The trimaran Arkema 4 has been moored since Friday 25 June in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, from where it will take part this week in the 3rd episode of the Pro Sailing Tour. After a fast and invigorating journey from Aquitaine to the Canary Islands, the Quentin Vlamynck and Lalou Roucayrol duo have made the most of this trip to validate their qualification for the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre race. Following the Brest and La Rochelle episodes, the competition for the Ocean Fifty boats resumes on Thursday 1st July in the superb setting of the Canaries.
Qualified for the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre
“The journey went very well”, Quentin confirms. “I broke my own record to reach the Canary Islands, in just 3 days and 14 hours. We encountered challenging conditions when we left, the weather was more like what you’d expect for a winter race across the Bay of Biscay, very steady downwind up to 30 knots, on nasty choppy seas. I felt a little sick in the first few hours, which often happens in these conditions, but it had absolutely no impact on my pace onboard. I stayed clear-headed and efficient, and we quickly and naturally got back to our routine as a pair with Lalou. We are very happy with the way the boat behaved as the conditions we had were typical of a Transat start! It was ideal to validate our qualification because until then we had had few chances of sailing as a pair over such a long distance. It's great training.”
Once moored in the port of Las Palmas, the boat was quickly returned to a crew configuration to allow Quentin and his teammates to have a few training outings before the start of this 3rd episode.
Episode 3 of the Pro Sailing Tour: confidence and no pressure
The competition resumes on Thursday 1st July with the 24-hour challenge, for which Quentin and Lalou will bring on board Raphaël Lutard, boat captain of Arkema 4.
“The body of water around Las Palmas is highly technical. We know this because we come here regularly to train in winter. There are plenty of coastal and wind shadow effects around the island. We paid the price during our record of the round-the-islands journey with Lalou in 2019”, explains Quentin, determined to secure the top of the podium.
We will need to be vigilant, but our goal is to finish ahead of Leyton, with as many competitors as possible between us! We are very close in the general ranking, and the final result of this 3rd episode will be decisive. We are confident, both in the boat and in the crew, and we hold all the cards to get a result.”
Provisional general ranking
after 2 episodes:
1 - Leyton (Sam Goodchild) - 14 pts
2 - Arkema 4 (Quentin Vlamynck) - 11 pts
3 - Ciela Village (Erwan Le Roux) - 9 pts
4 - Primonial (Sébastien Rogues) - 8 pts
5 - Solidaires En Peloton - ARSEP (Thibaut Vauchel-Camus) - 6 pts
6 - Groupe GCA 1001 sourires (Gilles Lamiré) - 6 pts
Arkema 4 Team
Quentin Vlamynck
Lalou Roucayrol
Raphaël Lutard
Keni Piperol
Etienne Carra
Alejandro Cantero