Route du Rhum: Armel Le Cléac'h sets sail!
The Banque Populaire skipper crossed the starting line of the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe transatlantic race at 2:15pm on November 9th.
Armel Le Cléac'h set off to brave the rigors of the Atlantic ocean along with 137 fellow competitors, including 7 in the Ultim class, sailing to Pointe-à-Pitre, their port of destination. In view of the weather conditions, the skipper of the Maxi Banque Populaire XI will already have to draw on his arsenal of tactics and maneuvers before reaching the compulsory waypoint of Cape Fréhel.
“We'll have to tack to get past this first passage point, the last waypoint before Guadeloupe. After that, we'll be sailing close-hauled as we exit the English Channel with a west to south-westerly wind blowing at between 15 and 20 knots. The wind will then shift ahead of a low-pressure system approaching Ireland on Thursday. This will be the first weather system we’ll have to cross and that we’ll approach during the night of Thursday to Friday,” said Armel before leaving the mainland.
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