News Around the World
FRANCE Enorme! The Transat Jacques Vabre 2021 is the 15th edition of the two-handed transatlantic race. For the first time the event connects Le Havre to Fort-de-France (French Antilles). To have a relatively tight finish the courses are different for each of the four classes taking part. The fastest Ultims must round the Trinidad archipelago off the Brazilian coast before sailing up to Martinique (7,500nm). The Ocean Fifty Class and Imocas have to round Fernando de Noronha, 150nm NE of Natal (north Brazil), and the Class40s have to round the Do Sal Island (Cape Verde) before heading for the finish line close to the main harbour of Fort de France. Their distances to sail are respectively 5,400nm and 4,600nm. The huge number of boats this year (80 compared with 59 in
2019) confirms the good health of ocean racing in France. Two of the five Ultims are participating in their first race. In Class40 – a record entry of 45 boats – there are a dozen new boats, all Scows. In the Ocean Fifty, previously the Multi 50, of the seven entries two boats are new (Arkema 4 and Koezio). Finally, the Imocas are also very numerous despite the TJV being only one year after the Vendée Globe! A brand new Verdier design for crewed and solo racing will be at the start – 11th Hour Racing Team’s Malama, driven by Franco- American duo Charlie Enright and Pascal Bidégorry.
Since #158 they are all Scows! Two years ago they were the two new Scows in the race: the David Raison-designed Max40 Crédit Mutuel (#158), sailed by Ian Lipinski, and the Sam Manuard-designed (#159) Mach40.4 Banque du Léman, skippered by the Swiss sailor Valentin Gautier. The Max40 went westward for a while through the Atlantic,
seventh on the water and more than 40nm behind the two leading ‘conventional’ Mach 40.3s Aina Enfance et Avenir and Leyton (with Brit Sam Goodchild aboard), while Kito de Pavant was the furthest south on his Humphreys design Made in Midi. Two days later Crédit Mutuel, now heading south with a better
angle, sailed past all her rivals and was never headed, thanks to her better performance and the talent of her crew: past Mini Transat winner Ian Lipinski and Adrien Hardy, a Figaro star.
22 SEAHORSE
Never has a Class40 travelled as fast as Crédit Mutuel on
6 November 2019 off Cape Verde island. Ian and Adrien peaked at 415.86 miles over 24 hours, beating the old record of 377.7nm set by the Mach40.2 V and B in the previous TJV in 2017. One thing they have learned on Crédit Mutuel during the TJV is
that with the correct set-up they can leave the autopilot to do the job. Questioned about their record, Ian and Adrien said they have not touched the helm since Ushant, the morning after the start… Nothing bad occurred even passing through the Doldrums. The Scow was still 50nm in front of the two Mach40.3s crossing
the Equator, and she stayed comfortably first till the finish in Brazil. Obviously the Scows showed a faster speed (Banque du Léman was slowed by sail problems and finally finished fourth). And since Crédit Mutuel all the new Class40 built have been Scows… The most recent Class40 in the TJV is #172 – one of the two
new Pogo40 S4s built by Structures Shipyard to a Guillaume Verdier design. All these Scows (from #158 to #172) are entered for the race except the Clak 40 #171 (VPLP-Multiplast) whose owner pulled out at the end of September. The fleet of new boats consists largely of Max40s and
Mach40.4s, both series-manufactured in La Trinité sur Mer by JPS Shipyard. The latest on the list (#170), launched on 24 September, is a Max40 that will be driven by the all-female crew of Amélie Grassi and famous champion Marie Riou. La Boulangère Bio, the fourth Max40 built, stands out from her three sisterships with a mast set back an additional 0.3m – a choice made by Amélie in consultation with sailmaker All Purpose aiming to make the boat more responsive. ‘Sailing on the other Max40, I got the impression that the boat
was a little “soft” on the helm… So we studied the sailplan last winter. All the calculations showed that moving the rig aft a little was going in the right direction so we decided to make the adjust- ment – I am very happy with how the boat now feels.’ In addition to many JPS builds other new faces include the Lift
40V2 Crosscall (#166), designed by Marc Lombard and built in Caen by GL Composites and V1D2. There is also #167, the second Clak 40 of Nico d’Estais and Erwan Le Draoulec; the Pogo 40S4 Serenis (Galfione/Peron), which clocked up great performances in September’s Malouine Lamotte race at St Malo; and her sistership
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