After winning the Artemis Challenge a few days ago, Vincent Riou has just enjoyed more success winning the Rolex Fastnet Race on Tuesday. The skipper of PRB, joined for the race by Jean Le Cam, managed to come in ahead of the others in this 608-mile course between Cowes and Plymouth, via the Fastnet Rock. After a very close fight with the leading IMOCA boats, the duo managed to ward off the attacks and finished ahead of Virbac Paprec 3 (Jean-Pierre Dick / Guillaume Le Brec) and Cheminées Poujoulat (Bernard Stamm / Jean François Cuzon) who respectively came second and third. Vincent Riou, the winner tells us about the race.
The skipper of PRB really wanted to clock up the miles and get in some race training before the Transat Jacques Vabre. The Round Britain and Ireland duel with Safran, then the Artemis Challenge and the Rolex Fastnet Race enabled him to build up more experience of the monohull and to measure up against his main rivals. With these two consecutive wins, Vincent can feel really confident as he tackles the big event of the season this autumn.
Vincent Riou: "All of the big names in the IMOCA class lined up for this Rolex Fastnet Race with us, with the exception of Banque Populaire. We are well prepared and I feel confident about what lies ahead. It was nice to do this Fastnet Race with Jean Le Cam. We had some fine weather. We set off tacking upwind in the Solent with 15 knots of wind and continued like that in light to moderate winds to the Scillies. We weren’t in the lead on the way out of the Solent, but were among the frontrunners. We grabbed the lead on the first evening of the race. On the way up and back down from the Fastnet, it was quite windy. As we rounded the rock we had to deal with a front with thirty knots of wind. We were in the lead at the Fastnet, but the others were not far behind. Safran was 1.5 miles behind us and the third placed boat 2-3 miles back. In the morning we all found ourselves back together again at the Scillies. The four frontrunners were within ½ mile. It was a tough fight. It was all down to sail choices and downwind speed. We sailed past Cheminées Poujoulat and Virbac Paprec. At 20 knots, 1 mile means a gap of 3 minutes, so we finished grouped together. Virbac Paprec 3 finished 3 mins 58 secs behind us. Of course, it was great to be so close. We really enjoyed ourselves.”
Rankings in the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Race
1- PRB / Vincent Riou
2- Virbac Paprec / Jean-Pierre Dick
3- Cheminees Poujoulat / Bernard Stamm
4- Safran / Marc Guillemot
5- Hugo Boss / Alex Thomson
6- DCNS 1000 / Marc Thiercelin
PRB’s programme
- Aug: training sessions. Sail tests
- Early September: PR operations in Les Sables d'Olonne
- From 23rd to 25th September 2011: The Atlantique Le Télégramme Groupama
- From 26th to 30th September 2011: training session in Port La-Forêt
- From 10th to 14th October 2011: 2nd training session in Port-La-Forêt: final sail adjustments
