April 2015 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 19. AMERICA'S CUP & VENDEE GLOBE NEWS
ing together Vincent Lauriot-Prévost and Guillaume Verdier to combine their skills, proved to be a winning formula. It was a revolutionary way of doing things, as they carried out dozens of virtual tests to design a hull, before testing out the models at the University of Southampton, and even going so far as to build a full scale model of the deck layout. Work began on Safran in the summer of 2006 at the famous Larros Yard and was completed a year later. The lightest of the IMOCA monohulls was born and the VPLP/Verdier designed boat became the reference taking everything in a new direc- tion. When she was launched on 6th
August
2007, Safran with her grey and orange hull, clearly impressed all who saw her. Weighing in at a mere eight tonnes, she looked remark- ably slim for such a powerful hull with her vertical sides and a hard chine, promising speeds that would worry her future rivals.
Two Vendée Globes, once on the podi- um, emotions and a disappointment November 2008: at the start of the
Vendée Globe, Marc Guillemot attracted a lot of attention and was ranked among the favourites. But during the sixth week of the race, Safran was doing well in the Indian Ocean, when her nearest rival, Yann Eliès was seriously injured on his Generali and was in great danger. Marc would stay along- side him for two days until the arrival of the Australian rescue team, before returning to the race. Four days from the fi nish and more excitement. Safran lost her keel, but would continue to sail all the way to les Sables d’Olonne with Marc Guillemot fi nishing his fi rst Vendée Globe in third place. In 2011, Marc took Yann Eliès aboard
Safran for the Transat Jacques Vabre with her new titanium keel. In spite of this asset, the two friends had to make do with sixth place, but it was the 2012 Vendée Globe that was to deal the really cruel blow to Safran when shortly after the start, the boat lost her famous titanium keel of which Safran was so proud. On 10th
November,
was severely shocked as he returned to les Sables-d’Olonne, fi ve hours after setting off. A new beginning with Yann Eliès and Quéguiner
Thanks to his sponsor, Groupe Quéguin-
er, who announced they had acquired the Safran monohull last December, Yann Eliès will be returning to the Vendée Globe aboard a boat he knows well. She entered the yard
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in Lorient, her home port to undergo some technical modifi cations, but this time she will be fi tted with a steel keel, which the team believes is more reliable. Next June, in the grey and red colours of her new owner, and with the number 29 painted on her, the boat will be relaunched and training can begin. Two double-handed races are scheduled, the Rolex Fastnet and the Transat Jacques Vabre, to begin Yann’s programme this year. In 2016, inspired by seeing Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) make it to the podium in the last Vendée Globe with a boat from a previous generation, Yann Eliès can seriously hope to be up there with the winners in the next solo round the world race.
Nandor Fa at Cape Horn, Stamm and Le Cam on their way to Gibraltar On Monday morning, the Hungarian
skipper, Nandor Fa rounded Cape Horn aboard Spirit of Hungary, the 60-foot IMO- CA aboard which he will compete in the next Vendée Globe. Almost 5000 miles ahead of him, Bernard Stamm and Jean Le Cam are the clear leaders in the Barcelona World Race and are already thinking about the Straits of Gibraltar which they should pass through next weekend. As for Jörg Riechers and Sébastien Audigane, who also hope to take part in the Vendée Globe, they are continuing their climb back up the Atlantic after an epic rounding of the Horn… All of the competitors still racing in
the Barcelona World Race have now left the Southern Ocean. On Monday morning, Nandor Fa and Conrad Colman crossed the longitude of Cape Horn at 0613hrs UTC after 74 days, 18 hours and 13 minutes of racing since the start in Barcelona on 31st December. The duo on Spirit of Hungary are at the rear of the fl eet as they leave the Southern Ocean behind them, but are pleased to still be in the race, as they have had to show a lot of determination. Fa and Colman, who have suffered from a number of technical problems, had to carry out a pit stop lasting more than two days in New Zealand to repair damage to their rig and replace two keel bolts. It was the fourth time that Nandor Fa rounded the legendary cape. His last rounding was some time ago, as it was in the 1992-93 Vendée Globe. Nothing stopping Stamm and Le Cam For Bernard Stamm and Jean Le Cam, the rounding of the Horn is a long distant memory in this Barcelona World Race, as it was on 25th February, almost three weeks
ago. Since then, the two sailors, who are well known to anyone who follows the Vendée Globe, have continued their perfect race and are well ahead of their closest rivals, Neutro- gena (Guillermo Altadill/José Muñoz) and GAES Centros Auditivos (Anna Corbella/ Gerard Marin). For Stamm and Le Cam now less than 2000 miles from the fi nish, all lights are go, and it looks increasingly like they will win the race. Some 200 miles from the latitude of the Canaries, the two men are currently slowed down in a ridge of high pressure. But this isn’t really having that big an effect as they climb back up to the Straits of Gibraltar, which they are due to enter next weekend. They will then be back in the Mediterranean on the fi nal sprint fi nal back to Barcelona. Around 3500 miles behind them, Jörg Riechers and Sébastien Audigane have got over their emotional rounding
of Cape Horn in hellish conditions with gusts up to 70 knots in the squalls last week. “One day like that is OK, but you can’t stand any more, as you would age considerably ,” explained Jörg Riechers. Still in sixth place, the Franco-German crew are making their way back into friendlier latitudes. Rankings on Monday 16th March at 1400hrs UTC 1. Cheminées Poujoulat
(Bernard Stamm/Jean Le Cam) 1908 miles from the fi nish
2. Neutrogena (Guillermo Altadill – José Muñoz) 948 miles behind the leader 3. GAES Centros Auditivos (Anna Corbella – Gerard Marin) 997 miles behind the leader 4. We Are Water (Bruno Garcia – Willy Garcia) 2354 miles behind the leader 5. One Planet One Ocean & Pharmaton (Aleix Gelabert – Didac Costa) 2355 miles behind the leader 6. Renault Captur (Jörg Riechers – Sébastien Audigane) 3477 miles behind the leader 7. Spirit of Hungary (Nandor Fa – Conrad Colman) 4921 miles behind the leader.
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