MACIF SANTÉ PRÉVOYANCE UNBEATABLE ONCE AGAIN…

The 12 IMOCAs all finishing tightly bunched within 3 hours of one another at Lorient La Base after course extended to the Loire estuary as the wind picked up at the end Some particularly fine performances, especially by TeamWork Team SNEF, second and Café Joyeux, fourth in her Class IMOCA debut.

“The boat is fantastic!” gushed Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar in unison as they arrived dockside at 11:00 hours this morning. Well aware that they’d fluffed Thursday’s start offshore of Groix Island, it took a little less than 24 hours on the racetrack for the Franco-British duo to catch up with the head of the fleet and move up into pole position. It was close-hauled in the light airs and transitions that their Verdier design proved to be untouchable, outperforming Charal, which is more suited to medium and breezy conditions and is stickier in the water than her rival. “We weren’t worried but we were a little frustrated with our start,” admitted Sam Goodchild at the finish of this 48 H race, whilst his associate recalled “their ability to get into a good routine and the discovery of their automatic reflexes,” on the boat, which the duo is still getting to know after competing in the Course des Caps in crewed format.

And yet everything had started so well for Charal, quickest off the line on Thursday, closely tailed by her training partner Teamwork Team Snef, the two boats jockeying for the top spot throughout the first 24 hours. Playing the wind shifts and stutters with a series of transitions and storms to negotiate along the way, the ex Charal skippered by Justine Mettraux and Xavier Macaire overtook the new Charal and had their foot to the floor all the way to the finish line to snatch second place. 

Atypical conditions, a reshuffling of the cards

The stellar performance by the mixed pairing on TeamWork Team Snef confirms that the older boats certainly still have potential, particularly when they are upgraded with foils and helmed well in these light conditions, where power isn’t the only winning formula. 

The other striking example of the resilience of the older boats in this 48H Azimut is the fourth place awarded to Café Joyeux, the ex Macif 2012 and the first daggerboard IMOCA, which was toying with a podium spot throughout the race and was masterfully sailed by the Estais-Koster duo in their competitive debut on this boat. Demonstrating utter contempt for the race odds, they had Charal on the ropes for the final podium spot this morning before the black foiler hit back in the final sprint for the line as the breeze finally picked up some 30 miles from the finishing line.

It was a salutary breeze for those boats further astern too, which were able to hitch onto the peloton again. As a result, a steady stream of finishers powered into Lorient La Base today, each of them keen to get a bite to eat at Groix Nature and chat about their race before they turn their attention to the party, which awaits the teams this evening at Décosail and 507 works!

One winner and some worthy runners-up

This latest win is the fifth consecutive victory for Macif Santé Prévoyance since last year’s New York Vendée. The foiler has smashed it again making her THE reference among the 2024 IMOCAs. However, this supremacy should not overshadow a number of other superb performances in the race. These include that of Les P’tits Doudous, despite the fact that they were handicapped by a power cut affecting their keel ram, forcing Armel Tripon and Tanguy Leglatin to resort to operating the ram manually (adding muscles to their muscles after around sixty or so tack changes during the race)! Making her competitive debut, the VPLP design still managed to keep pace with 4 Cad La Mie Câline and Initiatives Coeur, respectively 5th and 6th following a penalty for not wearing lifejackets as stipulated in the Sailing Instructions.

 All these boats will have one last opportunity tomorrow to show what they’re made of during the Tour de Groix round island race, which is set to be contested in breezy conditions with some real bursts of speed, to the great delight of the guests invited aboard the IMOCAs.

VERBATIM FROM THE SKIPPERS

Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar

Victorious on Macif Santé Prévoyance

“The boat is fantastic! Jean-Yves (Gau, boat captain) told us when he climbed aboard that this is the fifth race in a row that Macif Santé Prévoyance has won so she’s an incredible weapon. We didn’t take her on that long ago so we’re still learning every day. There are things we saw in this race, which we’d never seen before. We’re constantly learning,” enthuses Sam Goodchild.

“Yes, we worked smoothly, it was uncomplicated and the discussions we had were easy, as was the decision-making. We were never worried, but it’s fair to say that we were frustrated by our poor start. After that, we clawed back a few tenths of a mile at a time and managed to pass Charal just after the 2nd mark and Teamwork just before so we’re happy, but we were never stressed. For us, the race was a way for us to familiarise ourselves with double-handed sailing again after the summer refits (…) before the Transat Café l’Or, which is fast approaching, so we’re really pleased to secure a win and manage to work well together,” adds Loïs Berrehar.

Justine Mettraux and Xavier Macaire

2nd on Teamwok Team Snef

“It was a fantastic race. I think we can be pleased with ourselves. We didn’t give much away. The conditions weren’t easy but we were in the match throughout and it’s great to finish where we were for most of the race,” announces Justine Mettraux

“The light airs were exhausting but we managed to get some good rest and take turns. That may well be the key to success in this race too,” says Xavier Macaire. 

“We had quite a fright at the midway mark. A piece which holds the tack on the large gennaker broke suddenly and the sail ended up billowing right across our path (…) We soon managed to hoist it again afterwards, at the next waypoint. We were slightly handicapped at the end of the leg. We’d hoped there wouldn’t be too many sail changes to make but things didn’t play out like that. The final stretch was stressful. We saw Charal a few miles behind and we said to ourselves that we needed a slight cushion of a lead before Belle-Ile so that we could stay ahead of them. Our 6-mile lead was not insurmountable, which means that they must have been really quick over the last section!” concludes Justine.

Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière

3rd on Charal

“The feeling we have is that it was very complicated. It felt like we really raced hard but we only managed to get the boat making headway over the last two hours! Last night we got a bit caught up in the lightning in the storms. The two boats ahead of us managed to steal a bit of a march on us but we were a bit too far back. We really enjoyed ourselves though and we were also in it to get some training. There are lots of positives to take away with us,” says Jérémie Beyou.

“If we’d had another 15 minutes we’d have moved up a place for sure but Justine and Xavier deserved their ranking. They were clearly… at the front of the pack virtually from beginning to end. As Jérémy said, it was quite a special race. We didn’t really make much progress in the lighter conditions. At time we wondered whether it was a race or a lottery(…) In any case, it has spurred us on for what comes next and it’s almost a good thing that we didn’t win as we can keep that for later,” concludes Morgan Lagravière

Louis Duc (Fives Group  Lantana Environnement)

10th in the 48 H Azimut

“It was a really wonderful race with the wind lacking from time to time but not as much as the files were showing, which is quite funny. Marie and I made a few minor errors, which enabled Café Joyeux to make good her escape and she sailed very well. Moreover, a daggerboard boat could well have won the race if the course hadn’t been extended, but I don’t feel any animosity about that decision. This 48H race was a really great experience and it was nice to keep the leaders on AIS the whole way for once.”