Despite the forthcoming start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, the great skippers of the Imoca class have not missed out on the fifth edition of this duo event. Thus, we were able to come across Armel Le Cléac'h, Sébastien Josse, Vincent Riou, Tanguy de Lamotte, Jérémie Beyou, Yann Eliès and Bertrand de Broc on the pontoons. In all, 24 top level sailors - including two Vendée Globe winners - took part in the Azimuth Challenge . Thanks to a nice weather, the races were given at the start at the arrival of the Courreaux de Groix.
PRB wins the Azimuth Trophy
The Azimuth Trophy kicked off on Friday 25 September at 1700 hours, one month to the day before the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre. And it was PRB, led by Vincent Riou and Sébastien Col, who won the Azimuth Trophy after just over 17 hours of racing. The two sailors, who were at the head of the race, crossed the finish line wet at 10h, 11mn and 15sec on Saturday 26th September.
Vincent Riou (PRB), 1st : "This race, which started off a little bit badly, ended pretty well. It was intense and nice with some good moves that allowed us to come back, as at Pen Men we were in last place. We had a short regatta with several sections of course and lots of sail changes, lots of different points of sail, lots of tactical choices. It forced us to get a little bit in the red and do a little bit more manoeuvring than on a transatlantic."
In second place on the podium is Maître Coq with Jeremie Beyou and Philippe Legros and in third place, SMA (Paul Meilhat /Michel Desjoyeaux). Less than 7 minutes separate the three boats from the podium.
The Chrono Azimut widely beaten by all the crews
On Sunday, September 27, at 1:08 p.m., the Azimut Challenge fleet set off in a race against time around the island of Groix. After a run session, won by the skippers of SMA, it was finally PRB (Vincent Riou and Sébastien Col) who won. He completed the course in 1 hour, 8 minutes and 10 seconds. Just behind, we find Maître Coq, as in the Azimut Trophy, who finished 46 seconds behind the winners.
All nine crews competing for the Azimut timed run all achieved a better time than the reference time set by PRB in 2011, which was 1 hr 28 min and 41 sec.
"We had a nice crew, and a good match sheet with some good sailors aboard PRB, which made it a lot easier for us. We tried to do things right, simply, and we achieved our goals without any problems. We're really pleased with the way the whole weekend went in Lorient. This Azimut Challenge, the last race before the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, confirms that we're in the thick of things and shows that on slightly complicated courses, we're at ease. It's very different from the Transat, but it's reassuring, it puts a good dynamic into the crew and the whole shore crew who accompany us on a daily basis" said Vincent Riou, upon his arrival.
