Transat Québec Saint-Malo - Gonzalo Botin (Tales II) takes Class40 win

by Dominique Jobin on 23 Jul 2016 2016 Transat Québec Saint-Malo - While it started on July 10 resembling a friendly Sunday regatta on the St. Lawrence River, the fleet racing in close contact, this ninth edition of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo presented in collaboration with the City of Lévis is drawing to a more dramatic close today as competition in the lead-up to the finish line remains fierce after many of the racers spent the night in the English Channel in close-contact conditions reminiscent of that first windless night on the river.

The sailors can’t believe their eyes. After a supersonic Atlantic crossing, the same front-runners now find themselves mere miles from the finish line in the same light and erratic wind conditions they experienced in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The final act of the show these 19 Class40s have put on all day long has been no less spectacular than the fierce battle they raged in the Atlantic, with the suspense mounting ever higher and new twists and turns appearing all the while.

After a few ups and downs, Spaniard Gonzalo Botin and his yachtsmen from Santander’s Real Club Maritimo de Santander managed to sustain their lead and crossed the finish line below the ramparts of the Corsair City of Saint-Malo well ahead of the pack at 17:57:56 local time. Trailing some ten nautical miles in Tales II’s wake, four of its rivals are jostling for position within a tiny two-mile window. Isabelle Joschke, who was forced to retire from The Transat bakerly in May this year, is now in with a real shot at the Class40 podium here—getting the better of the two formidable Mach 40s Solidaires en Peloton - ARSEP (Thibaut Vauchel-Camus) and Eärendil (Catherine Pourre).

Another pleasant surprise is to see young Saint-Malo natives Jules Bonnier and his crew amidst the front-runners aboard Cora Moustache Solidaire, a 2010-built Tyker 40. No matter how the finish order pans out this evening, these Class40s have given this Transat Québec Saint-Malo all the magic ingredients of a fruitful offshore race: high-performance action, nail-biting suspense, and as many seafarers’ tales as there were crews in the race.

Pierre Antoine and his crew aboard their venerable wooden trimaran Olmix—who brought up the rear of the Multi50 Class—deserve a special mention here for managing to fend off the “little Class40 rockets” they’ve come to appreciate so much and crossing the line ahead of the entire monohull fleet.

Here’s what the competitors had to say:

Jules Bonnier – Cora Moustache Solidaire

“It’s all guns blazing in the battle here now! We’re ten boat lengths behind Eärendil and 30 miles behind Generali-Horizon Mixité. We made up a lot of ground last night, and we had some good stretches. We stayed the due easterly course before the wind died completely this morning. I think we were able to ride the pressure a little longer than the others. What a treat it was to see them just ahead at sunrise. It’s crazy. This race is ended just as it began. There are two other guys further north, Phil Sharp and Armel Tripon. We’re inching our way forward. We’re sailing a weird kind of close reach flying the Code Zero! We’re tracking our rivals on the AIS and keeping an eye on their course and their speed. We were trailing by 70 miles when we came out of the St. Lawrence, so we’re really happy to have caught right up.”

Benoit Charron – Région Normandie

“It’s like a sail repair workshop on board. We’re trying to repair what’s left of our spinnaker. We’re pressing on with the gennaker in a slight breeze that’s filled in from the southwest. We scored some wind last night, then this morning, someone turned off the fan. There’s a very strong ground current because of the big tidal coefficient. In any case, we don’t have another spinnaker since we lost one right after Saint Pierre. We really got into the groove when the cavalcade took the Atlantic by storm. And now, suddenly, here we are crawling along at five knots. It’s really strange. But that’s all part of the race. You move on quickly. The Spaniard (Gonzalo Botin) is a force to be reckoned with. He’s given us plenty to learn from. Well done, Isabelle, and the young guys from Saint-Malo on Cora Moustache Solidaire have sailed a great race too.”

Antoine Carpentier – Eärendil

“It’s neck-and-neck here! We’re making slow progress, but the competition is still pretty fierce. The race for second to seventh place is playing out over a two-mile window here! We’re trying to pull off the clumps of seaweed we keep catching on the rudder up so we can maximize what little wind we’re able to muster up. We’re right alongside Jules Bonnier and the guys from Saint-Malo. They’re really comfortable in this light stuff. It’s quite humbling to be side by side in the doldrums with some much older boats. We’ve stopped even looking at our Spanish friend (Gonzalo Botin). He’s going really fast. We still have the current to contend with, and it’s getting painful to inch forward like this. We’re tired, but the end is in sight!”

Phil Sharp – Imerys

“We’re trailing behind the leading group quite a bit now. This race is amazing, though! The wind is so light, and the current so strong, we’re afraid we’re going to go backwards. I’d rather be closer to land right now, but that’s just the way we came in, on the right angle, from the Atlantic. We’re staying focused right till the bitter end, and the crew’s morale is really strong. We’re surprised to see so many boats pulling forward now. Watch this space, we’ll be there tonight for apéritifs!”