{"id":159709,"date":"2025-08-27T06:46:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T05:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?p=159709"},"modified":"2025-08-27T10:15:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T09:15:27","slug":"mayday-mayday-mayday-the-boat-is-cut-in-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/events-2\/mayday-mayday-mayday-the-boat-is-cut-in-half-159709","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! The boat is cut in half\u2019"},"content":"Two boats achieved stunning victories in the latest edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre<\/a>, establishing leads before the halfway mark that they extended to the finish: the 30-metre Ultim trimaran<\/a> Maxi Edmond de Rothschild<\/em> and the IMOCA 60<\/a> LinkedOut<\/em>. LinkedOut<\/em> eventually finished a full 20 hours ahead of their nearest rivals (by comparison, in the Vend\u00e9e Globe<\/a>, the leaders finished within a single evening).\r\n\r\nBoth were remarkable wins in the famous double-handed transatlantic race<\/a>, in which many of the biggest stars of offshore racing<\/a> were competing, including Charles Caudrelier, Amel le Cleac\u2019h, Yannick Bestaven, Thomas Colville, Kevin Escoffier and Brian Thompson.\r\n\r\nLinkedOut<\/em>\u2019s success, and that of co-skippers Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravi\u00e8re, came as a surprise to some, as the 2019 foiling<\/a> design had not appeared to reach her likely potential in previous races. Yet she held a lead of almost 200 miles at the finish in Martinique.\r\n\r\nSo what factors lay behind their success? The starting point was a change of mode to better suit two-handed racing after the 2020 solo Vend\u00e9e Globe, in which Ruyant finished less than 12 hours behind winner Bestaven.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136635\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" The Ultim Maxi Edmond de Rothschild added another win for Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas. Photo: Gitana[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe 2021 season had presented a new opportunity and challenge for the IMOCA class in the form of The Ocean Race Europe<\/a>, though few teams took up the gauntlet. Speaking in Le Havre before the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, Ruyant hinted this had been an important element in his boat\u2019s preparation, even though LinkedOut<\/em> finished 3rd out of the five entries. \u201cThe pre-season crewed races have given us tremendous progress in the micro details of the definitive understanding of our boat,\u201d he noted.\r\n\r\nLinkedOut<\/em> team manager Marcus Hutchinson confirmed that the crewed event was a key part of their boat development. \u201cThis was a great opportunity for us,\u201d Hutchinson told me after the Transat Jacques Vabre finish, explaining that the boat-on-boat speed comparisons most racing sailors are accustomed to, whether competing in one-design or IRC fleets, are next to impossible for solo and double-handed IMOCA sailors to achieve. They simply have too many other priorities to juggle and, in any case, on a long race the lateral separation of the boats quickly becomes too big to make meaningful comparisons.\r\n\r\nHowever, short two- or three-day legs with a team of four, on a race with little opportunity for the fleet to rapidly spread out, are a different matter. \u201cHaving other boats around gives reference points against which to measure your performance and try different settings \u2013 that\u2019s rare in IMOCA racing,\u201d Hutchinson added.\r\n\r\nOne of the most important outcomes was a big jump in downwind VMG speeds, especially in light and medium winds. This would prove decisive on the final stage of the Transat Jacques Vabre from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha to the finish in Martinique.\r\n\r\nBefore the start Ruyant had been clear that he expected LinkedOut<\/em> to have an advantage on this leg: \u201cWe expect downwind VMG conditions \u2013 the boat\u2019s favourite point of sail.\u201d But no one outside their team could have predicted the performance Ruyant and Lagravi\u00e8re would notch up at that stage.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136641\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravi\u00e8re aboard LinkedOut chasing Apivia for the lead on day three. Photo: LinkedOut[\/caption]\r\n\r\nLinkedOut<\/em> wasn\u2019t simply a bit quicker \u2013 she completed the last 2,000 miles an astonishing 12.5% faster than near-sistership Apivia<\/em>, despite the latter having only been an hour behind at the turning mark off Brazil.\r\n

