
80 double handed and single handed boats departed Madera on January 29th and now 71 are working their way across the Atlantic in the 2nd leg of 2021-2022 Transquadra
Open to short handed crews on vessels between 8.50 and 12.50 meters. The fleets were divided into two departure areas on leg 1, those which departed from Lorient and those who departed from Marseilles.
Quadra stands for "quadragenaires". The race is reserved for amateur sailors above 40 years of age (old Windsurfers ;-).
It is for single and double handed crews (the French version of the 3BR except for the age restriction).
All boats are allowed but there is an upper limit on IRC rating so it tends to be boats under 37 ft
You will find a lot of French boats: Sunfast, Archambault, JPK but also J boats, as there is no restriction on OD class
It is for single and double handed crews (the French version of the 3BR except for the age restriction).
All boats are allowed but there is an upper limit on IRC rating so it tends to be boats under 37 ft
You will find a lot of French boats: Sunfast, Archambault, JPK but also J boats, as there is no restriction on OD class
The remaining 71 crews are headed to Martinique in the Caribbean and their Day 7 report follows:

Wind in the sails
FEBRUARY 4, 2022
Yesterday's weather files are not today's and that's good! 7 to 8 knots for the northerners, 4 knots for the southernmost competitors: the quadrasailors once again have wind in their sails, even if the weather situation for the days to come continues to change.
The northernmost competitors, all solo sailors by the way, (Pierrick Penven (Zéphyrin), Paolo Magione (Ciao Ciao), Yann Jestin (Vari), Philippe Triem (Phu Cam), in particular) didn't stop very long yesterday. The prize goes to Paolo Mangione who has always displayed an almost regular speed around 6 knots, enough to give some gray hair to the supporters of a middle route: Alex Ozon (Sapristi), Arnaud Vuillemin (Jubilations Corses), Jean-François Hamon (For Ferdinand), Olivier Grassi (Grassi Bateaux)…
In the Atlantic doubles, the big winners of yesterday's bad patch were Noël Racine and Ludovic Sénéchal (Foggy Dew): this morning they are a hundred miles ahead of their pursuers Gérard Quenot/Jérôme Apolda (Blue Skies), Jean Passini/Dominique Dubeau (SNA Numerobis), supporters of a median route.
The duos Pierre Guichard/Marc Pouydebat (Thelma and Louise) and Betrand Bore/Claude Dabir (Makossa) are still pushing their northern option, with perhaps the idea of circumventing the depression, still it, in its north? To be continued…
This fleet is furthermore divided into two large groups: the northerners and the “medians”, the match has only just begun!
And, very good news, the three southerners of this fleet have also found some wind.

It plays tight and all-out among the Mediterraneans!A quartet of northerners (Antoine and Julien Lacombe (Bidibulle), Thomas Filleux and Florian Demainay (Milou), Jean-Christophe Petit and Gregoire Comby (Gilolo), Bruno Maerten and Olivier Guillerot (Shamrock V) battle among themselves and against another quartet a few ten miles further south (Isidoro Santecca/Roberto Rovito (Alquimia), Tolga Pamir/Sinan Sumer (OMM Alize Ocean Racing), Benoit David/Guillaume Barbet (Marcher sur l'eau), Paul and Patrick Van Gaver (Hathor V).
While two other duos invest even further north and others play the great circle...
Finally, 1000 miles further south than the furthest north, Caroline Petit and Emmanuelle Blivet (Moogli) are rewarded for their southern investment: they have regained trade winds and are tracing this morning at more than 7 knots.
Pierre-Yves Rollin and Paul Camps (To each his own Everest) unfortunately had to throw in the towel yesterday due to electrical problems. They are on their way to Horta, in the Azores.
Note, on the other hand, the return to racing, however for Benoit Cornet (Boldmove Nation) he had stopped in the Azores following pilot problems.
In short, it matches on all levels while enjoying the happiness of being on the water , as the many messages received from offshore tell us so well, especially this morning :-)
And what about the weather?hum… the future will tell us what will happen, since the files of yesterday were not those of today and that it will undoubtedly be also true tomorrow? or not… The fact remains that the low-pressure system which remains on the road to the Antilles will continue to play a major role in the strategy of the competitors in this Transquadra Madeira Martinique in the days to come.
Will it be possible to slip under? Even if it means going through the “near” box? Or will it slide south and let the extremists from the north pass? And what about southerners?
Answers in a few days...

