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Two great skippers, one magnificent sailboat… Armel le Cléac’h (left) has racked up a string of solo records since taking over the former Groupama 3 trimaran of Franck Cammas. Meanwhile, Loïck Peyron (above) slipped seamlessly into the skipper’s role for the 2014 Rhum after Le Cléac’h suffered an injury. Four years on from its first Rhum success, this VPLP tri has been constantly refined as a supreme – large – solo machine
How things have moved on for Finistère- born Le Cléac’h, who kicked open the door of the Figaro class with a bang in 2000 by securing second overall (and a win in the rookie category, which goes without saying) for his first participation in La Solitaire. The feat did not go unno- ticed, since the unwritten law of the Figaro fleet goes something like ‘You shall suffer humiliating results to begin with… and the beginning can be long.’ Only the very, very talented manage a top spot early on. Three years later Armel beat Alain Gautier in the same summer classic with a preposterous 13-second lead at the end of four gruelling sleepless legs. That year the race was introducing the new Figaro II one-design, and many of the most famous ‘tenors’ had come back to the circuit for the occasion… So the Peyrons and Desjoyeaux (who finished third) of this world witnessed and suffered Le Cléac’h’s determination, tactical finesse and ability to always go fast in the right direction. Every Solitaire win is an achievement of course, but to secure one’s first victory in precisely the year when all the biggest names were on the water must have felt very special… By then, of course, Armel’s reputa- tion was already well established, and every- body knew they had to worry about ‘the jackal’, as they called him. A nickname that, for what it’s worth, yours truly always found ill-inspired and undeserved – ‘he never lets go and is always breathing down your neck, ready to pounce’, some of his rivals would say… albeit not without admiration. Yet the term also conveys notions of cynicism, back-stabbing and a general lack of elegance that you’d be hard-pressed to force upon the man’s spec sheet. Without a doubt Armel is a fierce competitor who indeed never lets go, as his Vendée Globe efforts have proved, but he is also a clever, sophisticated, polite and measured
individual one would be happy to share a long voyage with at any time.
Charmed by the man and suitably impressed by the competitor, a magnani- mous Alain Gautier, then looking to hand over the helm of his Foncia Orma 60 trimaran, turned to Armel who at 26 found himself with arguably one of the most coveted jobs on the French offshore racing scene. In 2004, racing with his longtime friend Nicolas Troussel, he also went on to win the two-handed Transat AG2R… a winning streak that has to be put in the specific context of an era during which several other astonishing characters came to realise their full potential. Think here of all those Solitaire multiple winners in the making at the time: Troussel of course, but also Eliès (who took his time but whose talent was blindingly obvious), Beyou and naturally Armel himself. After a great second place in the 2008 Vendée, he indeed returned to the Figaro circuit and duly won both the AG2R and the Solitaire in 2010! You’d need to push a bit to make the man admit that finishing second twice in the Vendée Globe is somewhat irritating, but it doesn’t take much psychology or listening skills to detect that Armel is investing a lot in his next campaign, with a brand new Verdier-VPLP design (as if there was something else!).
Nearly 15 years after his all guns blazing landing in the big boys’ playground, Armel Le Cléac’h has matured considerably, rein- forcing his natural self-confidence and tenac- ity, and also upping his technical game. However, the original spark that must have made him a pretty intimidating nine-year- old armed with an Oppie still remains very alive. So, a ‘jackal’, really? ‘Well, I can be strong-willed and feisty on the water… but as a person I’m pretty far from that jackal thing, actually.’ It was a rhetorical question, Armel, you didn’t really need to answer it.
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The Power to Perform
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SEAHORSE 29
THIERRY MARTINEZ
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