Safran
Sailboat Solo Race France to Azores & Back, 2,260 miles
The skipper of the Figaro Safran-Guy Cotten will start the final race of the season, the Lorient Horta Solo on Saturday, September 6. This race is a round trip (2,260 miles in total) between Lorient and the island of Faial in the Azores. It is a straightforward route, but a strategic race, for which Gahinet has prepared keenly, says Safran-Guy Cotton. There will be 20 competitors at the start of this new biannual race on the Figaro class calendar. This year, the Lorient Horta Solo will close the Championnat de France Elite de Course au Large en Solitaire (France’s elite offshore solo sailing championship)…
Sailboat Safran-Guy Cotten Rookie Skipper Prevails
After a tough 440-mile last leg, Safran inform that Gwénolé Gahinet crossed the finish line of La Solitaire du Figaro and won the Bénéteau rookie ranking, 52 minutes ahead of the British sailor, Sam Matson. Gahinet was thirteenth overall, 4 hours 29 minutes behind the winner, Jérémie Beyou (Maître Coq), showing great consistency in his leg finishes (13th, 17th, 12th and 22nd). Proud of his great first performance in La Solitaire, the young Gahinet has only one wish: to do it again. It was also success for Safran, who decided in late 2013 to set up a Figaro project, under their Young Talent programme, alongside Guy Cotten.
Bay of Biscay Sailboat Racers Leave Roscoff
In a north-east wind of around 15 knots, the 'Figaro Safran-Guy Cotten' set sail for Les Sables d'Olonne on the Breton coast with 37 other competitors in the third and penultimate stage of the this year's La Solitaire du Figaro - Eric Bompard race. A mixture of navigating along the coast of Britanny and offshore racing in the Bay of Biscay, this 505-mile leg (926km) will be played out downwind, reaching and upwind in winds shifting from 5 to 20 knots. There will be difficult and varied conditions, but it is a challenge that skipper Gwénolé Gahinet says he is ready for.
Ocean Sailboat Race: Race Leader Skipper Injured
The monohull Safran, skippered by Marc Guillemot and Morgan Lagravière, has been forced to quit while leading the Transat New York to Barcelona Race, as Guillemot fell and suffered a serious blow, probably breaking some ribs, say the Safron owners. Marc Guillemot explains “Abandoning is one injury that always hurts and it’s hard to accept but we are very happy with how we’ve done in the race. Morgan was really assured in looking after the boat. I’m not in very good condition. We are abandoning despite not wanting to. “There was the (rough) sea, 30-35 knots of wind and there was a big wave.
Ocean Sailboat Race: Safran-Cotten Wins Transat
Race organizers apprise that Gwénolé Gahinet and Paul Meilhat have crossed the finish line in St Barts to win the 12th edition of the Transat AG2R La Mondiale. After 22 days, 6 hours, 17 minutes and 59 seconds of perfectly controlled racing at an average speed of 8.74 knots on the 4,670-miles of the actual racecourse between Concarneau and St Barts, the crew of Safran-Guy Cotten claimed victory. After 22 days going head to head on the ocean, Gahinet and Meilhat savoured their victory. It was the best possible reward for Gahinet, the young skipper of Safran-Guy Cotten, who was making his debut on the Figaro circuit.
Monohull Racing Sailboats Gather at Top French Regatta
Established 36 years ago, the largest gathering of monohulls in Europe will host more than 400 this year. For five days, the crews will race in Quiberon Bay, France, famous for its often random weather, according to yacht racing specialists Safran. The category of J80 (8-metre monohulls) is probably the most important class in the competition, both in the number and the quality of the crews. This year, more than 107 boats will compete in this event which will count towards the Coupe de France. An owner of a J80 since last February, Lagravière decided to have his own boat in the colours of Safran.
Weather-bound Trans-Atlantic Yacht Race Starts
The 11th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre yacht race started under grey, drizzling skies in light winds at 1300hrs (local) off Le Havre’s Saint Adresse beach. The 44 boats, 26 Class 40s, six Multi 50s, 10 IMOCA Open 60s and two MOD70s broke the start line doing 8 knots. The boats head three miles to the France Info mark before heading down the Channel towards Itajaí, Brazil. The Class 40 fleet are required to make a weather stop in Roscoff, 190 miles from Le Havre to sit out a big low pressure system which would probably hit them in the Bay of Biscay at the weekend.
Vendée Globe, Everest of Yachtsmanship, Underway
The Vendée Globe 2012-2013, is a round-the-world single-handed yacht race, sailed non-stop and without assistance, a serious test of endurance. The race started last Saturday and finishes in Les Sables-d'Olonne , in the Vendée département of France ; both Les Sables d’Olonne and the Vendée Conseil Général are official race sponsors. The course is essentially a circumnavigation along the clipper route : from Les Sables d’Olonne, down the Atlantic Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope ; then clockwise around Antarctica , keeping Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn to port; then back to Les Sables d’Olonne.
