Much to report upon
Antoine Carpentier is the new champion of the Class40, wrapping up an excellent 2021 season with a runaway victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre. His move into the Class40 as a skipper two years ago was exhaustively researched and he continues to rigorously follow development. Luckily Antoine is also the nephew of the original creator of the Class40, as well as the rather
well-known French face of Seahorse… Patrice Carpentier
Forty-six year-old Antoine Carpentier was crowned 2021 Class40 Champion to add to his European title acquired in September. Onboard his Mach40.4 Redman he did well in all the events in the championship, all sailed two-handed with the exception of the Rolex Fastnet Race which is raced with a small crew. Antoine and his Spanish co-skipper
46 SEAHORSE
Pablo Santurde del Arco started the season with a third place in the Normandy Channel Race, finishing a few seconds ahead of Ian Lipinski’s Max40 (winner of the previous TJV). A month later the sailor from La Trinité sur Mer, this time sailing with Mikael Mergui, won the Les Sables d’Olonne – Horta – Les Sables d’Olonne which this year was run non-stop due to the pandemic. After 12 days of high-speed sailing Redman arrived only 3m 14s ahead of Axel Trehin and Frédéric Denis’s Max 40 Project Rescue Ocean. In August Antoine embarked on the
2021 Fastnet Race with a crew including the famous Géry Trentesaux, who had supported Antoine for several years. Early in the race damage to the J3 headsail forced the Manuard design to progress under the storm trysail for a while with an inevitable loss of time. After rounding the Fastnet Rock the scow made a nice come- back sailing downwind to finish fourth in Cherbourg, her worst result of the season. This consistency across a mix of race
types was enough for the boat built by the enigmatic Nicolas Groleau at JPS Produc- tion to secure victory in the European Championship Trophy. Finally, in the Transat Jacques Vabre,
leaving from Le Havre in November and finishing in Martinique, Antoine Carpen- tier sailed once again with Pablo Santurde del Arco. The international duo had a dif- ficult start in the light breezes blowing in the Channel and life did not get much better in the Bay of Biscay… ‘I think we were too cautious early on,’ Antoine says now. But as the wind picked up off Portugal
Redman came back at high speed and took the lead at the end of the first week; she stayed in front throughout the next two weeks to win by 64 minutes (quite a lot in the Class40) from another Manuard Mach40.4 design, Banque du Léman. The Atlantic crossing had a record
number of participants (46), lasted longer than expected due to low/moderate winds and suffered only two retirements. This new victory guaranteed Redman
the highest step on the podium at the end of the championship in front of Banque du Léman led by the Swiss duo Valentin Gautier and Simon Koster, followed by the very deserving Luke Berry on his Mach40.3 Lamotte Module Creation whose stem was modified last winter to improve her behaviour while running. On his return to Brittany we met Antoine for an interview…
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112