Constant development<\/h2>\r\nThe process of refining the performance of a new IMOCA is not straightforward. For instance, LinkedOut<\/em> was fitted with third generation foils after The Ocean Race Europe to replace the set damaged during the Vend\u00e9e Globe. The water ballast system was also tweaked before the Transat Jacques Vabre.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe boats are all in a constant state of evolution,\u201d says Hutchinson, \u201cbut every change means the whole process has to start again.\u201d Given the boats generate gigabytes of data, this is a huge undertaking \u2013 the team has two engineers focussed full-time on data analysis.\r\n\r\nManaging team resources effectively is of huge importance \u2013 even with a big team of 15-16 people it\u2019s impossible to achieve everything you want. It\u2019s critical to be sure everyone is working on the right things at the right time.\r\n\r\nAs an example, the initial development of the boat was slowed by Covid, so at one point in the run-up to the Vend\u00e9e Globe the team\u2019s focus switched from optimising performance to maximising reliability.\r\n\r\nFor LinkedOut<\/em> the initial stages of the Transat Jacques Vabre were very different to the finish. Although the start from Le Havre was in early November, complex high pressure systems dominated the weather patterns, producing conditions for which the boat is not optimised.\r\n\r\nUnlike Apivia<\/em>, which has full hoist headsails, for example, she has short luff sails that are powerful when reaching, but comparatively slow upwind in light airs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136645\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" The TJV route is filled with complexity[\/caption]\r\n\r\nWeather forecasting is now so good that, even for a race of this length (5,800 miles, over 18 days), the LinkedOut<\/em> team was able to make a final decision on sail inventory 48 hours before the start. IMOCAs are only allowed to carry seven sails when racing, so this enabled a selection skewed towards light and medium winds to be used.\r\n\r\nEven so, at best the first part of the race would be a damage limitation exercise for Ruyant and Lagravi\u00e8re. It was frustratingly slow going for the entire 79-boat fleet at this stage \u2013 even the giant Ultim trimarans<\/a> were not immune from the ignominy of sliding backwards when the tide turned against them.\r\n\r\nNevertheless, LinkedOut<\/em> stayed in touch with the leading group of IMOCAs, albeit dropping to 7th in the 22-strong fleet in the early hours of the second day, shortly after passing Ushant. However, 10 hours later, the top five boats had compressed to be a mere 1.7 miles apart in terms of distance to finish, with a lateral separation on the water of 15 miles.\r\n\r\nOn day five LinkedOut<\/em> took the lead for the first time, holding it for 36 hours as the leaders passed Madeira and the Canary Islands. This pack remained lightly bunched as they continued south, with only four miles separating the first three boats \u2013 J\u00e9r\u00e9mie Beyou and Christopher Pratt\u2019s Charal<\/em><\/a>, Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat on Apivia<\/em> and LinkedOut<\/em> \u2013 while Sam Davies and Nicolas Lunven on Initiatives Coeur<\/em> were close behind in 4th.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136636\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Managing your own reserves as well as the resources onboard proved inportant, as the race was longer than many anticipated. Photo: Gitana[\/caption]\r\n\r\nSetting up to pass the Cape Verde islands proved a pivotal period in the race. Initiatives Coeur<\/em> continued south, close to the African coast, while the three leaders gybed to the west. But how far to go? Achieving success in such a closely-matched fleet is invariably a compromise between optimal weather routing tempered by the need to cover the fleet.\r\n\r\nCrucially, by this stage Hutchinson says the LinkedOut<\/em> sailors were confident of their speed advantage. The boats around them likely knew this too. Ruyant and Lagravi\u00e8re therefore had the luxury of being able to choose the optimal route, without worrying unduly about covering boats who could only get ahead by taking a risky flyer. Apivia<\/em> was first to gybe, and LinkedOut<\/em> last.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136638\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Credit Mutuel was a favourite in the Class 40 fleet, but a collision with an unidentified floating object scuppered her chances. Photo: Christophe Breschi[\/caption]\r\n\r\nA second gybe that evening saw the leading group converge again at average speeds of more than 20 knots. Charal<\/em> turned south first, LinkedOut<\/em> following 90 miles further west, and Apivia<\/em> following suit shortly afterwards. It was not long before LinkedOut<\/em> was enjoying a 5 knot speed advantage over Charal<\/em>, and a couple of knots over Apivia<\/em>. The latter then gybed off to the west, leaving LinkedOut<\/em> in a commanding strategic position in the middle of the three leaders.\r\n\r\nFor a while Apivia<\/em> had a better wind angle, but by the time they passed the Cape Verdes, with 60 miles of lateral separation between the two boats, LinkedOut was in a stronger vein of wind. She extended to a 75-mile advantage over the next 36 hours. Meanwhile Apivia<\/em> and Charal<\/em> were again matched almost neck and neck, fighting for second place.\r\n

All in the preparation<\/h2>\r\nAn oft-repeated clich\u00e9 in offshore racing is that \u2018to finish first, first you have to finish\u2019. Despite the lack of heavy weather, this edition of the Transat Jaques Vabre was not without incident, including two IMOCAs that dismasted. This highlights just how powered up these boats are when reaching in moderate conditions \u2013 they can average well over 20 knots of boat speed in only 16-20 knots of true wind.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136634\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Last minute checks and preparations for
