In the heat of the Azores night, Italians Luca Rosetti and Mattéo Sericano crossed the finish line at the head of the first leg of the Les Sables - Horta - Les Sables race, at 00h10 and 32 seconds local time. They completed the 1,270-mile leg in 4d 14h 10min 32, setting a new reference time for the outward leg. They are closely followed by Spain's Pep Costa and Pablo Santurde aboard VSF Sport, while Fabien Delahaye and Pierre Leboucher (Legallais) round off this very international podium.
For Luca and Mattéo, this victory is a real coup. Their boat, Maccaferri Futura, is the latest addition to the Class40 fleet, launched only a few months ago. On board, they achieved impressive speeds, covering up to 409 miles - almost a third of the course - in just 24 hours. But beyond sheer speed, they also showed great tactical agility. Their southerly route, described by Mattéo as an “attack option”, paid off as they approached Horta. With less than 20 miles to go, they managed to gain the upper hand.
Luca Rosetti / Mattéo Sericano (Maccaferri Futura)
"We're happy with the whole race. We haven't sailed much on this boat, it's brand new. It was important to get to know the boat. It's our first real race with this boat. We're really happy with the whole stage and the choices we made. There were a few complicated moments. We battled with the others until we chose a southerly option. At the time, we didn't know if it would pay off. Yesterday, I put our choice back on the table and suggested we speed back towards the fleet, but Mattéo stayed the course and he was right. On this leg, we had some amazing conditions because it was really fast and windy."
Mattéo: "It's a success because we've kept the best of what we've done together. We were there to win. Never say never, especially with a new boat."
Pep Costa / Pablo Santurde (VSF Sports)
"We're happy with the end of the race and the whole race in general. We were happy to be third and we're even happier to take second place. We know that night finishes here are complicated. We had to be opportunistic. We knew we could do it. We were well prepared, the pairing works well and the boat is great. We knew we could be competitive, especially double-handed. We just have to keep working and do our best. In any case, I'm very happy with what we did with Pablo. It was a great opportunity to sail fast on these boats. It's very committed. We didn't expect to go so fast."
Fabien Delahaye / Pierre Leboucher (Legallais)
"The last few miles were really complicated. You know that anything can still happen, and that's what happened to us: we lost second place right at the end. But it was a great race. Rich in lessons, intense, and we're happy with this podium. We're taking it as a stage in its own right, and we're really moving forward one thing at a time. Six hours ago, we still didn't know if we were going to be in the lead or not. For two days, we'd been wondering whether the Italians were going to succeed with their outside option, and finally it came down to a mile. It was a very close, exciting race. As there wasn't much wind, the fleet remained dense from start to finish. We had boats less than three miles away almost all the time, so it was intense. We had a great race. We arrived at Cape Finisterre with a good lead, and managed to get back into the right pack on the way out. The night transitions were particularly tricky, as we were sailing a bit blind at times like that."
Guillaume Pirouelle / Alexis Loison (Seafrigo – Sogestran)
"It was tight right to the end. It wasn't easy to choose where to finish, but that's the way it is. It didn't go well for us, but we still sailed well. We believed it this morning, but that's the way it is. We're among the leaders on this leg. This morning, we were in the lead, but the danger was that they were attacking from all sides. It was complicated to choose, and we saw some smart guys on the outside of the bend. It's the first time we've been here, so we're discovering things. We had great conditions, always downwind. We clocked up 412 miles in 24h00, which just goes to show how fast we are. We gave it our all, but we didn't come out of it exhausted. The boats are going fast, which is great.
Guillaume L’hostis / Antoine Le Manchec (Alternative Sailing – Constructions du Belon)
"The last day was cool. The landing conditions were pleasant compared to what we had two days ago, which were wetter. It's the second time we've finished in 5th place. When you see the big guns and the old hands up front, it's not bad. We had a good crowd in sight from start to finish. We're happy with 5th place. We had a few setbacks at the start. We burst the big spinnaker at the start of the race and that really penalized us. But we managed to limit the damage. The conditions were incredible, the boats are fantastic and the pairing is validated. We had a lot of fun!
Source: LSOVCL / Mathieu Honoré
leg 1 ranking: Les Sables - Horta (leg 1) - Class40
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