2021 Transat Jacques Vabre - Normandie - Le Havre

19/11/2021

Outpaced Quentin and Lalou endeavor to close the cap

On its twelfth day, Friday 19 November, the Transat Jacques Vabre race sees the 50 ft ocean racing multihull class fiercely compete for first place. Last night the first four boats rounded the buoys off the Fernando de Noronha islands. As expected, the battle is being played out gybe by gybe to grab the best wind along the Brazilian TSS no-go zone.

As for Quentin and Lalou, unfortunately they are largely outpaced, unable to get back in the fight for the win. Arkema 4 reached Fernando de Noronha this morning. Quentin conveyed his disgruntled mood in a message last night: “Today was unbelievably tedious. While our competitors were shooting ahead, we were hardly moving. Tonight we’ve had to sail through stormy zones, with unstable conditions still hanging over us when we wake up. We haven’t had the conditions we wanted from the start. So, yes, this morning we’re fed up... Fed up with the weather which has been particularly tough on our nerves for the past 3 days. But this won’t stop us from continuing to plug away to close the gap before the finish line!”

The Ocean Fifty ranking at 8 am this Friday was as follows: “Primonial” (Sébastien Rogues-Matthieu Souben) was in the lead, and “Koesio” (Erwan Le Roux-Xavier Macaire) at 70 miles, with “Leyton” (Sam Goodchild-Aymeric Chappellier) 88 miles behind. “Solidaires En Peloton” (Thibaut Vauchel Camus-Frédéric Duthil) was provisionally in 4th position at 148 miles. In 5th place was “Les P’tits doudous/The Arch” (Armel Tripon-Benoît Marie) at 149 miles from the leading boat. “Groupe GCA – 1001 Sourires” (Gilles Lamiré-Yvan Bourgnon) was 6th at 364 miles. Arkema 4, which covered 501 miles in the last 24h at a speed of over 20 knots, the best average in the Ocean Fifty class, was nevertheless still 461 miles behind the leading skippers.

11/18/2021

Quentin and Lalou are losing ground

On this eleventh day of the race, Thursday 18 November, the Transat Jacques Vabre is shifting to a new dimension for the Ocean Fifty’s. Indeed, the leading skippers, Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben on board “Primonial”, have completed their southward leg of the course after passing the Fernando de Noronha archipelago intermediate buoy off the coast of Brazil. They are now heading straight for Martinique. Three Ocean Fifty’s are relatively close together. As for Quentin and Lalou, after getting back up close to the pack, the Doldrums did them no favors after all, to say the least. These Doldrums, which they decided to negotiate to the east, cost them many miles. Fortunately, they will soon be entering the southern hemisphere, with the prospect of picking up wind in their sails again.

The 50 ft multihull ranking at 8 am this Thursday was as follows: “Primonial” (Sébastien Rogues-Matthieu Souben) was in the lead, with “Leyton” (Sam Goodchild-Aymeric Chappellier) 51 miles behind, and “Koesio” (Erwan Le Roux-Xavier Macaire) at 55 miles. “Solidaires En Peloton” (Thibaut Vauchel Camus-Frédéric Duthil) was provisionally in 4th position at 61 miles. In 5th place was “Les P’tits doudous/The Arch” (Armel Tripon-Benoît Marie) at 122 miles from the leading boat. “Groupe GCA – 1001 Sourires” (Gilles Lamiré-Yvan Bourgnon) was 6th at 392 miles. Arkema 4 now had a 509 miles deficit on the leading skippers.

11/17/2021

Welcome to the Doldrums

The entire 50 ft fleet is now right in the Doldrums, a zone of converging trade winds from the tropics in the oceans near the equator, where conditions can switch from dead calm seas to violent thunderstorms. The pace has indeed slowed down, but the boats have been pushing hard until now. In 24 hours, the best clocked up more miles than their “big brother” Sodebo Ultim 3 stuck in the same waters. Leading the pack still is “Primonial”, the pink trimaran of Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben who most probably will be the next boat to round Fernando de Noronha, the mandatory passage point off the coat of Brazil. The gaps have narrowed further between the multihulls in this class. Quentin and Lalou have gained 80 miles from the head of the race in 24h. The first Ocean Fifty’s, like the first Ultime’s, are expected in Fort-de-France on 23 November.

