After four days spent moored up in the harbour (with the exception of the exhibition runs), the IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran with her crew of six – Francis Joyon, Bernard Stamm, Gwénolé Gahinet, Quentin Ponroy, Sébatien Picault and Antoine Blouet – set off to tackle the Mediterranean at two minutes past one local time today.
The crew of IDEC SPORT cast off shortly before eleven this morning after some final adjustments to the boat, preparing the sails and studying the weather in detail, as the latter can be particularly capricious in the Med. The locals from Nice, who are not used to such a race, nevertheless turned out in force to greet the sailors, who we could clearly see were excited to be setting off to see how they measure up against their two rivals.
Grey skies and light airs today
Once again the wind was not what they were all hoping for.. It was on a flat calm sea that the boats headed towards the start line. These conditions favoured Actual Grand Large Emotion, who logically took the lead, followed by the crew on IDEC SPORT with SODEBO at the rear. The wind has since strengthened somewhat and Joyon and his lads are making the most of this, as they head towards Marseille at around 13 knots. Conditions are likely to strengthen further over the coming hours, so they will need to be cautious during this first night of racing.
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