Vendée Globe

Some of the yachtsmen signed up for the Vendée Globe are taking some time off this week, as eight of them have been invited to the Brest 2008 maritime festival. The 60-foot Imoca boats will thus be alongside the pride of Europe’s shipping heritage. In a wonderful mixture, racing machines will be zooming alongside gigs and longboats, brushing alongside schooners and three-masted barks…. Meanwhile, others are busy carrying out the final modifications with the Vendée Globe in mind.

PRB being worked on in Halifax
Vincent Riou’s orange monohull has been towed into harbour in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia. The Canadian port offers all the infrastructures that are required to carry out the major work that Vincent and his team have been planning. That is to say, the replacement of the keel on PRB, damaged following a collision with a basking shark, when he was racing in the Transat.

SAFRAN reveals her bottom
Time for Marc Guillemot’s 60-foot to undergo a major refit, as all of the appendages are going to be modified in order to fine-tune SAFRAN to improve her performance. The keel, rudders and daggerboards are going to be changed after examining the results of the 2007-2008 season. An important refit that will oblige Marc to carry out another 1500-mile qualifying passage to approve his modifications.

Eight 60-foot boats at Brest 2008
We will not say that the large monohulls have become the stars of the festival, as that would not be nice for the venerable old sailing vessels, which have aged over the years and remain at the heart of Brest 2008. However, the fine silhouettes of the 60-foot IMOCA boats have nothing to be ashamed of when they join in the ballet of movements of the traditional square rigs, the billowing sails and staysails on booms. Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), Arnaud Boissières (Akena vérandas), Armel le Cléac’h(Brit Air), Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia), Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux), Roland Jourdain (Véolia), Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore) and Marc Thiercelin (DCNS) have all taken advantage of the occasion to come and meet the public, sail with their partners on board the boats and enjoy a chat around a few glasses of wine at the event village…

Cervin enR setting sail this Sunday on the Transat Quebec Saint-Malo
Yannick Bestaven is continuing to build up the miles on board his monohull. Yves Parlier’s former Aquitaine Innovations has undergone a dramatic slimming programme. The boat is now in Vendée Globe mode, that is to say, she has complete autonomy for her power supply: solar panels, wind turbines and other devices should allow Yannick Bestaven to do without his engine to obtain power. This represents a weight gain at the start of almost 500 kg. His participation in the Transat Quebec Saint-Malo will be an opportunity to test the efficiency of his system for real.

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