The French Have All The Fun!

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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

~Nico Popp, (someone that is familiar with the event)~


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









https://www.transquadra.com/

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Finish In The Crosshairs!




Compensated projections
FEBRUARY 10, 2022
Since the Transquadra Madeira Martinique fleet can trace straight to the goal - each from their position on the Atlantic chessboard - the real-time rankings are quite stable. Thus, with less than 48 hours from the first arrivals, it is time to look into what the rankings in corrected time for this 2nd stage could give.

In Atlantic doubles , Noël Racine and Ludovic Sénéchal (JPK 10.30 - Foggy Dew) should maintain their comfortable leadership (about 12 hours ahead) ahead of two Sun Fast 3300s: Bernard Mallaret/Denis Infante (Euro-Voiles) and David Alonso/Tomas Canut (Oscar Blue).

Jean Passini and Dominique Dubeau (JPK 10.10 – SNA Numerobis), winners of the first stage and Gérard Quenot Jérôme Apolda (JPK 10.30 – Blue Skies) would complete this top 5. The gaps are however very small (about 30 minutes for the moment) between 3rd and 5th place ...

As for the sailors of the Big Blue , the Figaro sailors Bruno Maerten and Olivier Guillerot (Shamrock V) winners of the first stage are lengthening their stride and putting a little more miles between them and their direct pursuers each day, but that would not a priori be enough to assure them of a victory in compensated time.

The Martinican prize would for the moment go to the brothers Julien and Antoine Lacombe (JPK 10.10 – Bidibulle), followed by two Sun Fast 3200s: the discreet and efficient Jean-Christophe Petit and Grégoire Comby (Gilolo) (only 1 hour away for the moment) then by Thomas Filleux and FLoriant Demainay (Milou).

Bruno Maerten and Olivier Guillerot (Figaro 2 - Shamrock V) would be 4th and Paul and Patrick Van Gaver (JPK 10.10 - Hathor V) 5th .

For the solo sailors, Pierrick Penven (Sun Fast 3200 – Zephyrin) is currently leading by a short lead (around thirty minutes) ahead of Alex Ozon (Sun Fast 3300 – Sapristi). Paolo Mangione (Sun Fast 3600), would climb on the 3 rd step of the podium (at around ten hours). But for the moment he is neck and neck with Arnaud Vuillemin (JPK 10.10 – Jubilations Corses) winner of the 1st stage . Olivier Grassi (J99 – Grassi Boats) is currently 5th .



The verbs are of course in the conditional. This is only to give an idea of the differences between the provisional classifications in "real time" and "compensated time", because one sargassum too many, one malicious squall, a successful jibe, or not: and everything can change .












Last miles, last memories to be engraved in the memories
FEBRUARY 10, 2022
The first competitors in this 2nd leg of the Transquadra Madeira Martinique, in real time (at least), are less than 500 miles from the finish! Average speeds no longer drop below 9 – 10 knots on the road. The calculation is simple: in less than 2 days, they will be there!
(@photo Blue Skies (Gérard Quenot and Jérôme Apolda)

The first estimates are in fact counting on a line crossing on Saturday at the end of the day (French time) for Noël Racine and Ludovic Sénéchal (Foggy Dew), followed by close (about 1 hour for the moment) of Alex Ozon (Sapristi), then Paolo Mangione (Ciao Ciao) and Pierrick Penven (Zéphyrin).The
bulk of the arrivals are expected on Sunday and in the night from Sunday to Monday.

Until then, the competitors are whipping, taking advantage, composing with grains and sargassum which will become more and more present as they approach the Caribbean arc.

It's almost the end of the adventure, so everything becomes precious : every magical moment, every surf that saves an inch over its direct competitors... everything takes on meaning, weight, value and is imprinted in the memories. to be told and relived at will, once arrived.

