Arkema’s fleet is racing! The Drheam Cup for Lalou Roucayrol
by Arkema 24 Jul 2018 06:19 PDT
Team Arkema Lalou Multi © Vincent Olivaud / Team Arkema Lalou Multi
July is a busy month for Team Arkema Lalou Multi! Raphaël Lutard and the Mini 6.50 Arkema 3 sailed from Les Sables d'Olonne at 1 pm on Sunday 22nd July, while Lalou Roucayrol sailed from La Trinité sur Mer at the helm of his Multi50 Arkema at 3pm on Monday 23rd for the Drheam Cup!
Two solo events for the two skippers of Team Arkema Lalou Multi, who also share the same objectives: to sail in realistic configurations and so continue, again and again, improving and optimizing these two innovative ocean racing "machines"!
Title holder of the Drheam Cup!
Winner of the 1st edition in 2017, the Médoc-born skipper has been on a path of great performances and conclusive results for the past two years, sailing both with a crew and solo. Right from the prologue last Saturday, Lalou already showed his competitors the full potential of his boat, just a few months away from the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe.
"We are very happy with this second place. Erwan Leroux' Multi50 was quite a distance ahead of us, but we managed to catch up on the last downwind tack. We finished 5 seconds behind him. This is a very encouraging result, which bears out the choices and alterations we made over the winter. However, quite apart from the final result in this race, my main objective lies elsewhere."
This 700-nautical mile solo event is ideal training to test in racing conditions, the organization put in place with a view to the transatlantic race in November: "My objective is to take the helm of the boat once more, and again enjoy sailing solo. This race is ideally placed in the calendar, as it allows you to validate certain choices but also and especially to have time to optimize other ones before the start of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe. Sailing across the Channel in light winds can be fraught with snares, but it will enable us to check out the boat in every point of configuration of sail. It will also be an opportunity to test our new automatic pilot, the Mad Brain Auto Pilot. It's a latest generation pilot, developed through our collaboration with the company Madintec. There are plenty of benefits, in particular regarding speed and the ability to analyze the various information received from sensors. In short, it will be an instructive race in every respect."
Click here to follow the Multi50 Arkema in the Drheam Cup
Good start for Raphaël Lutard in Les Sables – Les Açores – les Sables
The young skipper of the Mini 6.50 Arkema 3 set off on Sunday 22nd July on the 1st stage of Les Sables - Les Açores - Les Sables, ready to sail solo 1,270 nautical miles across the ocean heading for Horta on the island of Faial. A newcomer at the helm of this prototype boasting a host of innovations, including the foils and a rigid wing, Raphaël harbors sensible ambitions as he takes on this race which could see countless problems on the way: sailing across the Bay of Biscay and past Cap Finisterre on small 6.5 meter boats is never fun and games! "I have no particular concern" said Raphaël before he left. "I'm off on a race that's about the same as the duration of my qualification, so it doesn't worry me. I just want to enjoy the experience while looking after my boat. As a competitor, inevitably I like having great results, but the main objective for this year remains getting to know my boat better and better, and make a few enhancements."
Quentin Vlamynck, the previous skipper of the Mini 6.50 and the current boat captain of the Multi50, and Lalou Roucayrol called Raphaël before the start of the race, and confirm his state of mind: "He was relaxed, composed and impatient to go! Understandably he is a little disappointed with the light winds forecast for this 1st stage, which is not conducive to the boat gliding and flying, but he was very keen when he left. That's the main thing!"
After 24 hours of racing, the Mini 6.50 Arkema 3 is in 13th place, nine nautical miles from the leader in the prototype class.
Click here to follow Arkema 3 on SAS