Hello, my name is Charles-Louis Mourruau. I am the skipper of Class40 number 101 with which I participated in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. I'm going to tell you a little story about the second night of the Jacques Vabre 2019 in which I unfortunately dismasted. But the second night after Cape La Hague, we passed in front of Cherbourg.
The wind's up. We were downwind under spinnaker, we were under medium spinnaker. It's the best feeling you can have on a sailboat, the boat is moving at 20 knots, open tomb. We're at the helm trying to negotiate the waves, trying to surf. It's an absolutely incredible feeling. Plus, the night at sea is something absolutely fantastic.
There were a few small lights in the distance from the coast, a few lights from the competitors around us (plus we were in the lead pack), and had the stars above us, shooting stars. A rather rough sea, but which was perfectly in line, which allowed us to surf very hard and very fast. The current went with us. It was one of the most magical moments I've ever experienced at sea. We were moving along at 20 knots, effortlessly. The boat was jumping from wave to wave. It was behaving very nicely and talking to us very nicely.
It lasted all night until we cracked the medium spinnaker in the morning by going a little too hard. That night was one of the best sailing memories I've ever had.