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Ocean poetry
Xavier Gignoux and Franck Assedat (Greengo)
During these starry nights against a very dark sky background because there is no moon,
The stars do not twinkle but are infinitely small points, infinitely numerous and of very variable light intensity
The planets (Venus in particular) are of a very different color from the stars and visibly larger
We have the impression of having removed this layer of dirty and pale paint which distorts the sky of our cities
You should come and see this like it is beautiful here
Frédéric Nouel and Denis Lazat (Fondation de la Mer)
Even if we are in the race, and even if we are not really at the top of the rankings (understatement!), that does not prevent us from remaining positive. Aware of how lucky we are to be on the ocean, to have been able to choose freedom, and already, for most of
us, to live in a country at peace.
I could have taken the formula of "Three Kifs a day" to tell you about our little daily joys, but I preferred to choose only one, and develop it a little more.
Today: fall asleep.
It may seem surprising that I choose the precise moment when we fall asleep as a great moment of happiness because by definition this moment is elusive. If I like falling asleep at sea, it's for the few moments before the sleep phase.
Montaigne was sometimes woken up in the middle of the night for the simple pleasure of going back to sleep. On a sailboat, for our greatest pleasure, the rhythm of the watches and the movements of the boat mean that this pleasure often comes back: at least between 5 and 6 times per 24-hour period on
average if we are double-handed, much more often even when we sail alone.
The first few days, as the body gets used to a hostile environment, the muscles are a little stiff, even painful, aches appear, and getting ready for sleep is first of all the promise of relaxation.
You have to choose your place carefully. This can be seated at the chart table, head resting against a free corner of the wall, inside the hull, right next to the electrical panel and its red lights. It can be attached outside in the lifelines (rarer with a reduced crew) or in the cockpit, as long as you manage to wedge yourself in there. It's often just wallowing fully dressed, in boots and oilskins on the sails piled up in the saloon if you have to be ready to get back on deck
emergency. Large soft spinnaker bags are often the most comfortable, if you can fit two or three of them.
With a bit of luck we'll lie down on a bunk after taking off our bra, and maybe even a diaper or two. There, the minutes before sleep are precious.
From the first night, general fatigue sets in and the phase of falling asleep is most often very short. There is no time to lose: finally lying down, we listen to the noises of the boat alternately reassuring or terrifying, we feel the water sliding just a few centimeters from our head. We turn around maybe once or twice, we bring the down a little on ourselves. We think of a loved one: where is he, or is she? The list and the movements of the boat push us against the hull a little more with each wave. As long as the weather is mild, we are just rocked gently.
So everything goes very quickly, we immediately fall into a liberating sleep but which we know will remain superficial, not restorative enough and populated by improbable dreams.
And we fall asleep, for two hours, for twenty minutes.
Denis
Aboard the Fondation de la Mer
Pascal Bernede and Eric Chalaux (For ASTER Bretagne)
The bed of the wind
No wind, no bed!
Where to sleep in areas without wind
So does the Sailor hasten to leave
To find the bed of the wind
And finally sleep
But as the Sage said
We never bathe twice in the same water of the bed of the river
The Obedient sailor never sleeps twice in the same bed
Or does he believe it!
Pascal and Éric in the wind reunited
Dominique Sarrazin and David Picamoles (Vega)
News from VEGA where all is well on board.
Like all "northerners" we were shaken during the first 3 days but having decided to roll up the ortho, we were more "quiet" a little earlier.
Nothing in particular to report except for an overcrowding of the mainsail halyard which we solved after long reflections without losing the halyard and a problem with the solar panel connections solved.
We appreciate every moment, the colors, the clouds, the starry nights and the atmosphere on board which is really excellent!!
ETA planned for February 15!!
See you soon.
D and D
Gérard Quenot and Jérôme Apolda (Blue Skies)
Today, we looked for the wind all day, but couldn't find it!
Even if sailing in the calm is calmer than in the breeze, it is also more nerve-racking: you have to constantly trim the sails, try the spinnaker, lower it 10 minutes later because it's not working anymore, then start again... and steer to take advantage of the slightest variations in the wind. So maximum concentration and above all you have to stay "zen"!
We also took advantage of this calm day to finish repairing the mainsail.
Now we are ready for the final sprint, all that's missing is the wind. But it should start to come back at the end of the night, fingers crossed!
Gérard and Jérôme
Olivier Hausheer and Christian Zaugg (Marimar)
Last night, small vegetarian meal – with a glass of red all the same – and a multitude of Atlantic dolphins (small, with their spotted bodies). The weather is nice and the boat is now making good progress under a light spinnaker. A pretty crescent moon, with Jupiter next to it, disappears below the horizon.
Our light spinnaker does wonders during the night, with winds stabilizing at 10-12 knots. On the other hand, little by little, it pushes us towards the south, which the gribs seem to want to advise against. At the end of the night, we swapped the light spinnaker for the code zero, then, at midday, we opted for the medium genoa, in order to stay on a course close to 270.
Monotonous day, but beautiful all the same: upwind to regain a little north. It had started under a cloudy sky, then a sun, which is struggling to really warm up because of the apparent wind, imposed itself.
Sailboat MARIMAR IV, dodger 243, 8 p.m. GMT; position: 30°32N; 30°16W



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