News Around the World
Fabrice Amedeo training for the 2014 Route du Rhum on his Marc Lombard-designed Akilaria RC2 Class 40 SNCF Geodis. This is the keen 36-year-old French journalist’s second Rhum; since the last edition he has benefited from an extensive ‘improvement’ programme working alongside Figaro veteran and now Imoca 60 skipper Armel Tripon – including three two-handed transatlantic races
FRANCE Les Français et le Volvo Ocean Race
There is no French boat in the latest round-the-world race as was the case last time with the winning Groupama, but many French sailors are taking part, starting with Chinese entry Dongfeng, skippered by Charles Caudrelier who was onboard Groupamaas a watch leader. Charles is joined by Pascal Bidégorry as navigator plus Volvo first-timers Kevin Escoffier, Eric Péron and Thomas Rouxel as well as another Groupamaveteran Yann Riou as media man. Meanwhile, onboard Team Brunel you can find Laurent Pagès, who sailed on Groupamain 2011/2012 and in 2008/2009 on Telefónica Blue, a boat skippered by… Bouwe Bekking, skipper of Brunel. On Mapfre are Michel Desjoyeaux, Nicolas Lunven and 30-year-old Anthony Marchand who is a well-known sail trimmer and helmsman. Finally, Séb Marsset was a reserve crew on Groupamawho never made it onto the boat during the race, but this time he will race on Team Alvimedica.
It looks like sailors from France will be the most numerous in this edition of the Volvo! Is this perhaps because crewing the Volvo 65s is particularly demanding, placing a premium on short- handed skills? There are no French on Abu Dhabi, nor on Vestas, but there are French-speaking ladies on Team SCA, including the two Swiss sisters Justine and Elodie-Jane Mettraux plus of course Sam Davies and Liz Wardley who both speak excellent French…
Route du Rhum: besides the Ultime
In our last issue we told you about the exceptional competition anticipated between the eight maxi multihulls racing in the Ultime division, but the record number of entries in the 2014 Route du Rhum (more than 90 boats) is of course spread over several other divisions, all of which promise fierce competition. The Imoca 60 class boasts eight boats. The match here is going to be quite interesting because most of the top boats have been modified to the revised class rules. François Gabart (Macif), the last Vendée Globe winner, is back, while his principal opponents
12 SEAHORSE
will be Vincent Riou (PRB) and Jérémie Beyou (Maître Coq), who with a historical third win in the Figaro Race is the man ‘en forme’. Marc Guillemot’s Safranis in many ways ‘parent’ of all those 60-footers designed by the magic duo VPLP/Verdier. She has been continually upgraded and her experienced skipper will of course be very motivated to do his best in the last race he is sailing in Safran colours (his successor is the young Morgan Lagravière). One newcomer to the Imoca circuit is Armel Tripon (Humble
Heroes) sailing the fifth VPLP/Verdier entered – the ex-Groupe Bel, previously sailed by Kito de Pavant. The three non-VPLP/Verdier entries are Vendée Globe heroes Bertrand de Broc and Alessan- dro di Benedetto plus Tanguy de Lamotte (Initiative Coeur), who has purchased the Farr design (ex-PRB, ex-Akena Verandas), which now features new and more powerful forward sections. Among the 11 Multi 50s registered, four skippers look likely to play for a victory: Erwan Le Roux (Fenêtre A Cardinal) and Yves Le Blevec (Actual), both based in La Trinité-sur-Mer; and Loïc Fequet (Maître Jacques) and Lalou Roucayrol, a senior member of the multihull fraternity whose boat, the newest Multi 50 (Région Aquitaine), unfortunately capsized in last year’s Transat Jacques Vabre but has since been rebuilt.
Of course the biggest group in the Route du Rhum is once again the Class 40 with a mere 40 boats lining up to cross the Atlantic… From Imoca skippers to pure Corinthians, from Mini experts to Figaro racers, from the youngest sailor (at 19) to the oldest Class 40 pioneers, this record fleet is nice, diverse and made up of many nations and will deliver a very high level of competition. Sailing solo is a rare exercise in the Class 40 and the Route du Rhum is without doubt the pinnacle. Favourites are many. The first name on the list is Sébastien Rogues, who has won nearly all the previous Class 40 races on his Mach 40 GDF Suez, but Sébastien is not especially experienced in solo racing. This opens the door to sailors like the excellent Spaniard Alex Pella, sailing a truly fast boat (Santander 2014), designed by Botín. Yannick Bestaven (Le Conservateur) has a very new Verdier
J-M LIOT/DPPI
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