The current Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre - to give the big one its full title - is confusing for any casual observer, as a succession of gales in the Bay of Biscay, coupled with the prospect of Storm Ciaran making mayhem on Wednesday - have led to various reactions.
The story so far is that the Big Beasts of the IMOCA Class may well be designed to cope with the Great Southern Ocean in all its foulest moods in mind, but its superstar sailors have no intention of breaking up their very expensive mounts in the uniquely rough Biscay-In-A-November-Storm conditions. So they're continuing to hang out in Le Havre until conditions become slightly more clement.
Ahead of Storm Ciaran, the 40 IMOCAs are put in a safe mode at the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre docks
However, the super-fast machines of the Ultim class - giant trimarans all - reckoned they could get across Biscay before the ordure hits the air circulation machine, and they're now getting near Spain with the
fastest clocking 35 knots. But the smaller Ocean 50 multi-hulls went for a compromise, inserting a first shelter stop at Lorient, and they're already there, with the fastest doing the business round from Le Havre in 21 hours.
Meanwhile, the Class 40 boats - numerically the largest fleet - have also been allocated to the Lorient hurricane hole option. But as their speed doesn't anywhere near match the Ocean 50 flying show, at 1630hrs Sunday, the leaders are slugging to windward in that remarkably messy island-and-rock-studded bit of water between Ouessant and the West Brittany mainland.
Ireland's Pam Lee with Brittany Ferries has done well to keep the show on the road in something of a Demolition Derby. Although her boat is five years old and out-classed by the latest machines, by shrewd sailing close along the North Brittany coast, she has moved from 29th up to 26th, and is in the hunt with the chasing pack as they batter their way towards Lorient.
However, knowing of the intense inter-regional rivalry between France's coastal areas to host these high-profile events, we wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that from now on, 2023's staging has to be called the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre Morbihan Lorient Race.
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