T-15: Class40 sailors enter the final stretch

While some teams are already well into their preparation, others still have plenty to get through. This is particularly true for Aina Bauza – 161 Aina Bauza Ocean Racing – Fondation Alice Milliat, who only took delivery of her boat a month and a half ago. She knows the boat well, however, having raced it double-handed in the Round Ireland Race. Since then, she has had to complete her qualification and reconfigure her Mach 40.4 for solo sailing.

^{Aina Bauza: “It’s been pretty intense!”}

The past month and a half has therefore been anything but quiet for the Spanish sailor, who is based in Lorient. “We’ve been very busy recently, both technically with the boat and with structuring the project, looking for sponsors and dealing with media requests. It’s been pretty intense!”

The next two weeks will be just as busy, although Aina knows she won’t have time to do everything. The programme includes media work, including a photo and video shoot, a few training sails and training sessions, particularly on weather, before heading to Saint-Malo.

“Unfortunately, I won’t have time to do the offshore training sessions with the Lorient group, but I’m taking part in the training sessions, particularly the weather ones. My main goal is to finish. Taking part in this race is already a dream coming true.”

Mathieu Claveau gets the final details sorted in Saint-Malo

For Mathieu Claveau (142 – Phare40), preparations started a little earlier. The skipper decided to sail his Verdier-designed boat up from the Mediterranean to Saint-Malo back in July, with one thing in mind: getting ahead of schedule and leaving himself some time with his family in August. “I wanted to leave early and have some time with my family in August. The boat has sailed a lot this year, so we had quite a bit of work to do, a big job list, but we’re getting there!”

Back in Saint-Malo next week, Mathieu will focus on finishing the final preparations before the race village opens, with provisioning high on the list. He would also like to get one last training sail in, although time is starting to become tight.

And this Route du Rhum has a particular twist for him: for the first time in 15 years, he is preparing to cross the Atlantic on a boat that is not his own. “It creates a few extra little stresses! On my own boat, I know exactly where everything is and where my supplies are. Here, because the boat is often emptied out, it means I have to think of absolutely everything, from A to Z – toothpicks, computer cables and so on… I need to make sure everything is on board.”

Medication, digital tools to monitor sleep, weather and data analysis: the preparation now comes down to the smallest details.

“That’s kept me pretty busy over the past few weeks. But yes, I feel ready!”

In Le Havre, the final training miles

A few hundred kilometres away, the Le Havre group is also entering the final phase of its preparation. Guillaume Pirouelle, Théa Khelif and Thimoté Polet have already completed two weeks of training in early September and will be back on the water this week, joined in recent weeks by Alexis Loison and Ulysse Pozzoli.

For Cédric Château, who is working with the group, the goal is now clear: carry out the final checks in full Route du Rhum configuration. “We already had two weeks of training in early September, and we’re heading back out on the water again this week, in full Route du Rhum configuration. This will be our final training block before the delivery trip to Saint-Malo. We’ll do a short 24-hour offshore to carry out the final checks in race configuration.”

All the equipment is now on board, which inevitably has an impact on the boats’ behaviour. The final offshore will also provide an opportunity to shoot the photo and video content needed for the race.

After an intense September, the Le Havre group is happy with the work completed so far. “We’re really happy with this training block and we’ve covered a lot of things… Now we’ll have to see whether the others have prepared as well as we have. We’ll find out on 1 November!”

One thing is certain: nobody is underestimating the challenge ahead. “Everyone is fully committed and wants to do well. It’s obviously a major challenge. Crossing the Atlantic is never something to take lightly, especially solo, and it will be a first for everyone.”

In La Trinité-sur-Mer, working on the details that could make the difference

In La Trinité-sur-Mer, at Orlabay, sailing volumes have also been high since the start of September. For coach Daniel Souben, this final phase of preparation is all about the details.

The teams have been working on starts in tidal conditions similar to those expected on the day of the Route du Rhum start, allowing them to build up reference points all the way out through the English Channel. They have also completed a series of 24-hour offshore sails, focusing on sleep management, night sailing and those particular moments when the light changes and familiar reference points suddenly look very different.

“We’ve been working on sleep and night sailing, but also on the blue hour, that period between day and night when all your reference points change.”

The new sails have also been tested and fine-tuned, while solo manoeuvres remain a key part of every training session. “It’s important to feel comfortable with these manoeuvres, especially as they’ll have to do quite a few of them to get out of the Channel. The more comfortable and ‘automatic’ the manoeuvres become, the more able you are to take advantage of small shifts in the wind. That’s essential when you know that the sailor who can make the most of every little wind shift is the one who can make the difference.”

With just over two weeks to go, the programmes may differ, but the approach is the same everywhere: repeat, check, fine-tune… and then head for Saint-Malo. For the Class40 fleet, the final stretch is well and truly underway.