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Words from the sea

Arnaud Vuillemin (Corsican Jubilations): calculations of compensated rankings…
We are in a well-established trade wind regime. The weather is nice, the temperature is rising little by little. The wind is slightly stronger than yesterday. With rough seas. Last night, we had quite a few gusts at 25 knots. It's starting to be strong for the big heavy spinnaker. It shouldn't go any higher. With this strong wind our friend Sapristi flies away and manages to make the difference with his new hull. For now, I'm still 3rd behind Zephyrin and Sapristi. Zéphyrin's northern option was decisive!! and damn it, how fast!! Behind, in compensation, we must pay attention to Ciao Ciao, Grassi, Festa for Aster, Phu cam and Vari who are in ambush. You have to stay vigilant to keep a podium.
On board everything is fine, no breakage, the boat is following its course. We manage the energy (solar panel, fuel cell and engine), the pilot consumes quite a bit with this wind and this sea.
Jubilations

Gérard Quenot and Jérôme Apolda (Blue Skies): the 750 miles remain decisive!
- Hot the sun except under the squalls, the wind well established between 20-27 knt, the well-formed sea which allows you to ride down the slopes with surfing and... the first quarter moon to highlight the crests of the waves!
- Hot maneuvers today, with a Chinese jibe to start.
- Hot strategy with a tack to the right to refocus in the axis of the wind, and wham the wind that was supposed to turn left, turns right while weakening...
- Hot on the 2nd gybe with change of spinnaker, where a spinnaker sheet got stuck in the port rudder; the boat becomes unmanageable, spinnaker blocked with 20-25 knots... Forced to cut the sheet to lower the spinnaker; then boat heeled, understand and end up unjamming the sheet between the rudder and the hull... Fortunately, we have a set of spare sheets!
Here we go again, A4 spinnaker in the lead, and on the right tack! So we share our sunset with you.
G&J

Frédérique Nouel and Denis Lazat (Fondation de la mer): Prévert-style inventory of the good times of the Transquadra… Thank you to the reds for having fought for this edition to exist!
All is well aboard Fondation de la Mer.
For the past few days, I've been trying to talk about some of the good times we've had on board just so you know that this Transquadra isn't just a series of galleys to manage, technical problems to overcome. Not just a series of torn sails, weather dead ends, cyclothymic autopilots, computers to reboot. Not just "what did I do with the pliers?" or "Damn, Iridium crashed again."

Good times, for us there were plenty of others. Here are a few more in disorder:
- A magnificent half-moon sunset in the middle of the crossing
- When we receive a weather file that finally says the same thing as the previous file!
- When the wind picks up again after three or four days of calm
- When you receive a message from one of your children who is living his life on the other side of the world and you realize that he is following your adventure and that maybe he's even proud of you
- When you hear that an injured friend is doing better and will be able to carry on.
- when you feel that you can doze off trusting the autopilot which totally manages to manage despite the cross seas
- when a flying fish lands on the deck but it only bounces and with a start returns to the 'ocean,
- when you look at the time and it's time to wake up your partner. Okay it's a sadistic little moment but it's a hell of a good time.
- when you take the time to send a message to another competitor who is having a series of damages to cheer him up,
- When you finally put away the raincoats for good, telling yourself that this time it's for real, that we won't need it until the finish because we're going to the islands and it will be hotter and hotter. We put them away, but hey, we keep them on hand anyway!
- when we discover that in fact there were still two grapefruits left!
- when you can finally take showers on deck with big buckets of seawater and then dry off quietly in the sun, without getting cold.
- when the whole boat is tidy after a night of fighting and two or three loose starts. All ? Yes all ! Not just the ends of the cockpit: the

And yes, yes, yes, I haven't forgotten: of course there were dolphins, there were sunsets, there were rainbows. Of course, when there are big black rain clouds over a green sea, there are bound to be beautiful rainbows somewhere.

So for all these good times, all these images and all these emotions, we take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all the organizers of this superb event. The Transquadra is a great race. Mico Bolo, Martine and the reds fought to ensure that this edition manages to leave despite the headwinds of the Covid.
Congratulations to them and thank you.
Denis
Aboard Fondation de la Mer





Benoit Cornet (Boldmove Nation): recalcitrant rudders, but subdued
Hello from the crazy rudder boat!
We started off strong, the boat and I with a sector of the helm which slipped and which resulted in erratic behavior, as if we were having empty laps in the steering wheel of our car, before it started to spin. After doing the ghost boat trick several times, drifting without a sail and bibi lying in the aft box to try "something", after pushing the famous button on the beacon ;-), I resigned myself to doing 150 miles detours (about 200 in total) to benefit from the camaraderie of the TQS (Thank you Stéphane!) and incidentally a little help to put everything back in place. After almost 24 hours of stopover, I had to go there, certain that my misery was nothing compared to that of "La mer est ronde" and its dozens of

It was without counting on the rest of the "Team System bar" which apparently does not want this transat and has implemented various strategies: the starboard rudder was rather for a "cut" and tried to tear itself away . The port rudder was more likely to sabotage the interior, with a pretty crack on the rudder head.
Nothing will help (at least for now) the two cases were treated with firmness and understanding and the commitment was made not to make them suffer too much by moderating the pace until we are closer to the Marine.

