Vendée Globe – Yann Eliès and his team relaunch 60-ft IMOCA in Lorient

by Groupe Quéguiner-Leucémie Espoir Press Service on 26 Aug 2016 After the final period of work in the yard before the Vendée Globe, Yann Eliès and his team relaunched Quéguiner-Leucémie Espoir on Monday 22nd August in Lorient.

Yann is now on the final stretch before the event and will be taking part in the three training courses organised at the Finistère Ocean Racing Centre in Port-la-Forêt (Brittany). He will also take part in the Azimut Trophy. Yann Eliès tells us about the work that has been done and what lies ahead in the final part of his preparation.

A complete check-up of the boat, reinforcing the bow section, offering greater protection in the cockpit: a thorough refit

“Once again, I’d like to thank all those, who have worked on the boat, as the schedule was tight, with more work to do than initially planned, as we discovered some little composite jobs to do and this took time. I am thinking in particular of the reinforcement of the bow section of the 60-foot boat, which was a bit weaker than we had thought. On top of that, we wanted to make things more comfortable, by increasing the size of the protective cover over the cockpit and by limiting the flow of water. Erwan Steff (Head of logistics and admin for the team) really did a great job. He made sure things went smoothly and, as usual, remained calm throughout. He really wants this Vendée Globe to be a success and proves that all the time.”

Hard at it until February 2017
“It was really good for me to get away from things, but now I’m about to tackle the final stretch before the round the world race. We’re going to be hard at it until February. I did quite a lot of paddleboarding this summer and since the start of the month, I’ve been busy doing some rowing. Now, I need to be as efficient as possible. It doesn’t matter that the work is a little less fun.”

Three training courses to see how things are going
“We have some new sails that we tried out during the 2016 Brest Maritime Festival. We’re bound to see improvements in our performance. However, for the moment, we are going to have to start by adjusting the mast, seeing we have changed so many cables. It is going to take time to get that sorted. It’s always time consuming setting things up. Even if I have already done two transatlantic crossings this year, in comparison to previous years in the Figaro circuit, I get the feeling that I haven’t had that much opportunity to see how we do against our friends. So, I’m really pleased to be back in the water and able to race against the others (in the three training courses organised by the Finistère Ocean Racing Centre - editor’s note).'

Gathering momentum
“These three training sessions, in particular the second, which will be followed by the Azimut Trophy, will be important as they will show us where we are in comparison to the others and we will also learn more again about the boat. I’m expecting a lot, as I’m certain that with a small team like ours, this is going to be an opportunity to acquire a lot of know-how. That’s why I’m determined to give it my all, as if it was a race, even if I know that for the first session, I won’t have had much time to prepare, as we have only just got the boat back in the water, but the idea is to ramp things up and to be on form for the second training course.”