Please select your home edition
Edition
A+T Instruments BFD 2024 Leaderboard

Mini-Transat La Boulangère - Valentin Gautier on the up

by Mini-Transat La Boulangère on 12 Oct 2017
2017 Mini-Transat La Boulangère Mini Transat http://www.minitransat.fr/
By securing victory in the first leg of the Mini-Transat La Boulangère, Valentin Gautier (Shaman – Banque du Léman) has swept away the doubts that had bombarded him after a rather chaotic pre-season. Indeed, after winning the Pornichet Select, he was subsequently forced to retire from two other races and hadn’t been able to train as much as he would have liked.

Seemingly, he has quickly found his bearings again. Indeed, upon arriving in La Rochelle, somewhat undermined by a season which hadn’t gone according to plan, Valentin Gautier was able to dig deep and move up towards the front of the fleet from the start of the race. Always in the match right from the Bay of Biscay, he rapidly got amongst it with the small group of favourites who were monopolising the top spots.

For all that, the crossing wasn’t a long, calm river. The victim of an electronic black-out, he then had to sail with a damaged navigation system, which meant he was unable to pick up data related to the true wind direction. Also lamenting a broken VHF, he had no contact with the other race boats and was unable to track their respective positions with the AIS. As a result, Valentin sailed his race using solely his intuition. And clearly his instinct is sound because over the last days of calm conditions, he sought a course further to the east of the rest of the fleet, which enabled him to gain a decisive edge at the crucial moment. However, even for a Swiss sailor, the last twenty-four hours of the race proved to be particularly trying. Evidently it was a great idea to compete in the Cinq Jours du Léman endurance race on Lake Geneva this summer!

Valentin Gautier: “It was long, a bit hard, but great too! In the calm conditions, I told myself that it had been a wise move to compete in the 5 jours du Léman (the longest endurance race on an inland waterway in Europe) by way of preparation! (Laughs). Seriously though, it was tough. Last night, I really thought I was going mad, particularly at one point when I saw lights going backwards. I thought it was Ambrogio (Beccaria) then on listening to the ranking this morning, I understood that it was the guys vying for third place in the Prototype category. Nevertheless, it was still quite unbearable. Things were going every which way…

At Cape Finisterre, there wasn’t as much breeze as all that. The same was true later on too. I was expecting to get a real pummelling but we only got a slight pasting, though it was great all the same. After that particular phase the race got a little more complicated, especially given that I had some electronics issues over the last five days. In the calm conditions, I’ll leave it to your imagination what a jumble it was… I don’t really know what happened. I had an NKE black-out. Fortunately, I still managed to pick up the apparent wind and the autopilot worked in compass mode.

First place is very cool. I’ve had a bit of a complicated season. I won the first event and then I had two retirements in a row; the first due to injury and the second as a result of material damage. Since then, I’d done no singlehanded Mini races at all. I needed to reassure myself a little. Inevitably, pocketing this first leg in the production boat category is really neat. Now I just have to make sure I have fun in the second leg because however things play out, my Transat is a success.”
Excess CatamaransNorth Sails Loft 57 PodcastZhik 2024 December

Related Articles

2025 Six Metre World Championship Day 3
Bribon and Momo II rise to the top at Long Island A lack of sunshine didn't detract from the sparkle of the International Six Metre fleet on day three of their 2025 World Championships at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on Long Island.
Posted today at 4:52 am
America's Cup: Ray Davies scouts Naples
Ray Davies of Emirates Team New Zealand recently made a vibrant stop in Naples, Italy Ray Davies of Emirates Team New Zealand recently made a "vibrant" stop in Naples, Italy, ahead of the upcoming Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup, and was left in awe of both the city and its sailing conditions.
Posted today at 4:09 am
46th Cannes Royal Regatta day 3
When the planets are aligned... It was a phenomenal day in the bay of Cannes on Wednesday 24 September in a beautiful breeze from the south-west to the west.
Posted on 24 Sep
Melges 24 Worlds 2025 at Trieste, Italy Day 2
Epic conditions give Nika the first lead The 2025 Melges 24 World Championship delivered its first results on Day 2.
Posted on 24 Sep
2025 J/70 Corinthian Worlds at Massachusetts day 1
The regatta has moved to the United States for the first time Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts USA welcomed 29 all-amateur teams to the third annual J/70 Corinthian World Championship.
Posted on 24 Sep
2025 Formula Wing Worlds Sardinia day 1
Tactical minefield confuses even the best Four long-distance races on day one set the tone for a competitive Formula Wing World Championships. 93 competitors from 22 countries are racing each other for the first ever Formula Wing world title.
Posted on 24 Sep
Cure Marine and McConaghy join forces
Leveraging McConaghy's world-class manufacturing and advanced composite technology Cure Marine has always been synonymous with high-quality, high-performance cruising catamarans, and we are excited to share news that will elevate our brand even further.
Posted on 24 Sep
52 Super Series 2025 Porto Cervo day 2
Immaculate Sled on song in breezy Sardinia With a race win which they delivered with a near perfect execution in brisk Mistral conditions, Takashi Okura's Sled today moved further ahead at the top of the leaderboard at the 52 SUPER SERIES Porto Cervo Range Rover regatta on Costa Smeralda.
Posted on 24 Sep
Offshore Double Handed Worlds Qualifying Race 1
Finlayson & Adamson lead the charge Provisional results are in from the first 140nm qualifier of the 2025 Offshore Double Handed World Championships, and the racing delivered plenty of drama.
Posted on 24 Sep
The latest in fleet monitoring and tracking
Join us on October 22nd for an in-depth exploration of the latest in tracking technology Fleet monitoring and tracking are essential for efficiency, safety, and compliance with real-time visibility into fleet movements critical.
Posted on 24 Sep