Halfway through, in the middle of the "nemo" zone of the Atlantic, BoldMove advances with a slow senator's step and wishes the first to arrive quickly,
A thought for the crew of Moogli, who must find the time very long in their windy desert!
Benoit and Propaganda 3

Patrick Morvan and Guillaume Pinta (Team BFR Marée Haute): 3 traps to avoid
Team BFR Marée Haute is continuing its merry way in good conditions with good conditions: top sun, top moon, wind angle not ideal ( we have it too much in the back) for comfort and good speeds.
Hal helms less well than us in general, but better than us when you fall asleep there; we will try to fine-tune new settings.
However, we are not ridiculous in the conduct of our boat and our ranking this morning has improved somewhat.

We will have three traps to thwart in the days to come.
- The first is the probable densification of the grains which for the moment we have avoided with our detour via the North Sea. Patrick watches over us with his impressive seamanship.
- The second is the probable densification of sargassum on the approach to Martinique. Every 3 days we collect satellite images detailing the areas to avoid that we integrate into our routing software.
- The third is the probable presence of fishing aggregation device (FAD) nets approaching the islands. Normally these personal data must be declared to an organization which provides their position. Thank you to all those who are willing to look on the internet for information on the subject when approaching Martinique (I had completely skipped this subject).

For those who are worried about our fate, we assure you that the prepared meals from Carrefour suit us perfectly, even that we appreciate them for their taste and their practicality (our kitchen is not a laboratory), and that neither Neither Patrick nor I declare any psychic or bodily dysfunctions. There will therefore be no distribution of leftovers on arrival.
See you tomorrow for new adventures.
Be well, be reasonable and don't catch a cold!
Kisses

Jérôme Lesieur (Fantasia XIII): moped or Google boat?
When I bought the boat 3 years ago for the Transquadra, everyone told me: you'll see, it's a “moped”.
I then said yes politely, telling myself that one day I would find out what it could mean.
The blue-grey stuff full of grease and making smoke, I could see what it was (I was 15 in the 70s) but I couldn't see the connection with the white boat that I was going to find out.
I searched in related activities.
Spend hours cleaning the carburettor with gasoline? No, that of the Volvo diesel engine from Fantasia did not cause any problems.
Tinkering with the exhaust pipe to boost the machine? I had a problem like this but it was fixed by a professional. And no effect on performance. Not that either.
And since 2 days, I believe to have found. Under small spinnaker (I don't have any more), in 25 knts of wind and between 8 and 14 knts of speed depending on the height and the period of the waves, the boat works on its own. I haven't touched the bar for 2 days, Fantasia is going straight with (almost) no luffing.
So maybe that's a moped, something that works on its own without being asked anything and without effort.
Personally, I have never managed to let go of the handlebars for more than 10 seconds, so rather than a moped, I would go for something more "new age" with a Google-Boat concept: nothing in the head, everything in electronics.
Hoping that the California designers didn't smoke too much and that no bugs occur before Sunday.
In the meantime, since everything is going very well without me, I'm going back to my playlists… and too bad for the flying fish.


Fabrice Tropres and Coralie Colin (SOS Méditerranée): unfortunate knee
A few months ago when I was asked questions about the difficulty of crossing the Atlantic Here is what I answered: the hardest part will be to bring the boat in Lorient. Afterwards on Madeira Martinique nothing difficult, just the length to manage and the sunburn!
End of story, braces snapping, smug smile, good night kids.
Two days ago:
Very tired from a northerly route which has left its marks, we are sailing at night, in thirty knots, in pouring rain and rough seas.
We are downwind, Solent tangoned and we have to take in a reef and jibe. Nobody is laughing. Especially not Coralie who is going on an expedition very far on the foredeck. We detangone and Coralie is still there, cool. The reef now, you have to luff, nose in two meters of hollow and tearing your hands to lower this big Mainsail. At this level of the maneuver we are already cooked. The reef is caught. You have to jibe. Still at night, rain, thirty knots and big waves.
We tuck in the Mainsail like nags, to avoid the destructive passage of the sail at two hundred miles an hour. The little push of the trigger bar, followed by the 24h Le Mans style catch-up steering. A saving sail shock and AYÉ we are on the way under pilots on the other tack. We didn't break anything. We are exhausted with fatigue and stress, but happy to have gotten away with it so easily.
Suddenly the boat spins, bears wildly and re-jibes. The mainsail sheets twisted around the two bars! Horror!!
We shock everything we can, we release the bars and we re-gybe on the fly. It works despite the fact that our two listening rail ends no longer exist!
In fact an unfortunate kick of the knees disengaged the pilot. Deprived of chocolate until death ensues.
I would never say again that the most complicated part of a deckchair is the choice of sunscreen. Nope ! Never again.