The ranking at 9 am this Wednesday after 9 days and almost 20 hours at sea, was as follows: “Primonial” (Sébastien Rogues-Matthieu Souben) was in the lead, followed by “Koesio” (Erwan Le Roux-Xavier Macaire) 58 miles behind. “Solidaires En Peloton” (Thibaut Vauchel Camus-Frédéric Duthil) was provisionally in 3rd place at 85 miles, followed by “Leyton” (Sam Goodchild-Aymeric Chappellier) at 144 miles, and “Les P’tits doudous/The Arch” (Armel Tripon-Benoît Marie) in 5th position, at 182 miles from the leading Ocean Fifty. “Groupe GCA – 1001 Sourires” (Gilles Lamiré-Yvan Bourgnon) was 6th at 310 miles, followed by Arkema 4 now 350 miles behind the leading skippers.

What they said:

“They’re now right in the middle of the Doldrums. With weakening winds but also intermittent squalls (thunderstorms) as expected. They’ve brought down the gennaker (an intermediate headsail between genoa and spinnaker). They’re sailing crosswind or even upwind now and again. Upwind is when the boat sails into the wind at an angle of between 45 and 90° from the wind axis. As a result, speeds are a little slower. The goal of this game is to pull out of this zone as quickly as possible and head towards Fernando de Noronha; after that lies a complex zone all the way to Martinique. We’re clinging to this and the thought that there can still be plenty of hurdles ahead, and that, for once, the race might not be led by those at the front.

Clearly, in this Transat, the closer you are to the head of the race, the closer you are to winning. It’s a matter of the wealthy getting wealthier. What we need for a comeback now would be to have no headwind, or to really have more wind than those in front and so pick up more speed; but earlier on, it all happened so fast that it has been very difficult to close up the gap. The scene is changing, and maybe we’ll see the rubber band loosen up. It’s happening gently. We’d rather it happened fully. We’ll have to see today how it’s going to pan out for all the boats. Lalou and Quentin are racers. For sure, it must be frustrating for them to be at the rear, but we’ve had them several times, and every time, they tell us: we are keeping our foot down, we are! They’re not despondent but still as determined as at the start of the race.”
Raphaël Lutard, Arkema 4 Boat Captain

11/16/2021

Quentin and Lalou are speeding towards the dreaded Doldrums

After 8 days and almost 20 hours of racing, Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben continue to lead the way in this 15^th Transat Jacques Vabre. But the gaps at the front have narrowed and a raging battle is going on within the Ocean Fifty flotilla. After choosing to sail their trimaran between the islands of the Cape Verde archipelago, Quentin and Lalou are heading at speed towards the Doldrums, hoping to find the bolt hole that will give them a favorable way out of this “Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone” so dreaded by sailors for its highly unstable weather system as their boats can get stuck for lack of wind, or, the opposite, be struck by violent squalls.

The ranking of the 50 ft multihull class at 8 am this Tuesday was as follows: “Primonial” (Sébastien Rogues-Matthieu Souben) was in the lead, followed by “Koesio” (Erwan Le Roux-Xavier Macaire) 98 miles behind. “Solidaires En Peloton” (Thibaut Vauchel Camus-Frédéric Duthil) was provisionally in 3^rd place at 109 miles, followed by “Leyton” (Sam Goodchild-Aymeric Chappellier) at 225 miles, and “Les P’tits doudous/The Arch” (Armel Tripon-Benoît Marie) in 5^th position, at 228 miles from the leading Ocean Fifty. Arkema 4 was 417 miles behind the leading skippers, while “Groupe GCA – 1001 Sourires” (Gilles Lamiré-Yvan Bourgnon) was bringing up the rear at 420 miles.

