- The crew of skipper Xavier Macaire, winner of the Niji40, aboard Groupe SNEF.
- Italian skipper Alberto Riva's Acrobatica trio takes second place, magnified by a speed record.
- Pierre-Louis Attwell's mixed crew (Vogue avec un Crohn), on the third step of the podium.
The crew of Class40 Groupe SNEF crossed the finish line of the Niji40 in first place at 9 hours 06 minutes 28 seconds Paris time on Monday April 22, 2024, in the dead of night in the tropics.
Skipper Xavier Macaire and his two teammates, Pierre Leboucher and Carlos Manera Pascual, with solid consistency at the front, completed the 3,514.82-mile theoretical course (direct route) between Belle-Île-en-Mer and Marie-Galante in Guadeloupe, via Santa Maria in the Azores to starboard, in 14 days 20 hours 06 minutes 28 seconds at an average speed of 9.87 knots. The Franco-Spanish crew covered 4,066.40 nautical miles at 11.42 knots.
A succession of systems and a duel for the lead
The Franco-Spanish crew won the race with panache at the end of the course between Belle-Île-en-Mer and Marie-Galante, where they underlined the technical aspect of the succession of weather systems on a trajectory close to the direct route.
Three lows, a major strategic decision, transition zones and, finally, a duel at the head of a rare intensity in the trade winds to contain the attacks of the crew of Acrobatica, offensive right to the end... The long litany of pitfalls overcome illustrates the quality of the race led by the trio of Groupe SNEF, whose victory bears the glow of a collective success at the highest level of performance. Satisfaction is there at the end of the effort for the three sailors, who also share the immense pleasure of signing together their very first victory in a transatlantic race.
The mark of the Italian-French trio
57 minutes later, it was the turn of the Acrobatica trio, always present at the front of the pack, to cross the finish line that had been so long awaited in its final lengths. Alberto Riva, Jean Marre and Benjamin Schwartz finished second at the end of this transatlantic race, in which they were among the great leaders.
It's hard to forget that the Italian-French crew left their mark on the race, when they made the counters go wild at the end of a low-pressure system, after passing the Azores. At the head of the pack, they took advantage of powerful downwind conditions on calmer seas to maintain staggering average speeds. The result: the Transalpine skipper and his two accomplices covered 433 miles in the space of 24 hours. Never before seen in Class40! Aboard their Italian-designed and built boat (Musa40), they achieved a performance worthy of entry in the World Sailing Speed Record Council's record books.
Chasse-croisé: the hunter becomes the hunted
However, Groupe SNEF's perseverance was not to be underestimated, as in the established downwind conditions, the full power of its Pogo S4, a formidable performer at this speed, was unleashed. After a tug-of-war at the front, Xavier Macaire and his team built up a lead that prevented their tough chasers from making a comeback as they approached the finish.
If the value of a victory is measured by the race of the runner-up, this Niji40 is already living up to its promise. And that's without taking into account the imminent arrivals of the next trio expected this Monday in Saint-Louis Bay. With the trade winds back on the water, Marie-Galante is preparing to vibrate to the rhythm and tone of the stories of the other eight crews in this transatlantic race, which innovates in its three-up format, to give rise to competition at the highest level under the sign of sharing and transmission.
Xavier Macaire: "It was a very technical transatlantic race, with a big low-pressure system right from the start in the Bay of Biscay, followed by the choice of a southerly or northerly route, which seems obvious today, but wasn't necessarily so at the time. We then had a very strong low-pressure system as we passed the Azores, with a gust to 47 knots, and peak speeds of 29 knots (...) Then a small high-pressure system; then once again, a low-pressure system to pass as close as possible to its center, so that we could finally get back into the trade winds... And finally the arrival at Marie-Galante. So it was all very technical, and we had a lot of fun with it. And with our rival, of course, who kept us on our toes and gave us a hard time. Acrobatica, they were really on top. We weren't sure we'd be able to overtake them and stay ahead of them. We gave it our all, and we succeeded. I think we can be very pleased with ourselves."
Alberto Riva: "It was an incredible race. And above all, to start sailing again (Alberto was injured on the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre), that's a big thing for me. I'm very happy to have regained confidence in my boat alongside two super-strong guys, who accompanied me on this race. It was a race that didn't start very well for us, before we took the lead and then lost it. It was a very emotional race. I'm also very happy with the record. We had the right conditions and the boat behaved well on the reach. And I think we can do better. We didn't win, but we did beat the record, which is very satisfying."
Pierre-Louis Attwell : "This podium is something we really wanted. It's true that there was a great sporting programme and some very competitive competitors. We had predicted top 5. We did top 3, so we're delighted. We've had this boat for a year. Maxime works almost full-time on the technical preparation. It's a boat we know really well and which, to be honest, has lived up to all its promises, particularly in the difficult moments, because in the dep, we had some pretty tough moments.
With three people, it's a different format that's also a little original. We've talked about it, meaning that we've had moments when we didn't always agree on strategy. And then, when on top of that, we're in moments of transition that aren't going very well, it's true that it can be a bit complicated on board. But we managed. We didn't kill each other, it all turned out fine. But the fact that there are three of us means you get more opinions, and at the same time, it can sometimes make exchanges a little more complicated. But that was interesting.
Source : Niji40
Classement : Niji 40 - transat Belle-Île Marie-Galante - Class40
Partager sur :
