“It’s not the quantity that produces quality. The standard is pretty much the same throughout our group with winning boats and winning sailors… and future winners.” That is how Thibaut Vauchel-Camus and Quentin Vlamynck, who are among the most experienced sailors in the Ocean Fifty class, summed things up. We take a look today at the line-up in a fleet where there are some new faces and older boats – a mixture of experience and youth.
There are the newcomers to the world of multihulls, like the Figaro racer Pierre Quiroga (Viabilis) and Luke Berry (Le Rire Médecin – Lamotte) who has come from Class40. Then, there are those who have been here for a while like Sébastien Rogues (Primonial), the title-holder, who will be at the helm of a boat that has just been launched, so it is hard to make any predictions in this class. The thought on the pontoon is that “this is a very balanced line-up.”
That is in any case Pierre Quiroga’s opinion. After his win in the 2021 Solitaire du Figaro, he had no fears about stepping up into this class away from his comfort zone and is among the newcomers in this demanding circuit. “Each pair has their strengths and weaknesses. Anyone may win the race, which makes it fascinating,” added the youngest multihull competitor in this transatlantic race. He will be relying on the precious advice of his router, Dominic Vittet, with whom he is very close.
It is a similar case with Solidaires en Peloton, skippered by Thibaut Vauchel-Camus and Quentin Vlamynck, according to whom, ”Everyone is in with a chance of winning or finishing last, when you take into account the risks inherent in a mechanical sport, the weather opportunities and the commitment shown by all of us.” This pair is however seen by many as the favourite with their 3-year old boat, although many mention the pair on Koesio as the favourites too. There is the huge amount of experience acquired byErwan Le Roux, three times winner of the Coffee Race in this class. He certainly aims to win with the help of his co-skipper, the promising Audrey Ogereau.
As for the boats, we should mention two older trimarans that are back again with reliability as their strength. That is the case with Luke Berry, who is alongside Antoine Joubert, a discreet sailor, but a skilled specialist in multihulls with whom he hopes to get the most out of this boat from 2009 that won the race in 2021 in Martinique. “We’re a new crew aboard the oldest boat in the fleet, but which isn’t doing too badly. We started to sail and settle in almost a year ago. We have clocked up practically 10,000 miles in a lot of different conditions, including some strong winds. In the Fastnet in the summer, we felt a lot of stress with that,” said the pair who are about to experience their baptism of fire in the Coffee Race.
TWO BRAND NEW BOATS ABOUT TO TACKLE THE ATLANTIC LOWS
Everyone is well aware of the conditions that are forecast for the first part of the race and for the new boats, this is an important question. That is the case for Réalités, Fabrice Cahierc’s brand new boat. He has chosen Aymeric Chapellier to join him. The latter has already taken part four times, including once on an Ocean Fifty, when he took third place. This experienced sailor will trying to preserve the VPLP designed boat that was only launched last summer.
This is not going to be an easy task, as we were told by Sébastien Rogues, the skipper of the brand new Primonial, designed by Romaric Neyhousser. “We haven’t yet sailed in such strong conditions before handing over to the shore crew. It’s true that we are setting off into the unknown, but this is a very classic situation with a series of low-pressure systems. The important thing will be avoiding any damage. Breakage cannot happen in the first 24-48 hours, especially as after the start, there is another deep low moving in. The fast track will soon be shut off. We are going to have to be cautious sailors, particularly as this is a new boat.” TheOcean Fifty title-holder is joined by Jean-Baptiste Gellée, whom he chose because of “the human factor, which contributes a lot to performance.” The pair is also relying on a team of routers, including Matthieu Souben, alongside whom Sébastien Rogues achieved his great victory in 2021
