7.Transat Quebec Saint-Malo 2008 - Oceanracing 2008

7.Transat Quebec Saint-Malo 2008
www.quebecsaintmalo.com - Übersicht

22.07.2008
Tense racing through thick fog...
Amidst the gloom, the fleet of the 7th Transat Quebec Saint Malo is struggling to claw its way out of the Saint Lawrence and make it into its eponymous bay. The only thing that is clear is that they're certainly not out of the woods yet. After 48 hours of racing, in conditions as complicated as they are crazy, the 27 crews are tracing their wake off Gaspésie, bound for the Percé passage mark. Hanging onto its lead the trimaran Crêpes Whaou! skippered by Franck-Yves Escoffier of Saint Malo, is heading the fleet at the price of incessant manœuvres; a hard slog which is causing a certain amount of fatigue amongst the sailors. In their wake the race is still in full swing, particularly in the Class 40 camp where Giovanni Soldini (Télécom Italia) and Halvard Mabire (Pogo Structures) are constantly jockeying for pole position…

Nebel bei Rimouski
Foto: X.Dachez/VIQ

The 50' multis: the Saint Malo fraternity in hot pursuit
They have made it into the Honguedo strait which opens onto the Saint Lawrence bay, the largest estuary in the world, between île d'Anticosti and the banks of the Gaspésie. Though the lively current has calmed, the 50 foot Open trimarans are still battling just as hard as before with the conditions ripe for a switch in the ranking. In an E'ly wind which is continuing to vary in strength and rough waters, the crews in the leading group are sailing in conditions reminiscent of Newfoundland, and are using a whole range of tactical coups in order to reach more oceanic climes. However leader Crêpes Whaou! still has over a hundred miles to go prior to the Percé mark, a compulsory passage point before Saint Pierre et Miquelon. What is more, the captain is refusing the slightest forecast about his arrival at the border between the river and the ocean. Contacted at today's radio session, the sailor/fisherman of Saint-Malo, and loyal participant to the event, is doubling his prudence and vigilance: "On shore there is still a thick fog but the gloom is lifting a little and we can see the summits of the mountains: it's as surreal as it is fabulous. However, if we get too close to the coast, within 3-4 miles, we'll become becalmed. We're tacking in an E'ly wind but the forecast promises to reindex sketchy for a while yet... perhaps until we get to the Atlantic. Percé? That will depend if we come to a grinding halt anywhere as we did last night...”

In addition to the conditions which promise to put the crews to the test once more, Franck-Yves and his crew must also watch out for the ‘young guns' from Laiterie de Saint-Malo, who have made good ground on them over the past few hours. On an option taking them closer to the south bank, Victorien Erussard's crew has gone into overdrive and are now just 12 miles astern of the leader. And that's not to mention the other multihulls, Imagine skippered by Pierre Antoine, author of a great start to the race, and Forget Formation driven by Pascal Quintin. These two are making headway 35 and 44 miles behind the frontrunner respectively. Neck and neck, they have now overtaken the first Class 40s, where the suspense is tangible...

Class 40: ‘Italian-Norman' duel
At the front of the 40 foot monohull fleet, an ‘Italian-Norman' duel is well and truly on between the foursome on Télecom Italia and the trio on Pogo Structures. Cutting their way through the fog, which is spoiling the pleasure of seeing the local Quebec landscape a little, the crews of Giovanni Soldini and Halvard Mabire have pulled out the knives, both thirsty for control of the fleet. At the latest poll the Italians aboard the Verdier design had just snatched a small three mile lead, not far off the south bank. Halvard Mabire is not about to be outdone though: "It feels like the climb up towards the coast of Gaspésie is taking forever and conditions are set to reindex like this as far as Percé. We can't see a thing in the fog: we're not just battling with the Italians, we're battling with everyone. With Mistral Loisirs (Oliver Krauss) and Prévoir Vie (Benoît Parnaudeau), we're all within a stone's throw of each other... It isn't over yet and in fact it hasn't even started! We're only at the beginning of the race.”

Amongst the little monohulls, the top four are still within 7 miles of each other. Novedia Group, which experienced a rather unfortunate grounding on a sandbank in the river, is still bringing up the rear. However, Tanguy De Lamotte and his ‘mini' accomplices now have a 55 mile deficit on the Italian leaders, despite a great start to the race. The route as far as the passage of Saint Pierre et Miquelon is still long however and amidst an atmosphere of coastal racing and persistent fog, anything could happen...

Fico: roll on the ocean!
As regards the larger monohulls, the fog bound river racing is doubling its intensity. This particular exercise is a perilous one and all the crews are erring on the side of caution in order to avoid the traps and obstacles: floating debris, sandbanks, shipping... At the passage of the Rimouski mark at around 1100 UT, the 60 foot monohull Cervin EnR was positioned. Yannick Bestaven and his crew, leaders in the Fico Group, rounded this first point of passage between the leading 40 footers. The coming hours will reveal whether the ocean racer has finally been able to lengthen his stride on the approach to Saint Lawrence bay. The river behind them, it's a new race which is beginning for the largest craft. Ocean Of Smiles (Christophe Bullens) and Port de Québec (Georges Leblanc), are clearly more at ease and have more pace in the vast maritime spaces. Saint Malo Team (Denis Douillez) has racked up a 135 mile deficit in relation to the first multihull and was bringing up the rear at the Rimouski mark, which he rounded this afternoon, Tuesday...

Quotes from the boats (messages received)
Christophe Bullens (An Ocean of Smiles): night-time UFO..."Things are going better now after hitting a UFO on the first night. The structure fixing the keel in place is intact, but the central rib has ripped the starboard and above all the port bonding of the central ballast tanks. We've rigged together a temporary repair with epoxy and carbon/Kevlar and then a special consolidating mastic. The whole thing was left to catalyse for a night before we hoisted more sail this morning. It's still leaking a bit but it seems solid. We've just come across Soldini and we've finally got a bit of ‘visi' after 24 hours of fog. We even have a bit of sun so we'll be able to dry things out a little down below.”

Victorien Erussard (Laiterie de Saint Malo): "After a difficult and laborious start to the race in very light conditions, 25 miles astern of Crêpes Whaou! on the first night, we then hit a medium headwind which enabled us to extract ourselves from the fleet and reduce our deficit on the diabolical red trimaran. We're battling like lions and there's not a moment's hesitation to manoeuvre, change the foresails, and change tack... In short, we're using our youthful physiques against ‘La Crêpe'. In fact we have made up 5 miles on him overnight. It's not much but it's better than the other way round. So here we are at the exit from the river, ready to confront the Saint Lawrence Bay. All's well aboard other than a few electronics issues which mean we're having to sail a little more according to feeling than the majority of the other boats. At the same time though, it is making us even more concentrated. After Rimouski, we're Percé bound! Come on, we can do it!”