Transat Québec Saint-Malo - Multihulls taking English Channel by storm

by Dominique Jobin on 20 Jul 2016 After sailing away from Quebec City at 10:00 p.m. French time on Wednesday last week, the formidable Maxi trimaran Spindrift 2 is expected to have devoured all 2,897 nautical miles of the course for the ninth edition of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo presented in collaboration with the city of Lévis by as early as 8:00 p.m. tonight. It looks like Yann Guichard, Dona Bertarelli, and their crew will have no trouble reaching their number one goal—to beat the record set in 1996 by Loïck Peyron (Orma trimaran Fujicolor 2)—and they may well set the new bar for this tortuous Transat race below the six-day mark.

On top of this achievement, the Spindrift 2 sailors will be able to bask in the glory of finishing ahead of the Multi50 fleet that started three days earlier, albeit by just a few hours. Lalou Roucayrol is getting ready to celebrate his first taste of ocean glory at the helm of Arkema. He is expected to claim victory in the Multi50 race and cross the finish line by the lighthouse at Môle des Noires around midnight. And while Saint-Malo prepares to celebrate its champions, the battle rages on in the Atlantic for the Class40 contingent, with no fewer than eleven front-runners hanging on to hopes of claiming victory, making the podium, or finishing high in the standings.

Breaking records

It was only on the immediate approach to the round the obligatory Ultimate Class mark at the Fastneck Rock light that Spindrift 2 finally veered from its epic single tack after rampaging its way across the Atlantic from Saint Pierre and Miquelon. With the crew relieved to finally be basking in the sun’s rays again, the boat is now tacking into a fading east-southeasterly wind. With the long ocean swells now behind them, Yann Guichard, Dona Bertarelli, and their twelve-strong crew need to stay focused to the max on getting the sequencing right for their approach manoeuvres off the coast of Brittany.

True professionals committed to the very end, these sailors continue to give it their all, determined to leave their mark on this exhilarating transatlantic race from west to east. For a long time, the Multi50s had hoped to be able to keep the giant at bay and avoid being overtaken. But the weaker winds in the Irish Sea slowed the strong momentum that powered them too from one side of the Atlantic to the other. It’s not all about Sprindrift 2, however. Lalou Roucayrol also remains in a position to break the class record of nine days, 14 hours, and 21 minutes set in 2012 by Erwan Leroux (FenêtréA Cardinal).

Thibault Vauchel-Camus rounding up the cavalry

Some 700 nautical miles from the finish, the Saint-Malo locals are rounding up the cavalry and closing in on Gonzalo Botin’s Iberian beauty Tales 2, still in the lead after the long blast over from Saint Pierre. In spite of their foresail issues, the crew of Solidaires En Peloton – ARSEP now have more faith than ever in their lucky stars. Overnight, they gybed onto a direct route back to their home port and are continuing to make headway at a steady 11 knots. Moving up into second place in these very tentative rankings, they are inching their way closer to the leader they expect to have in their sights no more than 20 nautical miles ahead in the next few hours.

The last to gybe onto starboard—who also took a handicap due to spinnaker problems—British skipper Phil Sharp not only has to defend his legitimate ambitions of taking the title, he has a new pack of wolves circling around to contend with. Whereas for a while only Armel Tripon (Black Pepper - Les P’tits Doudous by Moulin Roty) and Isabelle Joschke (Generali Horizon Mixité) were snapping at his heels, now Catherine Pourre and her swift Eärendil, and the astonishing young sailors from Saint-Malo led by Jules Bonnier (Cora - Moustache Solidaire) have emerged as a force to be reckoned with.

The leading group is packed tightly within a space of eight short nautical miles. On the fringe of the great battle raging in the Atlantic, Louis Duc (Carac) remains staunchly committed to the line he chose 170 miles south of the leaders and is now headed straight for the entrance to the English Channel at high speed on a single starboard tack. Over the course of a few hours, he’s managed to close the gap from 140 nautical miles to 90, so stay tuned.

