The Breton sailor competed for the first time aboard his new boat at the Douarnenez Grand Prix last week. On the eve of taking part on the Verdier designed boat built this winter, Vincent declared: “This is the first time we’ll be lining up against our rivals. But really we’re here to try out the boat rather than aim for performance. These boats are now so complicated that it takes months to get used to them.”
At the Douarnenez Trophy event, PRB came up against four other 60-foot boats: TC2 – Martinez de Lazarduy IKER, on the former Foncia that was previously sailed by Michel Desjoyeaux, but which is now in the hands of a team of Spanish youngsters aided by the “Professor”, Safran,which has undergone some more improvements over the past few months, as well as Veolia Environnement, which is none other than BT sailed by Sébastien Josse in the last Vendée Globe and has now been hired by Roland Jourdain. The fifth boat was Brit Air currently being sailed by Gaël Le Cléac’h, while his brother Armel, who came second in the last Vendée Globe, is leading the fleet in the Transat AG2R La Mondiale aboard a Figaro 2, which is also in the colours of Brit Air.
As a starter, the 60-foot IMOCA boats measured up against each other in Douarnenez Bay during a series of speed runs (the famous Douarnenez challenge). The best times were achieved on Friday 30th April by Safran with a record speed of 18.49 knots ahead of PRB (17.34 knots) and Brit Air (17.22 knots). The Grand Prix began the next day with a coastal race won by PRB in moderate winds with some strong squalls towards the end. On Sunday, the wind freshened and Professor Desjoyeaux was the first to complete the coastal course ahead of Safran followed by PRB. In the overall rankings, the former Foncia took first place on equal points with PRB followed by Safran.
At the end of this friendly battle, Vincent said he was pleased with his new boat: "I’m pleased to be back out racing and I’m happy about the way the boat behaved, even if there are still some things to do before she is fully operational. We’re achieving the same speeds as Safran and that’s a great start.” The next event will be a crewed race around Spain in June. “We’ll be in better shape then,” concluded Vincent for whom the big date on the calendar this year will be the Route du Rhum, a single-handed event... like the Vendée Globe.
