Defi Atlantique Guadeloupe / Horta / La Rochelle 2023 - A first-class podium
by Grand Pavois Organisation 27 Apr 2023 18:16 AEST
From yesterday afternoon through to the evening, the Bassin des Chalutiers in La Rochelle welcomed the competitors of the Défi Atlantique, the second edition after the one in 2019.
The 13 Class40s arrived in close formation at the end of their long journey from Pointe-à-Pitre, via Horta on the island of Faial in the Azores. Victory for aggregate time over the two stages went to the Crédit Mutuel crew, Ian Lipinski, Antoine Carpentier and Rémi Fermin. These three men's epic battle against two formidable Italian teams, Ambrogio Beccaria (Alla Grande Pirelli) and Alberto Bona (IBSA) paved the way for the legitimate ambitions of the French crews, with Erwan Le Draoulec taking the second leg on Everial, with the returning Jules Bonnier (Nestenn - Entrepreneurs for the Planet) hot on his heels, joined on the podium by the British team featuring Alister Richardson and Brian Thompson (Tquila).
It was a course that proved to be pretty complex in terms of meteorological conditions, with a mythical stopover in Horta, fierce competition between professional skippers and knowledgeable owners, a battle of generations between boats with designs highlighting more than 15 years of architectural research specific to Class40, a gender mix that is likely to gain ground over the coming years with three women at the finish line, and a friendly atmosphere so unique to this category of 12.18m boats. All of this ensured that this second edition of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe return event organised by Grand Pavois Organisation was a huge success in sporting and human terms.
A French-Italian duel
A resolutely "carbon-free" race, allowing the competitors of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe to return their boats back from Pointe-à-Pitre in a race and by sea, the Défi Atlantique, with its first powerful tacks below Basse Terre and Marie-Galante, set the tone for a fierce battle between the event's favourites, Crédit Mutuel, No.158, designed in 2019 by David Raison, and two brand-new generation Class40s, the Mach 40.5, IBSA, led by an impressive Italian-Spanish crew, Alberto Bona, Pietro Lucciani and Pablo Santurde del Arco, and the runner-up of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe, Ambrogio Beccaria(Alla Grande Pirelli), assisted for the event by the architect of his Italian-built boat, Gianluca Guelfi, and Alberto Riva. Straightaway, these three competitors set the pace with the first bold manoeuvre of the event, a never-ending northward and starboard tack through the trade winds. It was maybe even so precise that it overshadowed the rest of the fleet, with the rest of the competitors happily doing battle with the impressive scows now able to clock up many days at over 400 miles.
Axel Tréhin with his Project Rescue Ocean, Marc Lepesqueux with his new Lift V2 Curium Life Forward and Erwan Le Draoulec on Everial were making their mark and putting the Italians under pressure. This pressure may even have been partly responsible for the masterly move of the race by Crédit Mutuel, when Ian Lipinski and his team broke off their progress due North, bringing to an end the battle with the Italian crew, and managed to cut through the ridge of high pressure to find the Westerly flow of the low pressure before their competitors.
Suddenly, Crédit Mutuel was ahead with a substantial 37-mile lead, something they managed to maintain up until the finish line in the bay of Horta. Their 1 hour and 56 minutes lead over Ambrogio Beccaria, and the 5 hours and 36 minutes lead over Alberto Bona sealed the outcome of the race. The second stage's 1,300 miles to La Rochelle saw the three leaders engaged in a serious battle which, once again, paved the way for the stage victory by the other leaders in the class. It was Erwan Le Draoulec who made the best strategic move of the race, going far north hoping to find pressure and a favourable angle in the westerly wind. Erwan, Everial's new skipper after Stan Thuret pulled out, proved his worth in the best possible way on his Class40.
Second in the stage, Jules Bonnier made a comeback to offer us one of the most impressive stories in the race. His Nestenn - Entrepreneurs for the Planet was forced to pull out on departure from Pointe-à-Pitre but Jules and his team managed two feats, that of having a spreader bar transported from Romania and reaching the Azores in under 8 days in time to start the second stage after just a few hours' rest. His second place in La Rochelle had a great taste of victory. Tquila's valiant British duo completed the podium for the stage.
A fierce and committed race
Ian Lipinski now replaces Aymeric Chappelier on the list of winners of a Défi Atlantique race set to become a Classic event in Class40. He completed the 3,513-mile course in 16 days and 49 minutes, at an average speed of 9.1 knots. In reality, he covered 4,174 miles over ground at an average speed of 10.8 knots. His name is now at the top of all the statistics boards for the event, starting perhaps with the amazing day on 11 April when he covered 407.2 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 17 knots... Ambrogio Beccaria rushed to beat this time achieving 417.12 miles at an average speed of 17.4 knots in Class40!
