He has paid his dues so it’s good to see Damien Guillou’s employer PRB backing him for the next Golden Globe Race starting in Les Sables (naturally) in September. Guillou himself has raced in most offshore classes including the Figaro (above) – but he’s better known as one of the most elite of the preparateurs who get the Imocas, Ultims and their skippers… to the startline (and later put them all back together). Among Guillou’s clients are Jean Le Cam and Kevin Escoffier, skipper of the ill-fated Imoca that broke in two in the last VG. Both hugely experienced skippers who like their boats ‘just so’. Prepping a Rustler 36 should not be too taxing
of the optimisations that these boats demand on a continual basis. So now there are also the recalibrations and changes to rig, deck systems and perhaps ballast set-up (the Imoca teams do not share everything with us!) required to switch from double-handed to solo mode for the Rhum. In two years of competing the Verdier-designed Imoca has accumulated an exceptional record. In 2019, shortly after launching,
Apivia, led by Yann Eliès and Charlie Dalin, won the TJV. The following year she was second in the Vendée-Arctic-Les Sables d’Olonne. In 2021 Charlie’s card read 2,1,1,2. Second in the Vendée Globe (taking line honours), first in the Rolex Fastnet, first in the 48-hour Azimut and second in the TJV (with Paul Meilhat)… behind another Verdier design, LinkedOut. Charlie’s pre-season is in full swing. By the end of March Apivia
will be relaunched for a busy year’s racing. ‘The first race, the Bermuda 1000, will soon arrive, three months earlier than the first meeting of last year that followed the Vendée Globe,’ adds Charlie. From this first race in May to the unmissable Défi Azimut, the final ‘warm-up’ in September 2022 also brings the long Vendée-Arctic with its new detour around Iceland. All of which will of course be punctuated by many training sessions… Leaving very little idle time! Remember too that Charlie Dalin is a qualified naval architect
who spends a lot of time in the Verdier design office. Not only is he considering changes to his current machine to keep improving her performance, he is also thinking constantly about the form and lines of a future Apivia 2 – which means anticipating evolutions elsewhere in the class. ‘This year we expect between five and seven new boats to sail.
Each meeting will be an opportunity to compete against new com- petitors who will soon become very fast. The competition getting tougher over the season will only make 2022 more interesting!’
Racing solo What is most critical when sailing solo is to make the right strategic choices at the right time, especially when it comes to changing sails. ‘Manoeuvres are longer, and more expensive in terms of lost distance. The challenge is to navigate with great cleverness, using the right combinations of set-up at the right time,’ reckons Dalin
who is known for enjoying this demanding race format. ‘Apiviaproved her excellent reliability from the very beginning. I have always had real confidence in her. Today I know her by heart – I know how to trim my Imoca in all the conditions I encounter. So I’m going to be able to focus 100 per cent on racing and competition this year, getting my head away from the boat,’ he adds. The first two events of the season, which will surely require a lot
of manoeuvres, will be a good wake-up test before the Route du Rhum. The highlight will be becoming a Rhum skipper for the first time, after taking part behind the scenes as a preparateur or helping route a multihull. ‘I am looking forward to being on the other side of the game aboard Apivia; I am going to treat the Rhum as a transat- lantic sprint – although mentally I have already split it into two parts, like a “half-distance” race with the second half the coastal contest approaching Guadeloupe.’
‘I want to win the Golden Globe’ Damien Guillou has sailed Olympic dinghies, Minis, Figaro one- designs and many other types of racing boats. He is a professional boat preparateur who has worked for numerous excellent skippers, including Jean Le Cam for the Vendée Globe in 2016 and more recently Kevin Escoffier sailing PRB (Damien was the boat captain) in the 2020 Vendée Globe. Damien was asked by PRB (a Vendée company) –who sponsored
a boat skippered in the first edition of the Golden Globe Race by Philippe Péché (he had to retire in Cape Town) – if he wanted to enter the Golden Globe this year. The sort of offer you can’t refuse – especially if your long ambition is to sail and race solo around the world non-stop on a (very) conventional boat. Damien bought his Rustler 36 in Italy, the same type of boat that
Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, winner of the first GGR, was sailing four years ago. He has already completed his qualification, after which the boat went into the shed of Vincent Riou (also a previous PRB skipper in several Vendée Globes) for a full refit plus a number of modifications to put her into full Golden Globe Race configuration. Damien: ‘We always had a lot of small changes and improvements planned for this project but following my qualifier I then added a lot more to the list!
SEAHORSE 21
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 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124
