Route du Rhum: "very good conditions" of departure before a depression Tuesday

Saint-Malo – The start of the Route du Rhum Sunday will be in "very good sea conditions" before the arrival of a depression Tuesday that could force the slowest to stop, announced Saturday Jacques Caraës, director race.

The 123 boats will start Sunday at 14:02 (13h02 GMT) from Saint-Malo towards Guadeloupe.

"We have for departure very good sea conditions since we have a wind from south to southeast, so a wind of land that does not form a sea", said Mr Caraës, after a weather point with the skippers.

"With this axis of wind, it will allow us to make a very linear start"to Cape Frehel," he added.

"There is no need to override in this area it is a direct route to the door of Frehel. It's a big advantage for us. Then there is a possibility to get out of the Channel always on port tack, on one side", continued the race director.It's very important for runners to get out of the Channel quickly."

A first front "quite unstable"is expected in the night from Sunday to Monday from the Iroise Sea at the island of Ouessant.

"Then, the fastest will be able to dive directly towards the South by dodging this big depression which arrives for the mid-day of Tuesday"he explained.

Benefiting from a northwesterly wind flow, the Ultim maxi-trimarans will have a chance of pbadage. "very fast"."The door for them is much simpler since one can even imagine that an Ultim arrives in less than six days in Guadeloupe"he said.

The game will be more complicated for the slower ships, which could suffer the full-blown depression on Tuesday.

The race management has announced that it will support these skippers "to find ports with the captaincy"if these sailors"want to do the round back to let pbad this active depression".

"It's a good sailor act to stop", hammered Jacques Caraës.To make a race, you must first arrive. As a good sailor, stopping is not something cold, on the contrary. The main thing is to arrive", he added.

The boats will have the possibility of stopping in the Breton ports like Roscoff or Douarnenez, in Falmouth (United Kingdom) and until La Rochelle.