Jean Passini and Dominique Dubeau (SNA Numerobis): here, everything is tenfold
Finally, for the past few days we have been heading south surfing in the sun!
This since we rounded the last depression which represented a bit of a buoy or an island to circumvent in my imagination as we thought about it before, during and also after.
Now we're descending and it's not easy, the conditions change very quickly in the same day and you have to adapt. But we measure our luck to be able to sail downwind for so long, whereas usually we have to go back the other way upwind in much longer.
What is incredible is the noise generated which is permanent, by our hull which slides, rides the waves and generates sprays of water on each side. So we had taken helmets to protect our heads during dangerous maneuvers at night in the dark, but no noise canceling headphones!! :-)!
We haven't seen anything for three days, no animal life or cargo! but we know that we are surrounded by our colleagues in the race thanks to the information received.
We exchange with other boats.
Going below 999 NM from the goal is a great moment because our display didn't know how to indicate more and we've been waiting for 11 days to cross the 999 mark to finally have a direct reading of the distance. More seriously, we did not look at the manual on this.
The nights are magical, that night the moon lit up the clouds arranged in several successive planes, They were voluptuous and truly in very voluminous three dimensions! We could have seen black and white aerial views of distant lands.
Finally here everything is increased tenfold: the size of the waves, the wind because it has been very strong for a long time, the nothingness because you can't see anything, the weather because everything is long and far.
We are still waiting for the flying fish we were told about. We saw a few, but very few!
Well, I hope we'll find the opportunity to take a little shower again, well, it's easy to say, before we find our families, because there's going to be a lot of work.
Come on, sorry, but it seems to be moving up there, I'm going back, and there the flow of boats tightens towards the objective! the rhythm of the positions received is motivating!
See you soon
John.
Sorry for the typing, at sea... our boats are not very comfortable!

SHA







TRACKER

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A Neck And Neck Finish!




Two winners at once!
FEBRUARY 12, 2022
Le Havre's Noël Racine / Ludovic Sénéchal (JPK 10.30 - Foggy Dew) and Alex Ozon (Sun Fast 3300 - Sapristi) crossed the finish line of the 2nd stage of the Transquadra Madeira Martinique this Saturday afternoon at 4:41 p.m. for the Norman duo and 2 minutes later for the solo Charentais. They also win a priori in compensated time, in their respective classifications: Atlantic doubles and single-handed.
For Noël Racine and Ludovic Sénéchal (Foggy Dew) the general classification also seems to be established. As for Alex Ozon (Sapristi) it will be confirmed once his direct competitors are also moored at Le Marin.
Be that as it may, these three sailors had a magnificent and committed race. Kudos to them!





What show ! Two winners neck and neck, a final spiced up with a grain, a nice spoonful from the inside from Noël Racine and Ludovic Sénéchal (Foggy Dew) who thus end this 2nd stage of the Transquadra Madeira Martinique big winners in the scratch. A leadership that they have held almost from start to finish since Madeira, even if Alex Ozon (Sapristi) had managed to borrow it from them last night, with his talent and energy.
In short, they arrived exhausted, happy, of course, even if it will take a bit of decompression time and rest to really taste these hard-won victories after 14 days of difficult racing.






Stories.

