“ We don’t feel too strong yet “, mischievously said the Italian skipper Ambrogio Beccaria (Alla Grande – Pirelli) addressed to his technical team, a few relatives and a handful of insomniac seagulls gathered on the pontoon of Lorient La base, Tuesday October 31, shortly after midnight, to salute his victory and that of his French partner Nicolas Andrieu , in Class 40 (12 m monohull), in the first stage of a particularly eventful Transat Jacques Vabre.
Given the late hour and the ambient humidity, a little humor was not superfluous to relax and warm up the atmosphere of a race planned to connect Le Havre to Fort-de-France in one go, objective whose ambition is thwarted. For several days, the most prestigious double deckchairs, including this 16e edition marks the 30the anniversary of its creation, in 1993, continues, in fact, to try to protect its fleet of 95 boats by adapting to the violent meteorological phenomenon that France will experience, from Tuesday evening and until the end of the week. The forecast calls for winds of 80 knots (nearly 150 km/h), gusts of more than 100 knots (more than 185 km/h) and waves of 12 meters at sea.
Sunday October 29, at midday, only the five Ultims (32-meter trimarans) entered – fast enough to place themselves in front of the violent depression forming – were authorized to sail towards Martinique from Le Havre. The six Ocean Fifties and the forty-four Class 40s which make up the majority of the fleet, got off to a good start, on their heels, but with the obligation to stop at Lorient. That is to say a warm-up time of less than 24 hours for the Ocean Fifty and less than 36 hours for Ambrogio Beccaria and Nicolas Andrieu.
“We got hit a bit by the boat”
“ We weren’t ready for that, so we both had a little trouble changing exercises. », confessed the Italian, 32 years old, oiled, boots and radiant smile, happy to learn that he and his co-skipper are one hour, one minute and 48 seconds ahead of their first pursuers, Xavier Macaire and Pierre Leboucher (SNEF Group), followed by Matthieu Perraut and Kevin Bloch (Inter Invest), i.e. a significant advance for the second departure towards Fort-de-France, which will be given, in the fleet, on an undetermined date.
“ departure [au Havre] was incredible with 35 knots [près de 65 km/h], and all the boats left full, said Nicolas Andrieu. The first night, the conditions were quite rough, especially after passing the Cotentin, we were hit a bit by the boat so we are very happy to have succeeded in the exercise. »
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