Class40
World Tour
RDR 2022 selection
  • 1
    Sogestran Seafrigo (FRA 197)
    Sogestran Seafrigo (FRA 197)
    G. Pirouelle
  • 2
    Sign for Com (GER 189)
    Sign for Com (GER 189)
    M. Fink
  • 3
    TQuila (IRL 159)
    TQuila (IRL 159)
    A. Richardson
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News

Défi Atlantique, a solid podium in Horta !

© Pierrick Garenne / GPO
© Pierrick Garenne / GPO

Last night saw the podium of the first leg of the Atlantic Challenge arrive in Horta, 2,300 miles of racing between Pointe à Pitre and Horta, on the island of Faial in the Azores. In the space of just over 5 hours, Ian Lipinski's Crédit Mutuel, Ambrogio Beccaria's Alla Grande-Pirelli and Alberto Bona's IBSA have climbed to the top of the provisional general ranking. They leave the game still wide open for the final victory in La Rochelle. Behind them, alas, the wind has lowered the climatic barrier of the eponymous anticyclone in the Portuguese archipelago. Axel Tréhin and his Project Rescue Ocean had to pay the price for the wind disappearing 20 miles from the finish. Fatal Faial! After a superb race, he suffered a cruel fate which probably deprived him of any place in the final ranking. In the light airs that have taken up residence on the archipelago, three other Class40s, Curium Life forward by Marc Lepesqueux, Everial by Erwan Le Draoulec and Tquila by the Englishmen Brian Thomsson and Alister Richardson, should in turn come to the pontoons in Horta today.

Three Class40s for the title

Could the first leg of the Atlantic 2023 Challenge already be decisive? The 2,300 miles of racing since Guadeloupe have in any case seriously crushed the fleet of contenders for victory in La Rochelle. The high pressure system, by spreading out over the Portuguese archipelago last night, has annihilated all chances of final success for the immediate pursuers of the leading trio who arrived during the day. Ian Lipinski (Crédit Mutuel), who has a lead of 1 hour and 56 minutes over his runner-up Ambrogio Beccaria (Alla Grande - Pirelli) and 5 hours and 36 minutes over the third-placed Italian crew of Alberto Bona (IBSA), will set off on Sunday with two Azure boats in hot pursuit. There will also be a number of competitors with a vengeance, who may have been beaten for the final victory, but who, like Axel Tréhin (Project Rescue Ocean), will be doing everything in their power to take their revenge on a particularly ungrateful weather spell.

Crédit Mutuel's jackpot, the big "coup" of this first leg.

Ian Lipinski, Antoine Carpentier and Rémi Fermin have undoubtedly pulled off the big hold-up of the first leg, having made a cheeky decision at the edge of the front that was decisive last Saturday for the decisive gybe to the East and the Azores. They were able to hold off the attempts of the two ultra-fast Italian Class40s to the finish and win with a small lead in view of the second leg, which will start at 13:00 local time on Sunday. The story.
Ian Lipinski: "We knew how to bide our time and pulled off a rather rare coup. We were about fifteen miles behind the Italian duo IBSA - Alla Grande - Pirelli, and had been for several days. The wind was strong and we were going fast. The weather became very uncertain, with divergent weather files. It seemed that we had to gain ground in the north, by crossing a front. That's what the routing indicated but behind the front the situation was not clear. We didn't like it because we were riding fast in front of the front. We thought about it for 24 hours. We wanted to attack and we decided to stay in front of the front while our opponents cut it off to the north. So we gained miles all night and when the front finally caught up with us, we were 37 miles ahead.

Source / GPO

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