The Skippers left the docks in New York and Newport Tuesday afternoon to make their way to the waypoint approximately 90 miles from the harbors. Some stayed ashore to rest while boat crews tested equipment off the coast, waiting to be shuttled out for the overnight sail to the start. The skippers, their crews and fans waiting online will have to be patient to watch onboard cameras documenting the start Wednesday at 8 p.
French time, 2 p. The weather forecast shows a confusing pattern with light winds overnight Tuesday into start day. Then a barrage of uncertain weather features have teams waiting to the last minute to decide their route.
Their stay in the United States is coming to an end. At the start of the morning, the technical teams made the final preparations, checked the equipment and supplies one last time and carried out a final study of the weather. The remote starting location is something the skippers have been contemplating the past weeks, figuring their timing for the departure and have even made weather routing to plan their approach.
The starting line decision aims to avoid as much as possible the risk of collisions with marine mammals. Other initiatives have been taken in this direction: a recommendation to sail to the start at reduced speed, a biodiversity protection zone has been determined in the North and a waypoint — the Share the Ocean waypoint — will force sailors to head towards the South after the start.
Enough to allow skippers to focus on the race and do everything to exploit the maximum potential of their boat. I will be raising sails for the first few hours. I am worried about miles for being selected. This is determining my strategy. I just have to finish. Still I want to push but I have to be cautious. Some will be pushing hard to test their boats and win. I have prepared the boat differently, just for my goal. I have the older, stronger foils and I will have no forward ballast tanks since we still have a repair.
