Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008 - (Page 44)

TRANSAT 6.50 and saw the mast down in the water, on the leeward side. It didn’t appear to be broken. I went forward and saw that it was the chain plate for the mainstay that had snapped." There were around 1.5 metres of mast on the deck, with the rest in the water. It was raining cats and dogs, with a swell of around 2 metres and the mast was beginning to bang around on the deck. It is 6 h 30. "Now, I’m really in the sh*t." As his mast did not let in any water, Hardy managed to get it back on board. What could he do at 4° north/27° west, 1230 miles from the finish, right in the middle of the Atlantic? There was no way to reach the coast of Brazil or the West Indies under a jury rig: "It would take around a fortnight and I did not have enough supplies for that, nor water on board." It stopped raining, the wind eased off, and the seas calmed. "That was when I said to myself I could try to get my mast back up." After some incredible efforts, Adrien Hardy managed to get his 12-metre long wing mast weighing 50 kg back on to its ball. The skipper of Brossard then had to laminate the chain plate to the bow, sew up the mainsail bolt rope, tidy up the deck and get some rest, before setting sail again only twelve hours after dismasting: « I was exhausted, but really proud of myself. I didn’t want to give up, and was determined to finish with my little boat." In Salvador GREAT VICTORY tiring. The first to ease off " Piveteau did not ease off and Le Diraison could do nothing: "After 14 days sailing neck and neck, I saw Hervé get away in a squall." The next time he saw him was on the pontoons in Salvador. We can also note the fine third place for a foreigner, the Czech sailor, David Krizek (Atlantik ft). 2009 AND 2011: FOUR TOWNS COMPETING Where will the next two editions of the Transat 6.50 take place in 2009 and 2011? After starting four times from La Rochelle, GPO (Grand Pavois Organisation) hopes the board of the Mini Class will entrust them with the race again. It is just that there are three Breton ports vying for the job: Douarnenez has proposed a completely new course between Brittany and French Guiana (there is talk of Kourou) with a stopover in Madeira. The Brest Metropolitan authority is planning on the French West Indies (Guadeloupe) with a stopover in Agadir (Morocco). And finally, A.O.S Lorient has suggested French Guiana and Morocco (Tangiers). According to our information, the final choice is likely to be between La Rochelle and Douarnenez. We shall find out at the Paris Boat Show. ©Y. Zedda/Brossard Adrien Hardy's exploit: remâtage in the full Atlantic Ocean! Adrien’s Herculean task Instead of calming down, the sailor from La Trinité put his foot down: "I had to assert myself as leader, to make it clear. So I kept going all out, as there was still Adrien Hardy". However, on Wednesday 17th October, while in second place just 11 miles from Le Blévec, Hardy heard a loud noise on his prototype, "Brossard". He was right in the middle of the Doldrums: "I went outside da Bahia, Hardy finished the leg and the overall rankings in sixth place. There was Yves Parlier in the Vendée Globe in 2000, and then there was Adrien Hardy in the 2007 Mini-Transat. "He used his head to sail" With his main rivals out of the way, Yves Le Blévec reached All Saints Bay on the 23rd October. He was zooming along under spinnaker, when he saw the press boat and hurriedly asked the question, - "How many have finished?" - "None, Yves, you’re the first." The good news overjoyed him and he went crazy. Without his BLU after the Doldrums, the skipper on Actual had no idea where his rivals were: "This Mini is really crazy. It’s an extraordinary story, as a week before the start, I wasn’t even sure I would be sailing and in the end I have won the race It’s really great winning the Transat 6.50. It’s a dream I had as a child that has come true. I could not ever have imagined it happening. Having said that, my win is certainly not a walkover. It was a clear win and my feelings match the esteem I have for this race." Yves Le Blévec (1st), David Sineau (2nd) and Fabien Desprès (3rd): the podium for this 16th edition is of a very high standard. A confirmed sailor, who "knew how to use his head" (in the words of the race director, Denis Hugues), a very enlightened amateur, for whom sailing is a passion to fit in with his business and a child of the sea, who grew up on the family boat until the age of 19. Together, the three symbolise the spirit of the mini. Philippe Eliès SERIES: HERVÉ PIVETEAU’S We were expecting the Portuguese yachtsman, Francisco Lobato (Bpi), who was the clear favourite, but it was in particular Hervé Piveteau from Vendée and the Breton, Stéphane Le Diraison, who came off best. While Le Diraison won the first leg to Funchal, he was beaten in the second. At the age of 31, Hervé Piveteau, project leader in the design department at Jeanneau, literally flew through this leg between Madeira and Salvador da Bahia. "Stéphane and I were sailing within sight of each other between Cape Verde and the Doldrums: it was both great fun and horrible. Fun because we could check on each other’s speed, but horrible because it was so ©Grand Pavois Ocean Racing - december 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008

Cover
Edito
Contents
What they said
News
Portfolio - The news in the picture
Transat Jacques Vabre - Monohulls in power
In the words of the skipper - Michel Desjoyaux, A little bit more
Barcelona World Race - A couple sailing around the world
Imoca - Growth crisis in the Imoca class
Transat 6.5 - A whole series of records
Mini Class - Anatomy of a winner
Multihulls - What sort of trimarans tomorrow ?
Volvo Ocean Race - Second generation
Trials - Mach 45 : an unusual IRC
Match Racing - King Richard
Tactics - A good start
Portrait - Jacques Caraës
Lab - Tubular or wing mast ?
Forty years ago - Chichester, the lonely sea and the sky
Equipment - Shop window
New products - From the drawing board to the boatyard
Opinion - The mirage of worshipping technology

Ocean Racing Magazine - #6 - December 2007 & January 2008