2015 Panerai Transat Classique preview

by Panerai Transat Classique on 3 Jan 2015 2015 Panerai Transat Classique - Only five days to the start! The sailing yachts berthed in Marina Lanzarote are getting all the pre-race attention they need from their crews, the latter flying in steadily over the last few days. On this first official day of the race, the crews were treated to a special basket of fruit and vegetables to discover the superb quality of the island’s agriculture, and help them prepare their victualling list for the crossing to come.

At the end of this brief but delicious tasting session, the sailors went back to work and boy have they got a lot to do! Olivier Pécoux, owner of Amazon, is astonished by the number of jobs that need doing: 'the closer we get to the start, the longer the ‘to do list’ seems to get. As soon as we cross off a task, we add two more!' Aboard Adventuress, whose owner and skipper are both sextant navigators, Connor, one of the younger crew members, is fitting baggywrinkle to the spreaders to prevent the sails from chafing in the downwind sailing of the Trades. What’s baggywrinkle? It’s a series of 30 cm lengths of natural rope yarn tied around a central strand which is then attached to the rigging 15 metres above the deck. The result looks like a cross between a sheep and a sausage dog!

Desiderata arrived in the Canaries in late October and has only just joined the rest of the fleet, her future opponents, at the heart of Marina Lanzarote. This Alden design was built in 1975 from the same plans as Malabar XIII, the American architect’s own yacht, and has racked up an impressive number of nautical miles with trips to Australia, South Africa, Brazil, several crossings between Europe and the Caribbean and of course Mauritius where her current owner Stuart Armstrong (13 transatlantic crossings to his name) first came across her and promptly fell under her charm. An experienced eye sees in an instant that Desiderata was built for the high seas and, even though her Spartan racing interiors of yore have been replaced with a little more comfort, is still very much a speed machine.

Newly returned to Lanzarote after completing Argyll’s delivery several weeks previously, Alexis Bordessoule, Emmanuel Fontaine and Laurence Ramès discovered their charge, a Stephens design built 1948, under a fine layer of sand blown in from the deserts of Africa and the lava plains of the island. Nothing like a brushing session to get back in to the swing of things! For the time being Vagabundo II, a German Frers design from 1945, has a complement of one in the person of Robbie Fabre, her owner. But the old man hasn’t been sitting in a deck-chair twiddling his thumbs, instead he’s been seeing to the 101 little jobs that need doing, such as stocking up on drinking water for the coming voyage (Vagabundo II doesn’t have a water-maker). Carrying dozens and dozens of water bottles is going to be a serious handicap in terms of weight and accommodation space. Jordan Delrieu hasn’t been hanging about either. While waiting for Rémy Gérin, the owner of Faiaoahe, he’s been sorting out the engine room bilge and having a general clear up.

Almost all the competitors have now assembled in Marina Lanzarote. But not quite all... Corto is berthed in another marina belonging to the Calero Group of Lanzarote where she’s having her hull cleaned in preparation for the race. Sadly Jagiellonia and Mahana have pulled out citing technical issues. Despite that disappointing piece of last-minute news, this evening the crews will be attending a cocktail party at Arrecife’s Real Club Nautico for the official launch of the Panerai Transat Classique 2015.