Vendée – St-Petersburg - Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc fourth home

by Vendee St-Petersburg on 9 Jun 2010 Vendee- St. Petersburg update: Within the Multi50 class, there are the powerful new machines you find battling it out for a place on the podium and then, the others, with their more traditional machines: older boats, those designed for a wide range of uses, not simply for an Atlantic dash, and the amateur constructions… But it is this very ability to bring together this potent mixture for the enjoyment of everyone that gives this class its charm.

Lalou Roucayrol, Romaric Neyhousser and Arnaud Boissières finished their race off Saint Gilles Croix-de-Vie late in the night. The final night of sailing was a rather peaceful affair, as the crew no longer had any pressure on them after Naviguez Anne Caseneuve was dismasted, even if, to a certain extent, Lalou and his crew would have preferred a different outcome.

Nevertheless, when they stepped ashore, we could all see three incredibly happy men: Lalou, the skipper pleased with his boat and aware of just how lucky he was to be able to bring together this crew; Romaric pleased to have been able to spend hour after hour discreetly at the helm in light conditions, which were not really what the skipper or the boat most wanted; and then finally, Arnaud, who could not miss out on teasing his skipper pointing out how few hours they had spent gliding along at speed during this voyage.

And the tide rushes in…

Some 150 miles from Saint-Gilles Croix-de-Vie, the atmosphere is quite different for the two crews fighting it out for fifth place. FenêtréA cardinal and La Mer réveille vos sens, are hard at it, hoping to be the first out of the Iroise Sea between the Four lighthouse in the south and the Sein tidal race in the north. The journey down through the Four Channel against the tide is an opportunity for all sorts of tricks between the rocks around the islands of Molène to the west and the tip of Finistère.

To attempt to get through that zone quickly, the only way is by sticking close to the rocks, to avoid the worst of the current. What that means is they have to be extremely vigilant at the chart table and carry out manoeuvre after manoeuvre to sail along this narrow track away from the tidal flow. Both boats are due to tackle the Sein tidal race late this afternoon, and this time, the currents should be with them, making their task that much easier. Although, having said that, sailing in these treacherous waters in the Iroise Sea requires a lot of experience and composure and is maybe even a bit like tempting the devil.

Behind them, Hervé Cléris (CLM) would like to finish as soon as possible, particularly as his crew have been forced to eat cold food for two or three days. In the North Sea, the crew of Pir2 has restarted their race towards Saint-Gilles Croix-de-Vie. Their goal is to finish before Sunday evening in order to take part in the celebrations. Whatever result they achieve, they certainly deserve a lot of respect in taking up this challenge.

From the boats

Lalou Roucayrol (Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc), on his arrival in Saint-Gilles Croix-de-Vie): “We didn’t get much sleep during the night. We went through the Fromveur (a stretch to the south of Ushant) and were really slamming. This boat is really marvellous."

"We’re about to finish, we’ve enjoyed it and now we have nothing left to do. Since the Casquets (off the Channel Islands), we have been sailing along at between 16 and 25 knots all the time. During the light airs, we had our own secret weapon, Romaric : Cali and I went down inside and left him to it at the helm… It was great fun throughout. We had to fight hard all the way: whether it was with Erwan, Pierre or Anne, no one wanted to give an inch.”

Hervé Cléris (CLM), message sent this morning: “We heard about Anne, Christophe and Antoine’s boat being dismasted. We hope they are all OK. They’ll find all the help they need in Roscoff from our friends, as we’re going to give them a call. Yesterday evening, we lost a lot of time in Hastings Bay (struggling again)."

"We weren’t aiming to do any tourism, but our route just took us that way. In fact, I think we’re all agreed that we won’t be spending our holidays here. Hervé has managed to cobble together a system to heat water. It’s not that hot, but rather tepid, but better than nothing for the soup in the evening and the morning coffee. Cold fish pie and couscous are not too bad for the morning after a night on the tiles, but not that good when you’re out on a boat. Seeing how complicated our little system is, (and we shall be keeping it to ourselves,) its use is fairly limited.”


Positions in the 1400 hrs rankings (GMT)
- 1 Actual (Y Le Blévec) finished on 6th June at 13hrs 29mins 25secs
- 2 Crêpes Whaou ! 3 (FY Escoffier) finished on 6th June at 17hrs 13mins 27secs
- 3 Crêpes Whaou ! 2 (L Féquet) finished on 7th June at 17hrs 20 mins and 28secs
- 4 Région Aquitaine Port-Médoc (L Roucayrol) finished on 8th June at 05hrs 52mins 12 secs
- 5 FenêtréA-Cardinal (E Le Roux) 150 miles from the finish
- 6 La mer révèle nos sens (P Hingant) 6.3 miles from the leading boat
- 7 CLM (H Cléris) 134.3 miles from the leading boat
- 8 p R2 (E Hochédé) retired
- 9 Naviguez Anne Caseneuve (Anne Caseneuve) retired

For more information, visit: www.vendee-saintpetersbourg.org