On this fourth day of racing, the first edition of the CIC MED CHANNEL RACE offers a completely different outlook from the previous day. At the front of the fleet, the two scows in battle, CREDIT MUTUEL (No. 158) and CENTRAKOR (No. 183), made a quick takeoff, putting on the afterburners, as they would say in aviation jargon, after hitting the twenty knots of wind expected halfway between Sardinia and the Balearic Islands. While tacking downwind, they set off at 18 knots towards the gateway located at the southeastern tip of the island of Mallorca, which they should reach in the evening.

At the other end of the fleet, the six Class40s, unlucky in the calm Sardinian waters, tried as best they could throughout the day to pull away towards the winds forecast to blow westward. By the end of the day, they were barely moving away from the Italian coast, regaining speed, and still had most of their way to the Balearic Islands to cover. Between the two, a half-strategic, half-lucky pairing comprised the now-famous Marseille No. 89 of Mathieu Claveau and Victoire Berger and the German No. 135 of Chris Kerl and Patrice Pou-Pupp.

The fleet now stretches over 200 miles, whereas 48 hours earlier, only about fifteen miles separated the leading group from their pursuers; the fantastic uncertainty of offshore racing, the great attraction of the Class40, which allows for this type of suspense between older boats and recent technological rockets. The two leading riders will have to face the dreaded calms of the windless Majorca on its west coast; will this cause the fleet to regroup and reshuffle the cards? The answer will be known tomorrow, with a Friday finish in Marseille therefore appearing to be the most likely scenario.“