FR
EN
The win:
Armel: “It’s a huge pleasure to win with this boat. We had been waiting for a major win for a long time with Banque Populaire. Two tears ago, this was her maiden race. Last year, we had a difficult Route du Rhum, where we had to turn back and refit a daggerboard… This year we have benefitted from all the hard work. All of the details we have worked on with the team to fine tune her ending up showing she was capable of high speeds, extremely high speeds. The fortnight went very quickly with Sébastien.”
Sébastien: “There is the pleasure of a job well done. I’ve been sailing with Armel for two years. This race wasn’t simple. We had to work hard. The way out of the Channel was rough and the Bay of Biscay. Then, there was the moment when François and Tom caught up again at Ascension Island. I think we are both pleased with the work. It looks very promising for what lies ahead.”
Armel: “At the start, we said that the Transat Jacques Vabre wasn’t a preparatory race. We weren’t here to test the boat, but to win. It was one to tick off on the calendar. Winning wasn’t easy, as there was a real contest. We kept hard at it all the way. We didn’t ease off on the boat with some high average speeds to the end. To win with these boats, you have to push them to their limits. We are probably the crew that sailed the most this year with a similar course in May and that paid off today.”
The pair:
Armel: “We really enjoyed ourselves for 14 days. I laughed a lot with Sébastien. There was a great atmosphere. We know each other and never got fed up. Even when François and Tom went by us at Ascension Island. When you are alone, it’s harder to laugh and harder to express one’s feelings. Sébastien, alongside his racing, trimming and sailing talents, is a great bloke and funny.”
Sébastien: “It’s easier to laugh when things are going well and you’re in front. When the pressure is on, I try to tell a joke, but I’m never sure it will go down well.”
Armel: “I’m pleased we won together. I said to Sébastien that in two years, if he wants to come back, I’m OK with that.”
Marcel (Van Triest, leur routeur):
Armel: “This is a victory that involves three people. We need to sail quickly, but also in the right direction and Marcel does that well. It was him that came up with the option off Madeira. We took a look at it and said we’d give it a go. It wasn’t easy leaving the other competitors go their own way. You need to be patient, as to begin with, you lose ground. That was a key moment in the race, as that’s where we grabbed the lead and got ahead. After that there was a lay-line for 3000 miles. It’s something I have done lots of times sailing around the world and in races in the Southern Ocean. It’s hard to get it just right over such a distance with your entry point in the Doldrums. If you go too far, you end up sailing more miles, and if you go for it too soon, you have to gybe, which is what the others were forced to do. I have known Marcel for a long time, since I started with Banque Populaire. It’s great to have someone in this role that you can entirely trust.”
Downwind speed:
Armel: “We won’t tell you what, but we found some interesting things! There are so many parameters to deal with on these boats that it takes time to get to know them and progress. On a long tack like we had between Madeira and the Doldrums, you have time to test things. We took some notes there and reapplied them after Ascension Island. Banque Populaire XI is a boat for sailing around the world. She was designed for strong winds and under 15 knots, SVR Lazartigue is faster…”
Sébastien: “We discovered a lot during the race. It wasn’t as easy early on in the season. There are still plenty of things to discover. The boat is reliable and so now we can push her and try new things. High-speed boats don’t react in the same way all the time. It depends on the wave angle. When you are racing, you try to get the same trimming on each tack. On an ULTIM you give that a miss and accept that it is different. Averaging 40 knots used to scare us in the beginning. Now we don’t hesitate. 42, 43, … The boats are built for that and you get used to it. In the end, if you’re not doing 40 knots, it’s because you haven’t trimmed correctly. This afternoon the boat was really flying. We went outside and had a look. It was magnificent. We were doing 37/38 knots and not stressed. After 14 days of sailing, you are used to such speeds, the noise and the lack of comfort that goes with that.”
The start and the finish:
Armel: The start was Hell. It’s been a while since I have had a start like that with 30-35 knots of wind. We had 45 knots off Cherbourg and the boat coped well as did the others in fact, so it was a great contest. It showed us the sort of race we would have for the next two weeks. At the end, the trade winds were nice and we finished speeding along at 35 knots. The whole race was fast and on these boats, we were flying. We went through all of the points of sail. There was something for everyone. We sailed almost 10,000 miles, which represents about a third of a round the world voyage. It all goes so fast with these boats. She could sail back to Lorient tomorrow with no problem. The boat is at her peak with so much work done, so we were able to get the most out of her.”
