Route du Rhum - Guillemot onboard Safran steals third

by Gaia Coretti on 16 Nov 2010 Route du Rhum IMOCA 60 update.

Marc Guillemot (Safran) completed the IMOCA Open 60 podium early today when he stole third inside the last 60 miles of the Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale transatlantic race.

Converging on the west coast of Guadeloupe after passing just to the east of Montserrat, he sailed round the unfortunate long medium term tenant of third Jean-Pierre Dick whose Virbac-Paprec 3 was moving at less than half the pace than the IMOCA world champion was making.

On the dock in Pointe-à-Pitre early this morning, Guillemot recalled his surprise at seeing the blue branded sails of Virbac-Paprec appear on the horizon to his left.

When they were just over a mile apart he gybed away because Dick was clearly in a different wind, closer in to the island shore.

Safran, the design predecessor of Dick's new VPLP/Verdier design, scarcely missed a click and went on to pass the Basse Terre mark two and a half hours ahead of Dick

Guillemot, winner of last autumn's Transat Jacques Vabre race to Costa Rica, paid tribute to both Roland Jourdain and Armel Le Cléac'h who respectively take the top two steps on the podium.

But only two days ago Guillemot was back in fifth, behind Vincent Riou (PRB). Indeed on the 0800hrs ranking Sunday he was 28 miles behind Dick, and even when they converged at the Tête à l'Anglais at the top of the NW corner of the island, Guillemot was still some 20 miles behind.

The Safran solo skipper once more underlined how close the IMOCA Class is, not only highlighting that the races sailed by Jourdain and Le Cléac'h, but how little mistakes or breakdowns escalate to become significant deficits. In the early part of the race Guillemot was compromised by a problem with the halyard hook on his Solent, and also lost a spinnaker overboard

Disappointed Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) took fourth place, some 2 hours and 46 minutes later. He was clearly upset to have lost out on his podium finish considering that he was in the top three for most of the final 800 miles of the race was in the leading pack throughout and was one of the four skippers to have lead during the race. Dick had serious electrical problems throughout with his battery system suffering regular cut outs which caused serious problems with his pilot at times. He has some work to do on the new boat before the Barcelona World Race which starts 31st December.

Vincent Riou finished fifth, 1 hour and 49 minutes later on PRB, also launched this year. The 2004-5 Vendée Globe winner also suffered similar battery and electrical problems, reporting on the dockside that he is running the same system as Dick.

Marc Guillemot (Safran), third:
'To take third does not exactly upset me. We came together on different course. I wondered if he might get stuck by the island, I watched but really I thought he was 15 miles in front. And then I saw a white sail with blue. As we closed I gybed away and was in a super favorable wind. In a few minutes I was just gone. He wanted to be inside me and gybed first but it ended up he was on port gybe making the same course and I was on starboard. He was doing 4-5 knots and I was doing 11. I really wanted third place and so I am glad to have got it.'

'None of the boats are slower than the other. Bilou had a magnificent race from the start. It's not really a question of who designed the boat, as a solo race is first of all a race between men. And looking at this aspect, Roland Jourdain has shown his full talent: well done! His race went without a single hitch. Looking at it from the outside, we can say he made wise choices. All of us made some mistakes, me too under spinnaker: Bilou managed to set the pace and was a deserving winner. As for Armel, he has always been incisive, as we saw in the Solitaire du Figaro in the summer. I'm pleased to be on the podium with two sailors of that calibre. So I'd just like to congratulate them as they were the best'

'I had some technical problems, nothing that important, but it does take time and effort. I imagine I wasn't the only one in that situation, but let's not forget that we're all on our own out there... I attacked too much under spinnaker and that caused me problems. After that, you have to keep your cool. As everything starts to fall apart, when you lose it. I managed to keep pushing hard to the final stretch and I'm pleased to have made it back to the front and end up on the podium... I know I wasn't the best, but I never give up in such situations and this result is down to that determination. I'm proud and happy for all those, who have supported me. The energy I found to keep pushing comes from all those, who have been with me in the preparation of Safran and those who have encouraged me. I'm pleased with third place, even if I was aiming higher. We still have a lot of things to do together.'

Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3), fourth:
'We need to work on the boat so that don't I spend my time head down trying to solve problems. The race was really physical and full on for me and I could not even take time to do other things besides what I was having to deal with, far less or think about me, to try to manage myself.'

'I've always been full on, so trying to manage my race and the problems that were happening all the time was not good for me . But overall I believe that I sailed the majority of the race in the top rankings which I am reasonably satisfied with. I have a few problems to sort out to control the boat when reaching. I need to work it out. I won't even mention the batteries! Even only today they cut our four or five times.'

Vincent Riou (PRB), fifth:
'It was long and it was painful, but I feel fine, running on empty a bit at the end. But I started well and sailed well enough but you feel you deserve more, a bit down because the finish was not easy. Stamina was needed on this race over these last few days but I really gave it everything to the end. But it feels like the party was yesterday.....The successive fronts of the Atlantic really made it important to be fast all the time, to keep pushing.'

'Fifth is disappointing. They were not ideal conditions for a new boat, I did not really know that boat that well, and feel it is not fully tested. The conditions were such that you were just on the attack the whole time. The wind and sea conditons were often difficult And with new boats you do need to learn to make them go before you break them, to learn the gears and how to use them best. It was not an easy race, but I think there was a strategy to follow, but you put the result behind you and learn from it. When you miss out on things you need to learn. The idea is to get better so the programme improves. Bilou's win, what can you say? He was great, consistently there, fast all the time, no breakdowns, and into the fronts he was out and away. That's the way it worked. And in the difficult conditons at the end he did well and showed how to do it. It finished perfectly for him. New boat teething troubles? I spent too much time inside the boat repairing stuff and not enough time at the nav stations or on the deck. Nothing is broken. I had plenty electrical problems, as Jean-Pierre did because we have the same equipment, and this caused more and more issues. Sudden cut outs are not good at all for the navigation system, the computer, the pilot... I also discovered some problems in the ballast systems that handicapped the boat, I never noticed that they were filling that fast and then I did not know how to empty them. The fact is that today the level in the IMOCA class is so high that you have to be at 100% from the start to the finish line. That's why it is not easy to perform well with a new boat, especially in a race as hard and technical like this one.'

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