Project Rescue Ocean in Le Havre. Photo: Jean-Louis Carli\/Alea[\/caption]\r\n\r\nObviously it\u2019s not possible to eliminate risk in a race of this type, but how do teams at this level ensure they can push hard without undue danger of breaking the boat?\r\n\r\nBrian Thompson and Alister Richardson (an America\u2019s Cup<\/a> veteran, who cut his teeth offshore as bowman of the MOD70 trimaran Argo<\/em>) had a tight window to prepare the seven-year-old Class 40<\/a> Tquila<\/em>, which they acquired only a few months before the race.\r\n\r\nThey set out for the 1,000-mile Transat Jacques Vabre qualifier shortly after taking over the boat, which revealed issues with the electrical set up that resulted in a total power loss while sailing past Alderney at night.\r\n\r\nAt that time the boat didn\u2019t have a separate engine start battery, so their best option was to sail with all electrics turned off for 12 hours to enable the fuel cell to pump out enough charge to restart the engine and give the batteries a proper recharge.\r\n\r\nBefore the race Thompson says they spent weeks solidly preparing the boat. Thompson didn\u2019t consider the existing storm jib arrangement to be up to the job, so the new sail is tacked down to a new padeye on the foredeck which is tied down to the hull and is set on furler gear. He reckons it\u2019s good for use in 40-plus knots, but can also be used as a genoa staysail.\r\n\r\nThe pair also gave the deck gear a thorough overhaul, replacing worn strops, control lines and so on.\r\n\r\nHutchinson told me each hour of training on board LinkedOut<\/em> generates around 100 hours of shore work. While performance analysis accounts for a good chunk of this time, the basics of constantly checking systems, running rigging, sails and so on, is incredibly time consuming. Yet it\u2019s the only way to be sure of a reliable boat, whether you\u2019re racing an IMOCA or a SunFast 3300.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136637\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" LinkedOut carried a spare set of mainsail
battens lashed to the stanchions. Photo: Kass Schmitt[\/caption]\r\n\r\nDespite the weight penalty, carrying the right spares can make the difference between getting back up to speed after a short delay and being compromised for the whole of the rest of the race. This applies even if the necessary parts are more than 9m (30ft) long and there\u2019s no obvious way to stow them neatly. LinkedOut<\/em>, for instance, set out on the race with a set of mainsail battens lashed to the stanchions above the toerail.\r\n\r\nBoat set up is only part of handling potentially difficult situations. In Le Havre Sam Goodchild, skipper of the Ocean 50 trimaran Leyton<\/em>, which won the 2021 Pro Sailing Tour and took 3rd in class in the Transat Jacques Vabre, explained to me: \u201cCommunication is really important \u2013 in advance of every new situation you have to discuss the plan. When are you expecting to change from a jib to a staysail; when should the storm sails be prepped for use?\u201d\r\n\r\nSimilarly, naval architect Merfyn Owen, who raced the TJV with Alex Mehran on the Class 40 Polka Dot<\/em>, says: \u201cA lot depends on a team\u2019s state of mind \u2013 do they approach heavy weather with caution, or revel in the conditions.\u201d Equally, he told me experience is an important factor, with youthful teams often tending to be either very cautious or somewhat gung-ho.\r\n\r\nEveryone I spoke to also highlighted that a new boat will need development work to gain maximum reliability. \u201cNewer boats tend to be more fragile,\u201d says Owen, \u201cso one that has only been afloat for four months will not be as reliable as one that has had two years of development work.\u201d It\u2019s therefore important to avoid the temptation to commit a new boat to an overly ambitious programme in the months after launching, which is why we didn\u2019t see Pip Hare\u2019s newly acquired Medallia<\/em> in the Transat Jacques Vabre.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136639\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Communication is key. Skipper Sam Goodchild says co-skippers should discuss every scenario change. Photo: Andre Carmo[\/caption]\r\n\r\nA new LinkedOut<\/em> is in build for the 2024 Vend\u00e9e Globe. However, Hutchinson says it will not be entered in the next Route de Rhum, despite next year\u2019s transat being an enormous event in the French racing calendar.\r\n\r\n\u201cOur take is that it\u2019s too early in the development of a new boat to be both competitive and reliable on a transatlantic race,\u201d he told me.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s telling that such an experienced team is taking this line. Hutchinson points to Charal<\/em>, which was launched less than three months before the 2018 Route de Rhum. She suffered a steering problem in the early stages of the race and had to return to Lorient for a week of repairs.\r\n\r\nThe day after setting out the second time the boat had a complete power failure. It\u2019s now known that the team came much closer to losing the brand new Charal<\/em> than reports at the time suggested; a sobering thought.\r\n\r\nAre there any lessons here for owners of cruising yachts? Even though they are less complex, new and recently refitted cruisers still invariably need a period of de-snagging. Speaking to charter yacht operators I know who ran a base with 70 yachts in the Aegean for 15 years, they reported that their most reliable boats were consistently in their second and third season.