The Arctic is slipping away in the boat wakes. Seven of the eight remaining competitors in the Vendée Arctique have now crossed the Arctic Circle, with only Manu Cousin aboard Coup de Pouce still pushing toward the high latitudes. For everyone else, the bow is turning toward Les Sables d’Olonne.
The pace has lifted dramatically. Pushed by 25 knots of wind gusting to 30, across seas reaching four metres, the IMOCA sailors are hitting speeds above 20 knots. The foils sing, the bows plane, and the miles reel off. But beneath these raw numbers sits a harder question: which way home.
Between Ireland and Britain lies a narrow passage that dominates the routing analysis and divides the fleet. Every skipper faces the same choice: race fast or sail safe.
The return leg holds its own drama. Several boats are heading for the North Channel, squeezing between the Isle of Man and Great Britain. At its tightest point near Moyle Strait, the two coastlines sit just 20 kilometres apart. Add fierce tidal streams, commercial shipping traffic, and separation schemes, and the passage becomes a puzzle that demands respect. The waters carry weight of history too. Irish legend places the Giant’s Causeway here, where Fionn Mac Cumhaill once built a bridge to Scotland. Today, IMOCAs at full tilt thread the same waters for far more practical reasons. The North Channel isn’t just a curiosity. It’s the race’s defining tactical call.
Sam Goodchild on MACIF Santé Prévoyance, leading the fleet, is committing to the channel. Élodie Bonafous is following the same line. On paper it’s tempting: shorter, direct, and the routing software says it’s fastest by a good margin. Not everyone agrees. Ambrogio Beccaria, who climbed to third place yesterday after overtaking Violette Dorange and pressuring Bonafous, has chosen to go west around Ireland instead. The Italian is steering clear of what the routing models favour.
“When I look at what’s waiting in there—strong wind, heavy sea, foul current, tight passage with all its complications,” Beccaria said, “honestly, my stomach says no. I don’t feel it.”
He knows precisely what that choice costs him. His routing software shows the North Channel could hand him 50 to 60 nautical miles, but on his first solo IMOCA campaign, the calculation reaches beyond distance. A recent autopilot glitch reinforced his thinking. Lose steering in that bottleneck and a drama unfolds fast.
“The worst part is knowing I’m probably throwing away the winning route,” he said. “But if things go wrong in there, it goes wrong properly.”
The choice sits heavily. “I feel like I’m fighting the whole fleet on this one,” Beccaria said, yet he’s holding firm. Some losses can’t be measured in miles.