With 84 points in the lead in the various daily rankings, Crédit Mutuel's victory is clearly uncontested. However, it should be noted that IBSA, Alla Grande Pirelli, as well as Curium Life Forward and Everial also topped the rankings several times, proof of just how fierce the competition was.
Yesterday, throughout the day, La Rochelle in Charente-Maritime and the Bassin des Chalutiers bathed in sunlight celebrated these responsible sailors in a festive atmosphere as they reached the end of the journey that began last November in Saint-Malo with the start of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe. Everyone was enthusiastic about the impressively sporting and deeply adventurous aspect of the race, with the great neutralisation in Horta that restores the notion of voyage and discovery behind ocean racing.
Quotes:
Ian Lipinski (Crédit Mutuel) -1st in the Défi Atlantique 2023: "We're very happy. We were a little afraid over the last few hours. But it made the race all the more exciting. Our aim was to keep an eye on Ambrogio Beccaria (Alla Grande Pirelli) since we were just one hour and 56 minutes ahead. The Italian boats were very fast and that meant there were some great changes. We lost Ambrogio's marking the day before the finish and that was pretty stressful. Overall it was a great transatlantic race that required a great deal of strategy and we learned many lessons. I'm delighted to have won again with this boat and this great crew."
Ambrogio Beccaria (Alla Grande Pirelli) - 2nd in the Défi Atlantique 2023: "It's always a great pleasure to arrive in La Rochelle. A great deal of emotion. We're happy, very positive because we won all the close fights. We tried to scare Ian. We had a slight chance at winning. But we tried everything. We're proud because we weren't far off. We didn't do that well along the coast of Spain. We were aggressive. We took a lot of risks. We learned a lot about the boat in reaching. It was great to sail with Gianluca, the boat's architect. He sees me differently now. IBSA was very impressive. Alberto and Pablo are very strong and will make their mark this season."
Alberto Bona (Ibsa) - 3rd in the Défi Atlantique 2023: "This second place has a taste of victory. We made a spectacular recovery after the race against the clock to repair our spreader bar. We reached Horta out of the race but in record time. As a result, we were in a great position for the second stage. We went all out. We were a little under pressure in the transition zones and upwind but we managed to get the boat to work well thanks to the great crew. We were able to catch up on Tquila and pass them. We finished very close to Everial. But we ended on a great note and are very satisfied."
Alister Richardson (Tquila) - 5th in the Défi Atlantique 2023: "We are very pleased. We had a few problems during the race. We could not use our spinnaker most of the race. We took an option and we're pleased it worked out. This race is great, great route. Last leg was fantastic, 8 boats within 26 miles. Unbelievable. We're used to the boat now. She's real nice. We're pleased with it."
General classification after the two stages:
1. Crédit Mutuel - Ian Lipinski: 16d 00h 49min 29s
2. Alla Grande Pirelli - Ambrogio Beccaria: 16d 02h 29min 52s to 01h 40 min 23s from the first
3. IBSA - Alberto Bona: 16d 06h 58min 28s to 06h 08min 59s from the first
4. Project Rescue Ocean - Axel Trehin: 16d 19h 46min 38s to 18h 57min 09s from the first
5. TQuila - Alister Richardson: 17d 00h 59min 00s to 1d 00h 09min 31s from the first
6. Everial - Erwan Le Draoulec: 17d 00h 56min 30s to 1d 00h 07min 01s from the first
7. Curium Life Forward - Marc Lepesqueux: 17d 03h 00min 52s to 1d 02h 11min 23s from the first
8. Paries Chocolate - SCREB - Jean-Baptiste Daramy: 17d 15h 12min 15s to 1d 14h 22min 46s from the first
9. - Vicitan Didier Le Vourch: 17d 16h 20min 02s to 1d 15h 30min 33s from the first
10. Taking to the sea, Acting for the forest - Mathieu Claveau: 18d at 4h 42mn 34s to 2d 03h53 min 05sec from the first
11. Dopamine sailing Team - Florian Gueguen: 18 06h 39 mn and 01sec to 2d 05h 49mn 32s from the first
12. Yoda- Franz Bouvet: 18d 14h 08 min 27 s to 2d 13h 18mn 58 sec from the first
13. Nestenn - Entrepreneurs For The Planet: Jules Bonnier 20d 18h 52min 04s to 4d 18h 02min 35s from the first