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_136643\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Initially new boats tend to be more fragile, says naval architect Merfyn Owen, who raced the Class 40 Polka Dot. Photo: Jean-Louis Carli\/Alea \/ TJV[\/caption]\r\n\r\nDespite their useful lead after the Cape Verdes the LinkedOut<\/em> sailors still had a critical part of the race to negotiate \u2013 the doldrums.\r\n\r\nIn the previous Transat Jacques Vabre Charal<\/em> had entered the ITCZ with a 200-mile lead, but this huge lead became a double-edged sword as it allowed the chasing boats to re-route when they saw her speed slow to a crawl. By the time Beyou emerged into the south-easterly tradewinds he had lost two places.\r\n

Holding the advantage<\/h2>\r\nThis time around, when LinkedOut<\/em> finally slowed to less than seven knots in the doldrums the two chasing boats were too close to route around her, although they clearly tried. When the trio emerged back into more steady winds, little more than 500 miles from Fernando de Noronha, LinkedOut<\/em> still held a 20-mile lead.\r\n\r\nFrom the turning mark onwards it was effectively a drag race to the finish, with LinkedOut<\/em>\u2019s superior downwind VMG allowing them to extend away along the edge of the exclusion zone off the South American coast.\r\n\r\nWhen she finished LinkedOut<\/em> had held a continuous lead for the last 60% of the course.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis victory has been in the making for several months, for several years, thanks to the great team working on this project,\u201d Ruyant said at the finish. \u201cA lot of things were done before the start. We were lucky enough to have a boat that was ultra-ready, in which we had confidence.\u201d\r\n\r\n[collection]\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n

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Thirty-one Class 40s started the CIC Normandy Channel Race on Sunday, 25 May, one of the first big races of the season. It had been a tough test from the outset, with 25 knots and a building forecast. By Tuesday there had been several retirements, including a collision between two boats on the start, a dismasting and gear failures. But the Class 40 is one of the most competitive fleets around \u2013 entries included Vend\u00e9e Globe legends Michel Desjoyeaux and Vincent Riou, such is the level of experience. The double-handed pairings had rounded the Isle of Wight, and were zigzagging their way across the English Channel and its tough tidal races. Jay Thompson, an American who has spent much of the last decade in France working with big IMOCA teams, was racing #Empowher with Irish co-skipper Pamela Lee. He recalls: \u201cIt was quite a hard race. We\u2019d had 25-35 knots of upwind, basically the entire race. So everyone was really tired.\u201d Faced with forecasts of 40+ knots in the Celtic Sea, race organisers had altered course to take the fleet back across the Ouessant Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS, or DST in French). This is common \u2013 the Class 40s, along with the Figaro and other classes, frequently race across the shipping areas, though the diversion meant this particular race would cross a TSS six times. \u201cWe had just passed the most southern mark,\u201d Thompson continues. \u201cWe were going upwind, but slightly open. It was like a tight reach, about 80\u00b0 or so true wind angle. At that time, there was 25 knots, pretty steady, with 28 knot gusts sometimes. So mostly everybody was sailing with a J1 and one reef in the main. We were on port tack, sailing north \u2013 basically to Fastnet, which was going to be our last mark before we came back to Caen, to finish. \u201cThere was pretty good visibility. And there were big waves, about 2.5m or so of swell because a large front had just passed through.\u201d Busy traffic C\u00e9dric de Kervenoa\u00ebl and Thomas Jourdren were about a mile ahead of #Empowher on their sistership Pogo S4 NST Cabinet Z. Not all the Class 40 skippers are pro sailors \u2013 de Kervenoa\u00ebl is a lawyer during the week, but has been offshore racing for 30 years, and in the Class 40 fleet for a decade. He is also class president. Co-skipper Jourdren, 25, is a pr\u00e9parateur for Class 40s and has competed in the Transat Jacques Vabre. De Kervenoa\u00ebl says: \u201cIt had been two days of really, really tough sailing because the boats are very hard now. The scows are not so difficult to sail, but difficult to live in. You cannot eat, you cannot sleep. \u201cWe crossed the Channel very, very quickly. And when we rounded the buoy, near Ouessant, it was about 1800-1900. We were preparing for about 15 hours of very [high] speed [sailing] and the wind to be stronger when we arrived at the Fastnet.\u201d \u201cI was not really …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1571,"featured_media":159719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1540],"tags":[653,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159709"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159721,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159709\/revisions\/159721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159709"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=159709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}