The double-handed crews racing in the Imoca class arrived in Puerto Limon at the end of what was one of the toughest Transat Jacques Vabre races ever, according to the competitors themselves. This year’s race highlighted the growing homogeneity of the IMOCA fleet. It is going to be increasingly difficult to stand out from the others as they approach the big event of 2012.
Out of the thirteen IMOCA boats that set sail in the Transat Jacques Vabre, four boats were forced to retire from the fleet for various reasons. In chronological order, firstly there was Arnaud Boissières’s Akena Vérandas, one of the most tried and tested of all the boats in the fleet, which was dismasted. Then, DCNS decided to retire after a complete power black-out, which prevented Marc Thiercelin and Luc Alphand from continuing to sail in normal conditions. As for PRB, she suffered structural damage with a crack appearing in one of the bulkheads. Finally, it now seems to have been proven that Cheminées Poujoulat was a victim of an encounter with a UFO after experts were able to analyse the hole in the boat’s hull. In the end, taking into account the pounding suffered by the men and their boats, four retirals is not really that many.
Boats getting faster and faster
Designers and builders agree. The ability of the boats to accelerate and the incredible pace of today’s races have imposed additional constraints in terms of the solidity and reliability of the structures. Guillaume Verdier, who was present to celebrate Jean-Pierre Dick and Jérémie Beyou’s win aboard Virbac-Paprec 3 (in addition to Actual’s victory in the Multi 50 class) accepted that too. The security norms in place eight years ago are now totally obsolete considering the strains imposed on the hulls. It is up to designers now to find the most suitable solutions, while respecting the will of the racers to ensure weight savings and to make the boats as light as possible.
In the end, the difference in speed between boats from the latest generation and the IMOCA boats built for the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe, but which have been worked on since, remains small. We could see in some points of sail, such as reaching, a clear advantage fore the newer boats like Virbac-Paprec 3, MACIF, Banque Populaire and Cheminées Poujoulat. But older boats like PRB, Safran and Groupe Bel seemed to be more at ease in other points of sail. The podium proves this with boats from both generations finishing one after the other.
The deciding factor
In the end, this Transat Jacques Vabre came down to a choice of route. During the first week, the fleet encountered a series of low-pressure areas with fronts and wind shifts to deal with. The choice of route was fairly limited and the difference was down to the timing of the changes of tack behind the fronts. But there was nothing that would determine the final outcome before the end of the first week of racing. It was as they approached the final low-pressure area, which was forecast to be the deepest that the fleet headed in different directions. While the majority opted for the south to get away from the worst of the heavy weather, which also implied picking up the trade winds after crossing through a ridge of high pressure, three crews took their chance on the northern route. Virbac-Paprec 3 led the way with Hugo Boss in her wake and the surprising Bureau Vallée, sailed by two newcomers to the world of 60-foot racing, the brothers, Louis and Nelson Burton. Meanwhile, those that had headed south found themselves stuck in the ridge of high pressure, which stretched right out blocking their way and leaving some boats like Safran, as prisoners for more than 36 hours. From that moment, it was all over and the Southerners could no longer hope to do better than grab third place.
Confirmed successes and discoveries
Some were seen as the favourites and did not disappoint. Jean-Pierre Dick and Jérémie Beyou were the clear winners in this 2011 race after leading the fleet for eleven days. Armel Le Cléac’h, sailing with Christopher Pratt soon got to grips with his new Banque Populaire. Alex Thomson with Guillermo Altadill brought an end to two years of disappointing results.
Some crews also confirmed that they are a force to be reckoned with. Kito de Pavant and Yann Régniau, after finding themselves at the rear of the fleet as they left the ridge of high pressure showed that the work that had been done on Groupe Bel enabled her to be up there with the very latest constructions. The same goes for Safran, aboard which Marc Guillemot sailing with Yann Eliès, was forced to rely on his autopilot after damage to the steering system to complete the race. In the end, Marc was able to express his satisfaction with the quality of the work done during the winter on his autopilots.
Finally, this Transat Jacques Vabre allowed us to discover some newcomers, like the Burton brothers, who sailed their Bureau Vallée (Jérémie Beyou’s former Delta Dore) with courage, even if they suffered from their loss of energy towards the end of the race. Finishing in fourth place in this race, François Gabart, sailing this time with Sébastien Col aboard MACIF, has shown himself to be one of the serious outsiders. For a long time, the pair battled it out for third place with Banque Populaire, and only dropped back as they approached the finish after sailing for four days without any energy; it was simply with a portable GPS that they could identify where they were. For everything else, they sailed as in the olden days and ended up less than two hours away from a place on the podium. In other words, we certainly need to keep an eye on François Gabart, who will be a serious contender in the next Vendée Globe.
