Starting from Pointe-à-Pitre on 23 March 2019, Roche's Aymeric Chappellier and his teammates - Eric Quesnel and Rodrigue Cabaz - won the first stage of the Atlantic Challenge on 2 April. On their Class40 Aïna Enfance et Avenir, the three men held the reins throughout its 2230 miles to Horta. They are followed a smooth route: climb to 40 degrees north latitude before turning right and heading due east towards the Atlantic Archipelago.
For the last 400 miles, the crew had to deal with a wind of over 30 knots and rough, crossed seas. With probably more than 10 hours advantage on his direct pursuer - Earendil, skippered by Catherine Pourre and his three Franco-Italian crew, Aymeric Chappellier takes a comfortable lead for the 2nd stage between Horta and La Rochelle which will start on Monday April 8.
"A great race for this first stage. We still have to win the second one. We knew the front was coming after five days. We had to attack in the tempo, impose a steady pace to widen a gap from the start before the front arrived. We had to get into position.
The strategy was clear, but the right placement was not easy to find, with contradictory files. We refined on a case-by-case basis without taking routing literally. We had to find the right trajectory. The front slowed us down a bit, 3 hours, and Catherine (Pourre) passed very quickly too.
I wasn't worried, because I knew we were going to dig again. The first part of the reaching was muscular, fast, but very wet. A three-way trip on a Mach 40 is a bit of a war. You have to find your place. Rodrigue and Eric have always been present, with bite. We have our automatisms, we have created our own little universe and we will keep it for the second stage. We have a small mattress on the rest of the fleet. Nothing is done. Horta is one of my favorite destinations that suits me quite well. We had an incredible show with a whale and its calf. We're a little tired, but everything will be fine after a good night's sleep said Aymeric Chappellier.
