles shy of the leaders. They’re making headway under large spinnaker, making an average of over 17 knots as they make for Ushant, having decided like all their rivals to pass to the south of the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme).