From the start, Ian Lipinski and his coskipper Adrien Hardy had chosen a very northerly course, keeping them well away from the rest of the fleet. But after a southerly tack, the sailors of the Class40 Crédit Mutuel quickly melted to the south, going so far as to place themselves in first position. A first place that they have kept for several days.
On Tuesday 5th November, thanks to favourable weather conditions, they managed to beat the Class40 speed record with 415 miles swallowed up in 24 h?! That is an average speed of 17.29 n?uds?! It's a discount on Crédit Mutuel. The last record set in 2017 was that of Maxime Sorel, who had covered 377.7 miles in 24 hours. The duo is therefore improving this record by more than 37 miles.
"That's enough vite?! We're even a little anxious for it to slow down, but we're really happy. The boat is moving on its own, we found the right sail... We move on all fours, it moves a lot, we try not to hurt ourselves. It's a little wet on deck, but I don't think it has anything to do with the guys in the back. Everyone is steering only one hour a day, this is the first time in a long time that we have been steering..." explained Ian Lipinski, skipper of Class40 Crédit Mutuel, at this morning's session race.
Breschi
On Wednesday 6th November, Ian and Adrien have a lead of over 80 miles over their direct pursuer, Leyton (Delahaye/Goodchild) and are preparing to overtake the Cape Verde archipelago. Competitors are still benefiting from a steady trade wind flow of over 20 knots, allowing them to flirt with average speeds of over 15 knots. At this rate, they should enter the famous Doldrums next night. This is likely to bring the fleet much closer together.
"I am quite satisfied with the pace they set for the race and very happy that they had no technical problems. We are still in the process of discovering the boat's potential and it must be said that their speeds have been quite impressive over the past three days. The boat is obviously versatile: it is a success in itself. The ergonomics also looks very good considering the smiles of its pilotes?! And that's a great asset performance?!" says Sébastien Picault, Technical Director.
After the project launched a year ago, Ian had only launched his boat a few months before the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre. Everything went very quickly and the development of this prototype was done in accelerated mode. Yet, so far, " all indicators are green" smiles David Raison, the architect of this Max40.
Breschi
" I quickly felt that this boat was born well, both in terms of behaviour and performance. But it was quite a challenge... Being at the start with a boat ready was already a victory, their start is excellent. They sail extremely well, their trajectory is really clean Even upwind (speed against the wind and swell where boats generally tend to hit in each wave, editor's note), the boat is quite comfortable. He has great potential in the medium and breezes it. When Ian and Adrien crossed again with the other competitors, we could see that the performances with the other recent boats were close. And, for the past three days, since they've been at downwind speeds, it's been a bit bungee shaped, but overall, they're faster. I'm not really worried about the Doldrums, the boat is versatile and comfortable in transitions. We'll have to pay attention to the Swiss crew, they're fast."
