In the throes of the Doldrums!

Whilst the first Multi50 in this 14th Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre is expected to reach Salvador de Bahia tonight, the battle continues, intensifies even, among the IMOCA fleet, entangled in the Doldrums. With regards to Giancarlo Pedote and Anthony Marchand, they entered this stagnant zone yesterday evening at around 18:00 UTC. Like the others, they’re struggling to get their machine making headway. Their progress is fluctuating between 2 and 10 knots on average amidst the clouds and squalls. Within this context, it’s important to take great care of the gear whilst also trying to claw back every little inch of ground possible because every metre gained will be valuable in the bid to make it to the exit door. Obviously, the situation is far from restful, especially for the nerves which will clearly be on edge in this inter-tropical convergence zone. In the meantime, this same zone might well work in the favour of the duo on Prysmian Group, since it could boost their position at the gates to the southern hemisphere. Indeed, the separation between the front runners and the Italo-French pair has reduced considerably since it stands at 200 miles this Thursday morning, whilst it was more than double that 48 hours ago. Naturally, when the top boats make the exit door from the Doldrums around midday, they will likely stretch out their lead once more, but Giancarlo and Anthony clearly have the opportunity to reposition themselves in the Top 10. Will their intermediate option in relation to their rivals pay off? For the time being, it’s impossible to predict, however one thing for sure is that the hierarchy that will be established on exiting this tricky zone will very likely set the tone for the order of the finishers.