Alexandre Ozon (Sapristi)
You say you've been exhausted for two days already…
“I went much further than I thought. From the start we started strong! I sent a lot… and after two and a half days of racing I had problems with driver support. I switched to driver no. 2: it works less well, so I lost confidence. I spent some time looking for solutions for this. I also had problems receiving weather files.
So when I saw the very northern option of Noël and Ludovic, it was too late for me. Foggy Dew is a magician of the body of water! I was taken up by my problems fixing the driver… I was a little afraid that Pierrick Penven (Zéphyrin) and Paolo Mangione (Ciao Ciao) would pass, especially since they are very good at strategy and they go fast.
Afterwards, I still managed to bypass the weather systems. Hardly, but it was the only way. I muddled…”

No major technical problems?
“I haven't had any technical issues, apart from driver support. Even the spinnakers are ok, and yet I shot at them! The last squall we took 36.5 knots with Foggy Dew: we were flat out! I climbed at 20.6 knots, the deck was under water… And then you won't let go of the helm and… you don't know what's going to happen! As long as it holds, it holds and if it goes off like a lollipop... it goes like a lollipop! And we stayed like that all the grain. I was high mainsail and under heavy spinnaker. »

Two Transquadra and a priori two victories: what's next?
“Whoa, we're going to wait for the others already and, above all, there I'm going to rest (you heard right, he said it! ;-), editor's note). Last night again I didn't sleep... but I managed to get past Noël and Ludovic
So, on the program: 10 days of vacation with my family! “

Happy?
" Yes ! But very frustrated to have been forced to play a north option. After two years of Covid, you're waiting to surf the trade winds in flip-flops and shorts.
The weather was not nice, there were squalls, it was cold. It was wet all the time… It really wasn't what we had come for. On a Transat Jacques Vabre, a Route du Rhum ok, but what we want is to have fun in the trade winds!
In fact, for me, it was not a transat. We had a big regatta with some strategic play. It was quite special!

What I loved though, it's that we were four boats to go all the way around, and we stuck to it, and it worked! we did a hell of a ride anyway! From the start, you had to go there, especially since statistically it never goes through the north…

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Noël Racine and Ludovic Sénéchal (Foggy Dew)
Leading from start to finish, is that the scenario envisaged?
“The weather scenario, I had it in mind from the start: it was to go around the first low pressure system (because there was no wind below). It took us to the south of the Azores. Then, there was the 2nd depression which descended south-east and I had decided to circumvent it by the north as well . To do the grand tour. Afterwards, we had to adjust the trajectory according to the evolution of these systems to make as little distance as possible, but for us, there was no ambiguity. “

There were never any doubts?
“A little anyway… And then Noel said let’s go! We're playing for the win, so we're going all out.
Noel manages the strategy. He had a wonderful sail!
I was happy with my strategy, but Ludo is setting the sails. He does that very well. I know how to say where to go and he knows how to get there. “

The perfect duo?
“We still hit each other in the face from time to time. Because of fatigue. We feel fatigue in relationships. It's immediately more tense when you haven't slept for 24 hours. “

Did you shoot the machines a lot?
" Yes ! This is not fun cruising! The day was still fine, but the nights… And the nights are long. There was no moon, we couldn't see anything.
It was hard. Tiring.
We didn't even have two good days, because when we started to tumble down from the top of the depression, we immediately had violent squalls.

This morning, we had one at 36 knots...”

No major technical problems?
“No breakage! I just lost a spinnaker sheet in a sinking. The sails are nickel. A small problem on the pilot's rudder which had to be readjusted every two days. “

Happy?
“You have to decompress… but yes! It is the culmination of four years of preparation. It was the race that we absolutely wanted to win. Or at least make a podium, absolutely. I bought this boat for that. It's not the Route du Rhum, but it's an accomplishment. “

After?
“Do a little cruising here and then bring the boat back, by sea in the spring. With a stopover in the Azores. Then the boat leaves for the yard. And the next race will be the Drheam Cup. »



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Bernard Mallaret and Denis Infante: impressed by the solo sailors
FEBRUARY 13, 2022
Bernard Mallaret and Denis Infante (Euro-Voiles) 2 nd in the double-handed Atlantic fleet arrived at 4h 21min 19s on Sunday February 13, happy to have experienced the open sea and positively very impressed by the performance of the solo sailors.



“My first thought is for those who did it alone. It touched me to see that we were always on it, on it, on it and that we couldn't catch up with them!

We missed a shot when passing the 2nd depression , we had to go further north than what we did. We had a day nailed to us in the dead calm while up there they hardly stopped.

Afterwards we managed to come back and let go of the boats around us, but they there, in the northwest, impossible! Foggy Dew had a great race, but there are two of them. But them loners… they impressed me.

We broke the end of the spinnaker pole, that calmed us down a bit on the management of the spinnakers. We repaired, there it holds and in the end we put some coal!

