discovered new ways of flying, new ways of getting over the waves at dizzying speeds. We peaked at 23kt and averaged 17.6kt over an hour… Surely a new record for this class? Clearly our foiler has incredible potential. Now it’s time to learn how to use it at a max- imum speed over time and to complete the reliability process.’ Caroline Boule will be at the helm of the flying machine during
the next Mini Transat La Boulangère, which starts in Les Sables d’Olonne on 14 September.
Two boats, four great sailors, one goal Two Imocas (For People and For The Planet), four skippers (Thomas Ruyant/Morgan Lagravière and Sam Goodchild/Antoine Koch), but only one team, technical and sporting, dedicated to the pooling of tests and experiments to maximise the shared performance of the two boats… This is the sporting project currently under development in Lorient, put together by Thomas Ruyant and his TR Racing Team. This year’s double podium in the Guyader Bermudes 1000 by
No greater plaudit. When François Gabart looked for a skipper to take over the reins of his programme he had the pick of just about every offshore skipper in the world. Gabart is the greatest offshore talent to emerge in the past 10 years and whoever took over from him on the water would need his complete confidence. Tom Laperche is barely 26 years old; to already be entrusted to continue the winning record of the team that has won in every category entered is a remarkable achievement. We wish him well
medallist Jonathan McKee, skipper of Red Ruby, reckons: ‘It’s pretty clear the French have been doing this for a lot longer and are at a bit higher a level than the rest of us,’ he says with a smile. ‘Their top boats are really well sailed, very, very well prepared, and they know those waters very well, so their success is not surprising. ‘One of the reasons we did these races was to pitch ourselves
against what we consider to be the toughest doublehanded sailors in the world. The fleet was fantastic. We had nearly 60 boats, almost all of them in a very small rating range, so they are almost all the same speed, making it a real sailors’ race.’ Next on the schedule is the Fastnet Race… with more than 100 two-handed entries!
Class40 (finally) has a Transat The result of an 18-month collaboration between the Class40s and Ultim Sailing, a new transatlantic race is born. Dedicated to the Class40, the event will connect the two Atlantic islands Belle-Île- en-Mer (Morbihan) and Marie-Galante (Guadeloupe) and will depart on 7 April 2024. This interesting new race will be sailed with a crew of three and mainly in running conditions that are perfectly suited to these boats. The race also has a major partner, Niji, a company that supports
the digital transformation of companies of all sectors and sizes. So naturally the new Transat is called the Niji 40. With a four-year cycle, the Niji 40 aims to become a Class40
classic. Cédric de Kervenoael, new Class40 president, said: ‘For its 20th birthday the Class40 could not hope for a better gift than a race from Belle-Île to Marie-Galante, before joining the Atlantic Cup in the USA and the mythical Quebec-Saint Malo. The race offers a nice alternative to The Transat CIC sailed with multiple categories.’ This race is very good news for the Class40s, a little less for the
organisers of the Cap Martinique: a double and solo race for ama- teurs aboard IRC sailboats from La Trinité-sur-Mer (a few miles from Belle-Île) to Fort-de-France in Martinique. For the second edition Cap Martinique leaves on 14 April, one week after the start of the Niji40…
Foiling Mini: dizzying speeds Benoît Marie sailed with Caroline Boule in the Calvados Cup, dedicated to the Mini 6.50, aboard his Numatic foiling one-off that we wrote about last month. The gap to the boat finishing second, the new Series Division TM 650 in this case sailed by Thomas Coville, was 7h 9m after a 280nm rush that lasted 25 hours. A chasm!!! Benoît says: ‘This race was crazy. This is the first time we have sailed in these winds and strong sea conditions for so long. We
the two Imocas, the new For People of Thomas Ruyant and his previous boat, For The Planet of Sam Goodchild, was achieved only a few days after their respective launches. An astonishing maiden performance in a class where nine months is regarded as the minimum work-up time for a new design. For Imoca this is the start of something new – a professional
two-boat campaign dedicated to achieving maximum performance and reliability for both boats. For several weeks the 2023 Finot- Koch and 2020 Verdier designs have been testing and training together, with continuous communication and real-time data sharing. This novel approach for this class, shared with enthusiasm and
without the slightest restraint, is rewarded with an exhilarating feeling of fast progress. Thomas Ruyant: ‘This approach is a real innovation, a real discovery. We are the only ones in Imoca to develop this practice. In an ultra-competitive environment like ocean racing there is a culture of secrecy between boats that normally makes this process impossible. I took the decision that we must move away from this old culture if we are to improve quickly enough. ‘In the end our boats are progressing very fast. We go to sea for
several days at a time with both boats, and we push each other hard for hours on end while constantly exchanging information by VHF. We are already comparing micro setting changes in real time. ‘We perform thematic sessions, with precise objectives, on wind
angles, for example, or sail configurations, foil impacts, and we compare the performances at sea by exchanging settings as we sail. So it is not a unique feeling for something we try, but rather four perceptions that are shared and then analysed. ‘A productive joint process like this can feel really exciting, I tell you!’ Patrice Carpentier
GREAT BRITAIN Magic numbers Few can ignore a simple fact that the UK south coast is alive with racing at the moment. The 50th Fastnet Race has caught the attention. The Admiral’s Cup is back in July 2025. And on pretty much any weekend the Solent is full of fast, sleek Cape 31 one- designs doing ‘the circuit’ and having a ball. The RORC Vice Admiral’s Cup got things off to a stellar start
before the baton was handed to the Royal Lymington Yacht Club for the Nationals. Cowes Week follows and then through September and into October the Royal Thames YC, the Royal Southern YC and the Royal Yacht Squadron will host a total of six rounds to complete the season. It’s fast and frenetic racing that fuses the professional sailors – three are allowed per boat – and some top-end Corinthians ducking out of work early to make the pilgrimage south. On the Hamble, 31 North Yachting is the sole supplier of these
pure-breed thoroughbreds and the fleet has rocketed with 26 boats lining up for the 2023 nationals. Tony Dickin’s Jubilee pulled off a memorable win, scoring four bullets but still needing to perform in a nail-biter final race to secure the title. Tony summed up his long weekend: ‘It’s great to have a large fleet where everyone is racing to a high standard. Small mistakes cost you multiple places so trying to stay out of trouble is key. ‘We focused on getting off the line in a bit of space to allow us
to sail the boat fast and not be compromised off the start. From then on it was about working hard up the first leg to get around the
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