What they said:

“Lalou et Quentin went for the Cape Verde option to avoid increasing distances and hopefully rely on a wind corridor between the islands. They should reach the Doldrums late tonight or tomorrow morning; not easy to tell in this ever-evolving zone. They’re going to see what is the best angle to choose. Their eastern position gives them more options. The routing of Arkema 4 is down to Eric Mas who analyzes the weather charts, while Alex Ozon is in charge of tactics. They draw up a chart which they send to the boat, and the skippers then see whether it’s ok or not. It’s a continual exchange between them. As regards the boat, it’s all going very well, but there’s no doubt that the boats are under a great deal of strain. Especially as in this Jacques Vabre, with the Ocean Fifty class we’ve witnessed average speeds never seen before of 23-24 knots over 4 hours! There’re still 2,800 miles to go. The finish line is still a long way off. Lalou and Quentin are not letting up.”
Raphaël Lutard, Arkema 4 Boat Captain

11/10/2021

Quentin and Lalou have wind in their sails again

Arkema 4 has now extricated itself from the high-pressure trap that meant next to no wind. A 100% clean fuel but 100% rare yesterday. It was time for Quentin and Lalou to pick up this fair wind now that they have rounded Cape Finisterre and are battling it out off the coast of Spain.

Ranking

Gaps in the Ocean Fifty fleet have somewhat narrowed overnight. At 8 am on Wednesday, “Koesio” (Erwan Le Roux-Xavier Macaire) was leading the pack, closely followed by “Solidaires En Peloton” (Thibaut Vauchel Camus-Frédéric Duthil) 8 miles* behind. In 3^rd place was “Primonial” (Sébastien Rogues-Matthieu Souben) at 12.5 miles, followed by “Les P’tits doudous/The Arch” (Armel Tripon-Benoît Marie) at 46.9 miles. In joint 5^th and 6^th place were “Leyton” (Sam Goodchild-Aymeric Chappellier) and Arkema 4 at 61 miles. “Groupe GCA – 1001 Sourires” (Gilles Lamiré-Yvan Bourgnon) was last in the Ocean Fifty class at 67 milles from the leader.

What they said:

“They picked up 20 miles overnight. That said, you have to keep things in perspective because it all can go very fast in Multi boats; 60 miles is not a lot. Gaps will appear and disappear quickly. The boats are so fast that you only need to catch a light breeze and, conversely, your competitor to hit a calm zone, with a 6 or 7 knot difference, and, in the space of 10 hours, you have a 60 mile gap. So no losing your cool. Admittedly, yesterday was complicated, but no panic on board. You stay on top of everything as you know that you’re bound to get a chance to come back. So, Quentin and Lalou are determined to continue pushing their boat ahead as fast as possible. One advantage is that they have other Multi boats close by that give them pointers to help them work out which option works or which doesn’t. Last night they performed well and the boat sailed very well. The boat’s comfortable in crosswind, at 90°. The weather forecast is saying that the wind will eventually weaken from the front, as the trade winds are still not steady. So, we’ll have to see how it’s going to pan out when we reach the Canary Islands tomorrow evening or the day after, where the wind conditions can be difficult to cope with. And then, with the trade winds still not steady, inevitably the leading boats will be the first to hit them, and hopefully, this should close up the gaps within the fleet by allowing the trailing boats to catch up.”
Raphaël Lutard, Boat captain of Arkema 4

11/09/2021

Arkema 4 in 3rd position in the Breton “doldrums”

An air of “doldrums” with a Breton flavour is hanging over the Jacques-Vabre 2021 race (the “doldrums” is a popular nautical term given by sailors referring to a phenomenon they encounter in the equatorial zones of the Atlantic, an area characterised by low atmospheric pressure). The start of the race may have been swift and rather full of action until Ouessant, but now the entire fleet is caught in a windless zone.

Some boats even went backwards, as Franck Cammas, at the helm of the Edmond de Rothschild Ultime, explained: “We’re stuck in a high-pressure cell, so we no longer have any wind. What’s more, we had to deal with strong frontal currents that even made us backtrack!” Whether the boats have chosen to sail closer to the coast, through the Iroise Sea, or taken the northerly option, the winds are not being very generous with any of them. And it is feared that light winds will stay with them for a while, until Cape Finisterre.