The Transat Québec Saint-Malo is drawing to a close for the multihulls too. Pierre Antoine and his venerable Olmix are still holding their own at the head of the Class40 fleet, consistently delivering some thrilling head-to-head ocean racing action.

Christophe Souchaud (Montres Michel Herbelin) on the Class40 race

“Three groups have taken shape in the race: the latest generation, the second generation, and the vintages. It’s painful to see that from behind. Looking at that from It’s just utopian for us to even consider covering 400 miles in 24 hours. Behind the pack, we’re going to take three or four weather systems on the head that will set us back a hundred miles or so, and we’ll be rigging everything we’ve got to make our way through these erratic winds and keep a decent pace. Out in front, at the higher speeds, it’s virtually straight-line stuff.

As soon as we make land in Saint-Malo, I’m heading right out to buy a lottery ticket! We vintages knew what we were up against right from the start, but the second-generation boats have been living on the edge in the hopes that the weather or some kind of exceptional phenomenon is going to propel them into the lead. After eight days of racing, the guillotine has come down, with 500 miles between the leaders and the second group, and 700 miles between the leaders and the vintages! Perhaps some kind of handicap system would be the way forward?”

Capsize of Mod 70 Musandam Oman Sail: Crew now safely back on dry land in Newfoundland and the race is on to recover the boat

The crew of Musandam-Oman Sail transferred safely to dry land in Newfoundland overnight following the capsize of their MOD70 trimaran Sunday morning while racing in the Transat Québec-Saint Malo. All crew members are doing well from a medical point of view. Damian Foxall (IRL) and Mayeul Riffet (FRA) are currently working with Loïk Gallon and the team on the shore to recover the MOD70. As for skipper Sidney Gavignet (FRA) and crew members Fahad Al Hasni (OMA) and Alex Pella (ESP), they’re headed home to their families.

“We’re reassured and extremely relieved to know the crew are safe and sound and back on dry land,” said David Graham, CEO of Oman Sail. “We have a fantastic team and they are now focusing on the recovery of Musandam-Oman Sail. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax (JRCC Halifax), the cargo ship Torm Alexandra for picking up the crew, as well as Race Management for the Transat Québec Saint-Malo for their support throughout the entire operation. Thank you also to our supporters around the world for their messages of support to the crew and the Oma Sail team. We’re very touched by all of this.” The boat capsized around 450 nautical miles east of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the early hours of Sunday, July 17.

Here’s what the competitors had to say:

Erwan Israel – Spindrift 2

“We’ve been sailing close to the wind since rounding the mark at the Fastnet Rock, and before then we hadn’t changed tack at all since we came out of the St. Lawrence. We’re playing in the wind amidst the cargo ships right now. We’re enjoying the sun at last, but the English Channel is tricky to navigate and we have to stay very focused. We’ve really been thrashing the boat and the crew to grab that record and finish ahead of the Multi50s.”

Victorien Erussard – Solidaires En Peloton – ARSEP

“We were the first boat to gybe, and now we’re ahead of the pack that’s reforming. We’re really stoked to be hot on the heels of Tales 2. The playing field is still wide open heading into the English Channel, though. We still haven’t seen the sun since we left the St. Lawrence. The skies are still grey, but it’s not as cold. We’re flying the light spinnaker, which is the right sail for the conditions. But it’s such a fragile sail, so we’re having to be very careful. We’re hoping to hold this tack for another 24 hours and claw our way into that lead one mile at a time.”

Jean-Chistophe Caso – Kiho

“It’s starting to smell like home, with only four more days to the finish! The wind is favourable for us to take a straight line in from our position south of the fleet. We’re going to try and sneak our way in from below, and I hope there’s going to be some stiff competition up ahead. Either way, all is well on board, we’re having fun and brushing up on our Japanese and English. We ran into a cetacean yesterday, just clipping it with our rudder. No harm done. We’re worried the sun might have disappeared for good. Does it still exist?”

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