had been at the front from the first few miles: ‘It was a beautiful Route du Rhum. It was great until the end! We still have many things to improve but we do not have to feel ashamed. Obviously there is always a little disappointment – it would be too easy to blame the foil problem but Charles was already ahead anyway. ‘If I’m being self-critical maybe I wasn’t aggressive enough at the
start of the race. Charles (Caudrelier) was on top right away. But finishing second in a Route du Rhum is not insignificant. Compared to four years ago, this second place is promising because it is the beginning of the life of this boat (launched in 2021) while it was almost the last with the previous boat.’ Charlie Dalin, skipper of the Imoca Apivia, said: ‘Since the
beginning of the season I’ve been in harmony with the boat and I’m happy that this is still the case. It is rare to reach this level of “comfort”. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but generally I’m at a level of navigation so far away from where I was in the first year, when I was still trying to tame the boat. I suffered then but today I have mastered it!!’ Charlie won all the races he entered this season. As I write he
is still just leading but is having a close battle with Thomas Ruyan on the sister design LinkedOut. I shall have to wait and see! Whatever the wind and sea conditions are, Charlie has always
been a step faster but Thomas is very good and it was Thomas who came out on top at the end of the TJV after the same close fight… Charlie has a new boat under construction and we wonder how
much faster she will be, knowing that the ‘old’ Apivia is still faster than this year’s Imocas which are not yet developed. The Ocean Fifty category, all 50ft trimarans, started out as eight.
One of them, Leyton, could not even cross the line because skipper Sam Goodchild injured his arms and face when a winch in the cockpit ran back on him, an accident that saw him rushed to St-Malo Hospital. On Saturday 12 November Thibaut Vauchel-Camus had just taken
the lead at the latitude of the Azores. His Ocean Fifty, Solidaires en Peloton, was heading SW on starboard tack when she capsized… The race had already lost two of the favourites. But this time the Ocean Fifties are much closer than before, with the three leaders all within a 70nm circle. Yoann Richomme is in a nice position to repeat his 2018 win in
the Class40 division. The big fleet of 55 boats at the start suffered a lot of damage in the first week due to the strong SW winds and aggressive seas that prevailed until the Azores. There were dismast- ings, structural damage, torn sails… problems that have forced many competitors to abandon the race or find shelter to make repairs. As I am writing, after a week at sea Yoann Richomme, on his new
Marc Lombard-designed Lift 40 V2, has a lead of 20nm (a big gap in the competitive Class40) ahead of a compact group of 10, including his friend Corentin Douget sailing the same Lombard design. As proof of his supremacy, Yoann Richomme – who was among the 16 pre- mature starters – quickly recovered from his four-hour penalty, which he took at an appropriate time when the wind fell and the stream reversed close to the gate of Cap Fréhel! Yoann, who is a very clever, tactical sailor, remains the favourite q
– but there are good people in his wake.
SNAPSHOTS Brought to you in association with
l Hurry hurry… too late l Queenstown’s harbourmaster… in New Zealand had had enough of Team NZ’s former ACC yacht NZL-14 sitting forlorn on a mooring… l So he towed her… round the back where the chainsaws live l There was… a lot of carbon dust in Valencia a few years back too l When… the port authority realised they weren’t ever comin’ back for their old ACC yachts l Gettin’ above our station… shurely not? l But… Blue really has been elected to the America’s Cup Hall of Fame selection committee l Next they’ll… let the editor into the golf club (ha – ed) l Gettin’ the band… back together... l 10 years later… the MOD 70s are up and running again l Good boats… fast, but well built so not requiring daily Super Glue l Five… of the seven original MODs started the Middle Sea Race l One million… two million… l Somewhere in between… the number of spectators who visited the start of the Route du Rhum l Eat your hearts out… every other wannabe pro circuit on the planet l No, sir… racing was abandoned at the kite Europeans in Greece... l Before... one silly-billy asked if he could go out and play… l Only… if you want to be arrested, said the killjoy RC… l But… the word was from Mt Olympus (aka the Greek government) l Losing… kitesurfers is bad for tourism l Which is why… there are no climbing accidents in the Alps… l If you get… our drift l Congrats… to new AC Hall of Famers Rolfie [Vrolijk] and His Honour Bryan Willis l But special congrats… to Antony Matusch, old friend and a man who has voluntarily done a stupendous amount for the sport l Antony… receives the Hall of Fame’s Sutton Medal l Stop press… Alinghi win TF35 Championship (again) l Oops… in Italian (possibly something worse)... l Prada… drop their ‘mule’ rig while prepping to sail in Cagliari l Spotted… a nice three-year-old foiler Moth for sale… l Offers around… 30,000 euros? l Shurely… something has gone wrong here, friends? l Ouch… no one wants to be hanging onto a backwinding primary… l Get well soon… Sam Goodchild l DAO… Decentralized Autonomous Organization structure built on the near Protocol... l Couttsy and friends… have done some nice out-of-the-box thinking to try to assemble a crowd-sourced SailGP team working with DAONEARP (sic) expert David Palmer l Fingers crossed it happens… getting ahead of the eSports crowd too l Yet DAONEAR… WTF (nope, no idea either – ed) l Not ideal… hurricane causes postponements at 2.4 Meter Worlds l Well, it sort of would… when you have 4in of freeboard? l Sometime Seahorse scribe… Dee Smith took the prize this year l 31kt, 32kt, 30kt… 24hr averages for the Ultims in the Rhum... l Just sayin’… l Sad farewell… to Pepe Stratton, widow of the late Vernon l Both… great friends of Seahorse… l While… Vernon was also the UK’s best Olympic team manager before Sparky appeared… l He also... won the Finn Gold Cup in 1960 l Pepe too… was a mean Finn sailor in her day (sic) l As well as being… a magnificent ‘in loco parentis’ to many UK Olympic sailors l Also this month… it was farewell to Mervyn Cook, he of the Magnum series of low-rider Moths l Winners?… 8 World, 10 European and 19 UK National titles (enough said) l Next month… Dave Hollom will write about his close friend and mentor l And, a bit weird this… also passed away this month, Tony Berry, PdS’s fiscal brother-in-arms in the 1988 America’s Cup l A good run… the Farr 40 is no longer recognised by World Sailing as an international class l 25 years, though… and still a cracking boat… l But the Mumm 30s… are still better (reminds the editor) l Wanna find one…
RaceBoatsOnly.com l Wanna learn about one…
EurosailNews.com
SEAHORSE 17
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