Transat Québec Saint-Malo – Class40s sail into Saint-Malo

by Dominique Jobin on 24 Jul 2016 2016 Transat Québec Saint-Malo - Twelve of the nineteen Class40s racing in the ninth edition of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo presented in collaboration with the City of Lévis are now safely moored at the Quai Duguay-Trouin wharf in Saint-Malo at the foot of the ramparts as the sun prepares to go down over the Corsair City.

Grinning from ear to ear, the crews are now telling their tales over and over again, reliving their 12 days and 3,000 miles of a rare maritime adventure marked by the countless geographical and meteorological curiosities along a course reminiscent of the great voyages of discovery and deep-sea fishing expeditions. From the banks of the St. Lawrence to the shores of Brittany, these “little” 40-foot monohulls followed the trail blazed by the fast Multi50s that arrived two days earlier, pulling out all the tools of the trade for offshore sailing, close contact racing, and unbridled speed in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic amidst the constant reshuffling of the rankings and all the little twists and turns sailors encounter in a race that weave the fabric of legend.

With two women on the podium—Isabelle Joschke (Generali Horizon Mixité) finishing second and Catherine Pourre (Eärendil) taking third place just 24 seconds ahead of fourth-place skipper Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires En Peloton – ARSEP)—and just three hours and forty-one minutes between the top seven finishers, not to mention epic days covering 373 nautical miles or more, the Class40s have decidedly left their mark on this grand, magnificent race.

An ultra-fast Transat with plenty of twists and turns

At the starting line in Quebec City on July 10, there were no fewer than nineteen boats racing in the Class40 fleet, a surprisingly homogeneous class bringing together professional racers and keen amateurs alike. Twelve of them have already crossed the finish line, with seven more still racing together with the sole Open50 boat in the fleet, Guadeloupe Dynamique skippered by Luc Coquelin. While the latest-generation boats designed by Manuard and Botin and launched in 2015 and 2014 were at the top of their game at the head of the fleet, they didn’t completely knock their wind out of the sails of the slightly older boats that really spiced up the race. In this spirit, it’s exciting to see second place on the podium go to Isabelle Joschke (Generali Horizon Mixité), whose Akilaria RC3 was expected to be outperformed by the formidable Mach40s.

More surprising, but no less encouraging, is the fifth-place finish for Cora-Moustache Solidaire—a Tyker 40 launched in 2010—at the hands of young Jules Bonnier and his crew from Saint-Malo. This was a Transat that played out as much in the minds and the motivations of the sailors as it did on the performance of the boats. Now enjoying widespread praise back on dry land, the uncontested Class40 winner Gonzalo Botin (Tales II) admits he gave no respite to his crew from Santander during the race. With one man on the helm and one manning the sheets at all times, they were able to sustain speeds for hours on end that were only within the realm of 60-foot monohulls some twenty years ago.

Logging 373 miles in 24 hours—averaging 15.56 knots—is a testament not only to the competitive seaworthiness of these “little 40-foot rockets” but also the sailors’ ability to handle flatter, larger foresails that can blast downwind and hold up to a solid reach across the wind. Indeed, plenty of foresails have been lost in this race—a deciding factor that has irremediably taken boats unlucky enough to tear their spinnakers out of the running. In truly international style, following the arrival of Japanese sailor Kitada Hiroshi (Kiho), it looks like the next boat to cross the line tonight will be the Swedish contender Talanta, skippered by Mikael Ryking and his Anglo-Franco-American crew. Olivier Roussey (Obportus3), is bringing up the rear after restarting the race 26 hours behind the fleet since running aground in the St. Lawrence. He’s expected to arrive by Monday or Tuesday.

Here’s what the competitors had to say :

Louis Duc – Carac

“We were the first Norman boat to finish! That’s not bad at all! (Laughs). We told ourselves back in Quebec City it’d be great if we made it into the top ten. And we finished ninth! We had a lot of fun in Quebec City, and it was hard to leave since we were so happy there. I think the St. Lawrence knew that, and she didn’t want to let us go. There were plenty of opportunities for the seizing, but lots of chances to screw things up as well. We came out of there just behind the leading group. But after Percé, we had some great reaching conditions, and the newer boats go a lot faster that we can at these blazing speeds when you need a lot of power. We did what we could. We held on our line to maximize speed, and by going downwind we ended up further south. The fleet headed further upwind and we took advantage of a little depression to the south. We managed to gain a hundred miles or so, but it wasn’t enough. We finished 14 hours behind the front-runners. That’s not bad at all, and we’re happy. We had a blast.”

Chantal Coquelin – Guadeloupe Dynamique

“I’m thrilled to see two women on the Class40 podium! Bravo to both of them! Here, we’ve finally hit a downwind stretch. This Transat has mostly played out sailing across the wind, and that stacks the odds in the favour of the newer Class40s, which are really cut out for reaching. We’re happy we can finally fly our big spinnaker. All is well on the boat. Our two youngsters Keni Piperol and Tom Saliot are putting into practice what they’ve learned at sailing school. We’re missing the sun, though, since it’s been grey skies all the way since Newfoundland.”

Nicolas Boidevezi – Esprit Scout

“We’ve had some setbacks with computer issues, which have stopped us tracking the finishers and downloading the grib files. We’ve been trying to catch Groupe Setin since Newfoundland. We’ve managed to head off a little to the north of them, which we’re hoping will give us a better angle on the wind to barrel our way into Saint-Malo when we hit the English Channel. We’re still sandwiched between two disturbed systems, sailing under full mainsail and flying the gennaker. We’re making good headway. Last night on the helm with a mirror-flat sea was superb, despite the lack of visibility. Gonzalo Botin and his boys did it all so masterfully and made it look so easy. We’re still hoping to make it to the finish on Sunday!”

Manuel Cousin – Groupe Setin

“We sailed all night long flying the Code 5. We’ve got about 15 knots of wind and we’re making good headway. We’re running the routing to see how the finish is going to pan out, and we hope the wind is going to hold as long as possible. We’re still in with a shot at finishing Sunday afternoon. We’re keeping a close eye on Esprit Scout in our rear-view mirror. They’ve just gained on us by 25 miles overnight, since they had more pressure to work with than we did. We’re in good shape, because, physically speaking, I think we’ve maintained a good balance. We’re not going to get much rest between now and Saint-Malo, though. We’re on the attack so we can hold onto our 14th place. We’d like to congratulate the winners, who all sailed a fantastic race.”

Brieuc Maisonneuve – Ellipse

“We had to be careful not to run aground. The last 24 hours were interesting, not too bad in the sense that we had pictured ourselves finishing twelfth, and we were able to sneak past Benoit Charron. We tip our hat to the winners, with a special nod to Isabelle, who’s sailing the same boat as us. There are two women on the podium, which is a great reflection of the diversity in the class. This is an insanely complex race, and we loved it!”