With the Ocean Fifty fleet, distances between the boats are still very small, and even though the fleet of these seven 50 ft multihulls is split into two, everything is still to play for in this strategic phase, in a Transat that for now looks more like a Solitaire du Figaro than an offshore race. As one skipper put it neatly, “ça tricote dans les cailloux” [we’re dancing on stones]!

Ranking

At 8 am on Tuesday, “Koesio” (Erwan Le Roux-Xavier Macaire) was in the lead at 12.7 miles from “Leyton” (Sam Goodchild-Aymeric Chappellier) and 18.5 miles from Arkema 4. The pair at the helm of “Groupe GCA – 1001 Sourires” (Gilles Lamiré-Yvan Bourgnon) were 2 miles behind Quentin and Lalou, closely followed by “Les P’tits doudous/The Arch” (Armel Tripon-Benoît Marie); “Primonial” (Sébastien Rogues-Matthieu Souben), which a short while ago was leading the Ocean Fifty ranking, was trailing the leader by 21.9 miles, while “Solidaires En Peloton” (Thibaut Vauchel Camus-Frédéric Duthil) was provisionally last with a 23.3 mile gap.

*1 knot = 1.85 km

What they said:

“They’ve been in this wind hole (dead calm zone) for 24h. On top of that, it’s right in the middle of the high pressure system. And imagine, another boat, say, 100 m from you can be doing 10 knots, whereas you’re doing nothing. And then, you think, that’s it, I now have some wind, we’ll be on our way again, but it only lasts a few minutes and you come to a standstill. You have to go flat-out adjusting everything, make the most of the slightest breeze, because if you’re weaving around and the wind picks up and your settings need fine-tuning because of course the wind changes force and direction, you soon lose a minute, and one minute is the time it takes to get your boat going and make headway in the breeze. So, inevitably, it’s nerve-racking. But they’re in great form. Of course, they’re dipping a little into their sleep reserves. They should be pleased with themselves. It’s not a typical situation. Usually, when sailing out of the Bay of Biscay in a Jacques Vabre race, it takes between 24 and 48h from Le Havre to Cape Finisterre, but here they’re still slightly under the tip of Brittany. And it could well stay like this for a while.”
Raphaël Lutard, Boat captain of Arkema 4

11/08/2021

After setting off full steam ahead, Arkema 4 is chasing the wind

For the crews, the first night was synonymous with making choices. The fleet had to deal with the strong currents around the Cotentin peninsula before encountering high-pressure cells, which mean little wind. Following a great start, Arkema 4 passed the first buoy in the lead. Before hitting a zone of erratic winds, yo-yoing between 18 and 3 knots and constantly changing direction, which, understandably, makes sailing complicated with many changes of sail and tack. The very homogeneous Ocean Fifty pack is currently sailing off the tip of Brittany, and it is all down to whoever finds the best wind conditions. We knew that last night and today were going to be complicated sailing. And that is confirmed.

Ranking

At 8:30 this Monday morning, “Primonial” skippered by the Sébastien Rogues-Matthieu Souben pair is leading the Ocean Fifty’s. Closely behind are “Koesio” (Erwan Le Roux-Xavier Macaire) at just 1.3 miles and “Solidaires En Peloton” (Thibaut Vauchel Camus-Frédéric Duthil) at 1.7 miles. Arkema 4 is provisionally in 4^th position at just under 11 miles (20 km). 6 Miles behind Quentin and Lalou is the Armel Tripon-Benoît Marie pair at the helm of “Les P’tits doudous/The Arch”.

What they said:

“It was an excellent start with good conditions and great sailing until Étretat, and then great upwind conditions until Cotentin. But now, it’s a bit more complicated, there’s not a lot of wind any longer and a lot of current. We’ve been going round and round for almost an hour. We don’t know if we’ll be able to extricate ourselves from this quickly, the weather reports are uncertain, and we’re still totally unsure. We’re in the pack, but we’ll have to be careful and not get trapped by the wind or the current. We’re still undecided for the coming days, the router is working on this but it’s not simple, we’re also looking at what our competitors are doing and then we’ll decide.”
Quentin Vlamynck at the 7 am radio linkup this Monday