News Around the World
FRANCE Six seconds to victory With a record number of Class40s, a line-up hitherto unequalled and a mainly light weather forecast the latest edition of the two-handed Normandy Channel Race was a rather intense affair – especially for the frontrunners. Added to the usual clutch of Figaro sailors, who are always partial
to exchanging their one-designs for a Class40, were sailors from the Volvo Ocean Race and even the Vendée Globe. All of them admitted that their presence in Caen for the start was due to the attraction of a demanding double-handed sprint around an excep- tional nautical stadium whose outer limits are bounded by the shores of Normandy, England and Ireland! A particular attraction of this race is a course that is probably
the most technically demanding of any major race in northern Europe. From Caen the fleet proceeds across the strong Channel currents to England, then into the Solent itself passing from east to west before heading down the English coast to Land’s End with the many headlands and tidal gates that passage involves. From Land’s End they turn right up the Irish Sea to round Tuskar
Rock on the southeast tip of Ireland before heading south around the coast to the Fastnet Rock. From there it is back to Land’s End then southeast to fight through the spectacular currents around the island of Guernsey, back up around the Cherbourg peninsula for two short legs in the Bay of the Seine and a finish back in Caen… 1,000 miles of the most complex tactical offshore sailing you will find anywhere. Ultimately, victory in this incredible six-day edition of the race
came down to just six seconds. Indeed, this was all that was separating the top two on the finish line, Imerys Clean Energy, skippered by Phil Sharp (winner last year and second by 169 seconds in 2016) and Julien Pulvé, just snatching the win from the scow- like Carac, designed by Marc Lombard and sailed by Louis Duc and
16 SEAHORSE
Gwen Riou; it had been an intense battle from beginning to end. In a light-airs race Imeryshad sailed 1,107nm at a 7.64kt average… quite impressive. The 2018 Normandy Channel Race was a merciless battle of
elimination which saw the original 27 competitors gradually falling out of contention from one course mark to the next. Indeed, the leading group went from 14 boats in the Solent, to 11 at Wolf Rock, then six at Tuskar and Fastnet, with eventually just three boats left fighting for the final victory. The three-way final that started at the Channel Islands went right
to the wire, each crew taking a turn in the hot seat on the last morning of the race. Sharp, still sailing his five-year-old Mach 40, and Pulvé took the win after a superb effort coloured by sheer stubborn determination. The Briton joins the Spaniard Pablo Santurde on the list of double consecutive champions of the NCR. ‘The race was won with our best gybe of the whole event,’ said
Phil later. ‘Just before the final inshore mark I thought we were dead in the water… There was one last gybe to put in and there was little chance it would work, but we managed to slip along like a dream to windward of Carac.’ Louis Duc, skipper of Carac, obviously shares the same stupe-
faction at those last few hundred metres, albeit in a subdued version after this cruel blow. He was nevertheless very happy about the progress made by his one-year-old Lombard design, especially in the light weather which was the boat’s weak point in 2017. ‘It’s all down to how the class has evolved,’ said Phil Sharp, ‘with
ever more high-performance boats and skilful skippers to drive them. Added to that, the course of this race is unique, requiring you to make big tactical choices right up to the finish line – that makes the event an absolute one-off.’ Though the final duel between Imerys and Carac will go down in
the event’s annals, Aïna Enfance (a Mach 40 launched last year) naturally warrants a mention after playing a key role in proceedings
DAVID BRANIGAN
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