I am happy with this wide experience…”






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Morning arrivals, no sorrow at all!
FEBRUARY 13, 2022
They are exhausted, impressed, even still stunned, by the grains they have had to negotiate in recent days. Increasingly violent and sudden squalls near the islands. But the eyes sparkle as soon as friends and loved ones approach. There are the deckchair comrades, of course: one look is enough: they have experienced the same fears, the same doubts, the same pleasures. And the family, the people who lived and followed this transatlantic race in their own way. Finally come the hands and the looks that meet again… All that's missing is a croissant, a rum and it's the rocking side on the ground. A page turns, the sea recedes: it becomes memories and is shared...

first words



Gérard Quenot and Jérôme Apolda (Blue Skies): a super interesting transat!

3 rd double Atlantic in real time

“This is the first time that we have had to tackle a northern route with depression bypasses from the north. We therefore misjudged the phenomenon and we ended up in the eye of the depression, where there is no wind. We stayed 6 hours tanned… We were not bad until then.

But suddenly the strategic side of this transat created great competition: we really weren't bored and it was super interesting! Between capturing files, analysis, decision-making, adjustments, maneuvers, small repairs, rest of course... We never had any downtime!

The squalls were special: they didn't look like much and it was super violent and super sudden. Once you're on board, all you have to do is hold on and hope it holds! »









Éric Guigné and Tangi Caron (Ose): a truly impressive sea

5th double Atlantic in real time

“It was my first transatlantic race, for a rookie, the conditions were tough! Some waves, I'm sure I could have descended them on snow, they were so huge.

Luckily we were two helmsmen, we were able to take turns: when it was hot we took turns at the helm every 1/2 hour. You came out of there drained so much it took concentration at the helm not to go off the road.

The first depression, 2 days after departure, caught us cold! We have revised our performance objectives downwards, we have slowed down. The northern route was really hard for the men, for the boats, we had to send a lot of canvas… We wanted to cross…

Coming out of the first depression, we were 12th , we finished 5th in real life, we're happy!

We were very complementary with Éric: it was a great meeting and a great story!

Want to leave? the hardest thing is to fit it into family and professional agendas, but it's good to remove the barriers and give yourself the means to do it! »



Jean-François Hamon (Festa Pour Aster): the hardest of all my Transquadra

4 th real-time solitaire

“It's my 4th Transquadra , it was by far the toughest! We went very, very high to avoid areas of calm. I passed 120 miles from the Azores. But I broke down with my computer, I got “blown away” for 36 hours and after, to catch up, the only solution is to put in coal. I'm exhausted.

It was very, very complicated: we had two big lows and then squalls, squalls… The worst night was the last! Squalls, gusts at 40 knots: full speed solo, it's hot!

But I do not regret! It was a great race! Great atmosphere! I don't know if I will come back: 4 you have to stop one day…

I'm exhausted. Solo sailors when you're under spinnaker, if there's wind: you have to steer. But when I'm really tired I go there for 1/4h, 1/2h. I managed sleep well.

I had fun but it was hard, really hard. Especially the last night. It was exhausting and stressful.

I didn't break anything, except the guy a little...!

I was looking for a podium, I'm 4 th in real time, we'll see in corrected time what happens but the important thing is to participate! »



Arnaud Vuillemin (Jubilations Corses): It's a huge experience.

5 th real-time solitaire

“It's hard to describe 15 days of racing… especially those! It's a long time… The last time, it was the trade winds: we had had time to eat, to sleep. There it was the North Atlantic for almost half the time. Only downwind but tough conditions, wind all the time. `

There was never a downtime. It was hard.

But it's still a great pleasure to be alone in the middle of the Atlantic. It's a huge experience. This is my first solo transatlantic race. Maybe the last?

It's a long 15 days, alone… We don't stop. It's very hard.

But it's also a competition, so indeed I was in my compensated time calculations. I was in the lead at the first stage, I was aiming for a podium at least. I think it's good… for the stage and the overall?

Last night after these calculations I said to myself it's good, I'm going to bed and there… I was woken up by the boat lying down, loose, the sails flapping, the spinnaker pole unhooked. I flatten it again, it goes off again: a catamaran! Forced to cut the spinnaker halyard, I was able to recover everything but it was a big scare… There were several.

I don't know if I would go back… 15 days is a long time. Or as a duo, with Alicia, for the pleasure of a transatlantic couple? »