Groupe SNEF win the Niji40, a new Class 40 Transatlantic Race with a strong international flavour
by CCCommunication 24 Apr 18:04 BST
24 April 2024
Groupe SNEF win the Niji 40 © Jean-Marie Liot / Niji40
French aces Xavier Macaire and Pierre Leboucher, both formerly top Figaro solo racers, ably supported by Spanish Min650 racer Carlos Manera Pascual - who was recruited to the campaign via a global talent search program - have won the first ever Niji40 Class40 race from Belle-Île-en-Mer to Marie Galante, Guadeloupe.
The trio crossed the finish line on Monday morning at around 0706hrs UTC only 57 minutes ahead of the second placed trio on the Italian flagged Acrobatica skippered by Alberto Riva sailing with France's Jean Marre, and Benjamin Schwartz. Acrobatica, which was one of the three key teams to have led the race at different stages, pushed the winners all the way to the finish gun.
Riva and crew can not only take great pride in a hard earned second, but along the way they set a new 24 hour record for Class40, sailing some 433 nautical miles on their Italian designed and built Musa40.
After trading the lead several times Macaire, Leboucher - a former French Olympic 470 sailor, and Manera Pascual - proved quicker with their well proven Pogo S4 in the down wind conditions.
Macaire recalled, "As a transatlantic race it was very technical, with a big depression from the start in the Bay of Biscay, followed by the choice of the southern route or the northern route, which today seems obvious, but which was not the case at the time. We then had a very strong depression as we passed the Azores with a gust up to of 47 knots,and peak speeds of 29 knots. Then a small anticyclone; then again, a depression to pass as close as possible to its centre to finally be able to regain the trade winds... And finally the finish into Marie-Galante. So it was all very technical but we had a complete blast. And with our rivals of course, who held out on us and gave us a hard time. Acrobatica, they were really on top of their game. We weren't sure if we would be able to overtake them and stay ahead of them. We gave everything, we succeeded. I think we can be very happy with ourselves."
Italian skipper Riva was far from disappointed, not least after having to retire from last year's Transat Jacques Vabre with a broken leg, he was delighted to be in the match and on the podium."It was an incredible race. And above all, to start sailing again it's a big thing for me. I am very happy to have regained confidence in my boat along side two super strong guys, who accompanied me on this race. It was a race that didn't start very well for us, before taking the lead and then losing it. It was a lot of emotions. The record, I'm very happy with it too. We had good conditions and the boat behaved well on the reach. And I think we can do better. We didn't win, but we beat this record, it's a great satisfaction."
In third place as Vogue avec Crohn, (Pierre-louis Attwell, Maxime Bensa and Sophie Faguet) who crossed the line some 10 hours after the second placed Acrobatica whilst Amarris, Achille Nebout's boat which was sailed by Gildas Mahé with Ireland's Tom Dolan and Spain's Pep Costa took fourth in the small hours of this morning. The race's long time early leaders had to shelter at the Azores for more than four hours whilst they fixed a mainsail halyard problem which had required them to sail with a reefed mainsail for the previous 24 hours causing them to relinquish their lead.
Gildas Mahé said: "It's a bit of a relief for us. It was a difficult transatlantic in terms of weather. And then a technical stopover which cost us dearly. it is the final result that counts not where you are half way. So there is a little disappointment that's for sure, but especially for a piece 2 centimetres long and one centimetre in diameter which was damaged, that's for sure, when everything stops for that, it's a little hard to take And again, we thought it would break at some point. We wondered if it wouldn't break completely suddenly. Because by the time we got to Santa Maria, we already had to find a solution to sail as slowly as possible. So we lost a lot. And then, we had to manage to thread a halyard back into the mast.It's not an easy scenario, but it's a mechanical sport, that's how it is. Therest, we weren't bad."
Pep Costa: "I thank Gildas for taking me onboard, sailing with Tom, it was perfect. And on a great boat, Achille Nebout's boat Amarris, he's great. We tried to sail as cleanly as possible. Gildas was really there to do the thing well and we tried to follow as best as possible."
Tom Dolan: "We had three generations onboard in the end, a twenty-year-old, a thirty-year-old and a forty-year-old. It was a pretty nice mix. In Catalan, Breton and Irish. That's why it was a good mix."
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