On Sunday afternoon (8:15 pm Italian time), a few minutes before the start of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo, there was a violent and rapid increase in wind speed (in weather jargon, a squall) with rain and hail. The start of the regatta was dynamic to say the least: two minutes of torrential rain and strong gusts of wind characterised the start of the return regatta to Europe, creating a truly unique scenario. Having passed as quickly as it had arrived, the storm gave way to around fifteen knots of wind and sun, which accompanied the first hours of navigation in a truly spectacular context.
Alberto Bona with Pablo Santurde del Arco and Luca Rosetti aboard the Class40 IBSA kept on the right side of the river, sailing with intensity and conviction, minimising their manoeuvers and recovering positions from a start in the middle of the group, while other crews lingered due to a greater number of gybes. In the first hour and a half, the Class40 IBSA sailed within the leading group, keeping well inshore along the right bank of the river and interpreting the gusts well, so much so that she passed the small tip after Luzon in third position. Aware of having to fight tack after tack, due to the very unstable weather conditions, with powerful and sudden gusts, the teams will all have to pay close attention in the first 140 miles, considered by Bona as the most difficult of this first leg of the regatta, due to the orography of the coast and the many variables they will encounter, including the possibility of coming across the cetaceans that populate the area in this period.
Two hours after the start, the leading half of the fleet is still in a fairly compact formation: Alberto and the Class40 IBSA are duelling directly with the other two Italians in the race to remain in the leading group, always running with the wind with a speed of around nine/ten knots.
