© Jean Louis Carli / Alea
© Jean Louis Carli / Alea
Fuente info TJV
Ultimes won by Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
23 November 2021 – 18h23
Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier have won the Ultime class title of the 15th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre aboard Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. Going into the race as favourites, they regained their lead on 9th November and never let it go – they led for 98% of the race.
The French pair took 16 days 1 hour 49 minutes and 16 seconds to cover the 7,500 theoretical miles from Le Havre at an average speed of 20.51 knots. In reality, they covered 9,262.13 miles at 24.01 knots.
The hugely experienced Cammas and Caudrelier crossed the line in Martinique today just after 10.16am (15:16 and 16 seconds CET) on a boat they have raced and tested many times.
Franck Cammas said, “We didn’t make many mistakes, the boat behaved well. We’ve been racing hard for 17 days and we’ve arrived with a boat that’s 100% up to scratch. In relation to the competition, we didn’t know what it would be like and our confidence has grown day by day. Yesterday we had a bit of stress, with a complicated weather situation for us. We fell into a windless zone and behind the boats behind us were able to gain 200 miles in 12 hours so we started to get scared. In the end, they had the same problem as us much later.”
The main thing for me is to still have one more win than Charles! [Laughs; Franck now has four wins, Charles three, in the Transat Jacques Vabre, editor’s note] It’s true, this race that suits us well.”
Charles Caudrelier, “We’re arriving in good shape. We were scared once, because we had an engine failure which meant we had no energy left. We looked to stop in Cape Verde, but in the end we managed to fix it. We weren’t at 100% of the boat’s potential all the time, but not far off. We have to congratulate our weather routers on shore, because it wasn’t always easy for them, they did a really good job. It’s the first time I’ve seen Franck spend so little time at the chart table to comment on their choices.”
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Ocean fifty podium complete
23 November 2021 – 07h42
Primonial has taken line honours and the Ocean Fifty multihull title in the 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre race. French pair Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben crossed the line in Martinique ahead of Koesio in second. Britain’s Sam Goodchild was third aboard Leyton.
Primonial took 15 days 13 hours 27 minutes and 14 seconds to cover the 5,800 theoretical miles from Le Havre to Martinique in the West Indies, averaging a speed of 15.4 knots. They actually covered 6,536.56 real miles at 17.50 knots.
Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben crossed the finish line in the dark of night, under a full moon and drenched by light rain to claim the Ocean Fifty title – the first of 150 boats still racing to cross the line near Martinique’s legendary Diamond rock.
Talking amidst the celebrations on board, Matthieu Souben told us, “We’re very emotional right now. We didn’t expect it to be easy, we said before the start that there were no favourites. It’s a really great race but it has been hard because it has been long, longer than expected. It has required a lot of commitment, the chess game on the water started early. We gave it our all and are totally exhausted now.”
Koesio second
2 hours 27 minutes and 58 seconds later Koesio crossed the line in second place. Co-skippers Erwan Le Roux and Xavier Macaire took 15 days 15 hours 55 minutes and 12 seconds to cover the race distance.
Le Roux said, “To have a good regatta, you need good competitors and I think with the whole class it has been very close. There were no big gaps and the racing was intense. This second place suits us perfectly.”
Leyton third
The only non-French sailor in the Ocean Fifty class took third place, 3 hours 48 minutes and 29 seconds behind the winner. Britain’s Sam Goodchild and co-skipper Aymeric Chappellier on their boat Leyton took 15 days 17 hours 15 minutes and 43 seconds to cover the course.
Straight after crossing the line Goodchild told us, “It was our first transatlantic race on this type of boat. These are extraordinary boats that can go very fast, so you have to be careful. We learned a lot about the boat and ourselves.”
The winner of the Utlime class is expected in a few hours. We’ll bring you regular updates through the day as the boats approach Martinique.
