After a 24-hour sail, which began on Friday, September 23, 2016, the Imoca boats entered in the Azimut Challenge set sail for the Tour de l'île de Groix this Sunday, September 25. Of the 12 boats entered in the first race, 11 crews left at 1:14 pm on the Azimut âeuros Tour de l'île de Groix. The goal of all: to beat the record of 1 h 8 min 10 s set last year by Vincent Riou on his PRB.
On Sunday morning, the crews embarked from Lorient La Base to race all day off Groix. From 11:30 am, the skippers accompanied by members of their technical teams, journalists and partners embarked on a 1 mile course between Pen Men and the Pointe du Talud for a series of runs.
The principle is simple, everyone can run at will and try to gain precious seconds on this format of race disputed as a sprint. This warm-up run preceded the departure of the Azimut âeuros Tour Chrono from the island of Groix for a 20 miles circumnavigation.
On the starting line, Thomas Ruyant (Le Souffle du Nord) took the lead, closely followed by Tanguy de Lamotte (Initiative CÅur). And finally, it was Paul Meilhat and his crew on SMA âeuros Imoca of old generation and already 4 e of the 24 h âeuros, who won this race just ahead of PRB. The latter got caught on the radar during the final tack, allowing SMA to take the lead.
In spite of everything, PRB keeps its reference time of 1 h 8 min and 10 s set last year.
"These are extraordinary boats! I had already had the chance to sail an Imoca, but without "moustaches "âeuros¦ I must admit that this is another step up, it's still as wet, it goes very fast! What is impressive is that the bow is less and less in the water, I did not expect that. It goes fast! It was really magical, it was a real pleasure and a great opportunity to sail on a boat like this explains Nadine, guest on board the Imoca Edmond de Rothschild.
The ranking of the Chrono Azimut - Tour de l'île de Groix
1 / SMA âeuros Paul Meilhat / 1 hr 32'41
2 / PRB âeuros Vincent Riou / 1 h 33'07"
3 / SAFRAN âeuros Morgan Lagravière / 1 h 34'30"
4 / Edmond de Rothschild - Sébastien Josse / 1 h 36'17"
5 / Master CoQ âeuros Jérémie Beyou / 1 h 36'32"
6 / Le Souffle du Nord âeuros Thomas Ruyant / 1 h 43'50"
7 / Initiatives CÅur âeuros Tanguy de Lamotte / 1 h 44'22"
8 / MACSF âeuros Bertrand de Broc / 1 h 47'33"
9 / 100% Natural Energy âeuros Conrad Colman / 1 h 52'41"
10 / Vallée âeuros office Louis Burton / 1 h 53'50"
