Transat Québec Saint-Malo - Fleet set for six towns, six marks

by Marie-Claire D’Aoust on 22 Jul 2012 Preparations continue for tomorrow’s start of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo. The friendly, festive mood so characteristic of Quebec's fans and visitors, who have been crowding the race village and the pontoons all over last week, is slowly giving way to a more thoughtful, focused spirit among the twenty five teams getting ready for the race start.

During the skippers briefing, held in one of the elegant rooms at the world-famous hotel Château Frontenac, Race Director Jean Claude Maltais and PRO Sylvie Viant highlighted the dangers and peculiarities of sailing down the powerful St Lawrence river. Almost 370 miles to Percé, before finally getting into the open ocean, scattered with tricks and hurdles, namely the strong currents off the six villages that have been selected by the organizers to form the 'Six towns, six marks' circuit and the wind shifts and shadows created by the mountains and reliefs lined along the river banks.

A true natural theatre, the St Lawrence tomorrow will be centre stage of the opening act of the eighth edition of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo. Positioned off the Parc de la Jetée, at the foot of the two imposing bridges that connect the city to the port, the starting line will be made of two tugs: the Cageux will be the Commitee Boat and another one will be set at the pin end. The boats will dock out and leave the Bassin Louise from 8:45 and all will have to pass the locks before 9:30, set to sail against the current towards the starting area. At 11:20 spot (19:20 GMT) the committee will fire the first gun for the Class40 20 boats strong fleet and 15 minutes later the five big monohulls and multihulls will also take their start.

Wind conditions, with a south-westerly of 8/13 knots, should allow the teams to quickly sail past the river banks, where thousands of spectators are expected to gather to say goodbye to the fleet. Having gone past La Malbaie, the 103 sailors will have the privilege to be able to sail inside the Saguenay St Lawrence natural reserve, where close encounters with whales and belugas could well happen.

Once having gone past the southern tip of the reserve, just off Saguenay the fleet will once more have to head East towards the right bank, carefully negotiating the strong current and a breeze that tends to accelerate between the fjord and the river itself. The following waypoint will be set on Rimourski, some 82 miles further down.

Germany's Joerg Riechers skipper of Mare makes no secret of his ambition of conquering an historical triple success, after his win in the Solidaire du Chocolat in May and Atlantic Cup in June. Considered as the number one favourite he seems to be at ease in this role.

'We'll start quietly, not too fast, trying to deal with the big river traps. But, from Tuesday or Wednesday on the breeze is due to build up and I'm expecting a tough race. If we don't break anything, there is a chance to make it. My crew is very strong, the boat very reliable... if we are not going to make big mistakes, we shouldn't be far from the podium. Everyone is a threat, Stéphane le Diraison and Halvard Mabire are fast, good sailors. There are at least four or five boats that are fast, everything can happen. Our aim is to do a triplet to crown a fantastic season for our sponsor Mare.'

Once hunting ground for the big multihulls, this year's Transat Québec Saint Malo mostly gathers 40' monohulls. Yet, despite there being only three boats on the line, the multihull class promise to offer plenty of interest to fans and media. Included in the 'Open' group together with the Italian 50 monohull Vento di Sardegna skippered by Andrea Mura, the past Volvo Ocean Race 65 footer Océan Phénix skippered by Canadian Georges Leblanc and Erik Nigon's Multi50 trimaran Vers un monde sans sida, the two trimarans seem set to enliven this mixed group.

FenêtreA-Cardinal is a latest generation 50' tri, designed in 2009 by Van Peteghem-Lauriost Prévost for Franck-Yves Escoffier and that is now in the skilled hands of Erwan Le Roux. FenêtreA-Cardinal should find in Gilles Lamiré's Défi Saint-Malo a perfectly-matched adversary, no matter the difference in length (15,34 vs 18,28 m). Despite dating back to the ORMA era, the Saint Malo based trimaran has recently been rejuvenated by a brand new set of sails and a wing mast that originally was on Jean Le Cam's Bonduelle. The duel between these two teams will be nothing but fierce and they will undoubtedly provide action and emotion throughout the course to Saint Malo.

Winner of the Transat Québec Saint Malo in 1996, on his 60' trimaran Fujicolor II, Loïck Peyron and his crew are still holding the overall race record, having covered the 2,965 miles in seven days, 20 hours and 24 minutes. Busy with a number of projects in different classes and circuits, Peyron is still very much in love with the race, besides the sweet flavour of victory, to which he has taken part four times including the debut edition in 1984 on board the giant catamaran Formule Tag skippered by his guru Mike Birch.

'It's really the best fully-crewed event one can participate to' he says 'It's a fascinating course, complex, varied and the fact of starting on a river adds something special to it. It's unique, surprising and fantastic. The Atlantic stretch is not that comfortable, a bit stressful on a multihull, but the finish through the Fastnet is brilliant...'

Arnaud 'Cali' Boissières, Groupe Picoty: 'When you're leaving for a transatlantic there is always a bit of tension, especially if the first part is on the St Lawrence. It's exciting; it's a race across the Atlantic. Me, I'm quite relaxed because even if Groupe Picoty is not the boat I usually sail on, Jean Christophe Caso and Jacques Fournier are determined to do well. This is my first Québec-Saint-Malo and I would love to get a good result and have some fun too. I usually sail my boat Akena single-handed, but I enjoy a lot being part of a crew. My roots are in fully crewed races and I think it is interesting and important to try other classes and boats to get better. This Transat is obviously also crucial to train for the upcoming Vendée Globe...'

Aloys Le Claquin, Jack in the Box: 'The boat is in spotless conditions, has never been better. We are the youngest team, so there are no great expectations, we don't feel the pressure. After the St Lawrence, we hope to have some good surfing conditions, to get from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon to Saint Malo as quickly as possible. We know we are fighting against some very experienced crews, but we'll push hard to get to their level and possibly beat them. It won't be easy. I've delivered the boat with Ludovic Ensargueix to get acquainted to the course, we had the chance to stop in Gaspésie and met with the local people, the fishermen, the pilots who have been working and living on the river all their lives to discover a bit more about it.'

Thierry Bouchard, Comiris Elior: 'It's been a week here now and I really want to go. The forecast is for light wind, and we may have to go out and anchor... the first 24 hours will not be easy. One can't rely on the forecast, better to watch out for what's there, short term and by yourself. I reckon our boat is excellent in light air and if we can manage to get out of the St Lawrence among the front pack, then we can play our cards well for the finish.'

Armel Tripon, Géodis: 'We are going to enjoy this race, we are very relaxed, we want to enjoy the friendly side of it, still trying to be as professional as possible, this is what I like most about this class… the level is very high, good sailors on each and every boat, coming from different backgrounds. It's going to be close, exciting. We'll start in light breeze and the current will reverse soon, we'll need to be shrewd. And then the ocean to cross. In 2008, after he went aground, Tanguy Delamotte managed to come back in the game, it won't be over until the finish line...'
Transat Quebec St Malo website