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On this subject

Barcelona World Race, Bernard Stamm, Dominique Wavre, Imoca, Transat Jacques Vabre, Vendée Globe

Transat Jacques Vabre

The punishing sea

Text: Vincent Gillioz

Year: 2011

The 10th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, -the two-handed, biennial transatlantic race – hasn’t spared the competitors. The usual North Atlantic autumnal low pressure systems hit the first days of the race. From the outset, the 35 participants had to brave harsh conditions despite a 3-day delayed start to let the worst of the bad weather go by. The weather conditions remained quite fierce and the sailors experienced a grueling first night with 35/40 knots head winds. A third of the boats suffered damage forcing them to abandon the race after 6 days. Five Class 40s out of sixteen, four IMOCA Open 60s out of thirteen, and above all four Multi 50s out of six have had to give up due to damage such as a loss of a keel or a mast, injuries or structural damage. A few boats found shelter in the Azores, ending their race in despair.

Despite these chain reaction breakages, the sporting dimension remained intact and the leadership changed ten times during the first week. Seven different teams took the lead at some point at least once. None of them managed to keep the lead for 24h in a row.

Chaotic Multi 50s

The Multi 50 class suffered the most, although a few young skippers were quite promising, such as LeRoux, Lemonchois, Mabit and Escoffier (Franck-Yves). They had to accept that it was not to be. Monopticien.com was the first to retire with a broken rudder pintle. Two days after the start, Prince de Bretagne found some damage on the forward cross beam, forcing them to divert towards La Coruna. The night after that, FenetréA-Cardinal discovered a crack in the bulkhead below the mast and a subsequent leak. A bit later, Crêpes Whaou! informed race direction that they were withdrawing from the race after the skipper was injured. Franck-Yves Escoffier was hit by a wave and washed into a winch. He badly fell on his lower back and couldn’t helm nor manoeuver anymore. Yves le Blevec and Sam Manuard’s Actual thus remained alone to race with Loïc Fequet and Loïc Escoffier’s Maître Jacques. At the time of putting this magazine to bed, Maître Jacques was 350 miles behind, forecasting a probable victory of the former Mini Transat racers duo.

Class 40 disappointments

Although the Class 40 –the largest class on this 10th Jacques Vabre- suffered less than the multis, some of them have not been spared. Lecoq Cuisine retired for health reasons. Comiris Pole Santé Elior soon followed, due to structural problems. The duo Le Diraison/Ruyant, former Mini racers and very promising on paper, decided to give up after their bowsprit broke. Tangy de Lamotte and Eric Péron’s Initiatives-Alex Olivier lost her keel after four days. The co-skippers nevertheless managed to keep the boat afloat and reach La Coruna. The British crew on Concise, who were in the lead after six days, noticed some delamination which forced them back to port in the Azores. Avis Immobilier also gave up after the breaking of a keel bolt.

Vendee Globe prologue

Some IMOCA Open 60s who entered this race as part of their Vendee Globe preparation – the English Transat no longer being on the calendar – were disappointed by this year’s extreme weather conditions. For this ultimate transoceanic confrontation before November 2012, most of the skippers had chosen their partners to progress the most. Five of them were actually racing on boats of the new generation. Virbac-Paprec 3, already tried and tested on the Barcelona World Race, further demonstrated her huge potential. Banque Populaire (the former Foncia) -who had lost her mast during the double-handed round the world race and has been taken over by Le Cléac’h-, was racing with the leading trio as this paper goes to press. PRB, MACIF and Cheminées Poujoulat, the only Kouyoumdjian-design among the Verdier-VPLPs, were finally the ones who needed the most to tame their machines.

The Swiss-French duo Wavre/Paret also had to test their new mast. The most painful penalty was incurred by Bernard Stamm, who was forced to abandon ship after taking on water. The skipper from Vaud had at long last a decent budget and a well-managed project, he obviously expected a different ending and is extremely disappointed. The good side of the story is of course that both he and his co-skipper Jean-François Cuzon are safe and sound.

In comparison, there was only one IMOCA Open 60 retirement in the 2007 Transat Jacques Vabre which also took place before the Vendee Globe. The 2011 edition is much more selective and should, we hope, allow everyone to be better prepared for the Sables d’Olonne in November 2012.