Défi-Azimut: "Charal" is Transat favourite, Team Malizia boosts self-confidence
The largest Défi Azimut in its history with 34 boats came to an end on Sunday with the speed runs off Lorient. After the victory of Jérémie Beyou's new rocket "Charal" in the 48-hour race, the newcomers came out on top: Yoanne Richomme's "Paprec Arkea" and Charlie Dalin's "Macif - Santé Prévoyance" relegated "Charal" to third place. The boats of the latest Imoca generation were thus also able to impressively demonstrate their potential.
The Imoca top has become wider
The overall winners of the 13th edition in challenging autumn conditions are Jérémie Beyou and Franck Cammas on "Charal". The black rocket impressed with consistently high speeds and controlled flight mode. Even more impressive in the Le Défi Azimut, however, was the overall high level of performance and the broad top group.
Antoine Mermod also saw it that way. The president of the Imoca class said: "The competition is incredibly close. We can see that the skippers are not afraid to attack in a wide variety of conditions. Three or four boats have shown outstanding performances, but a good 15 boats are sailing at a very high level." It was only five years ago that the then sensational VPLP design "Charal" (Mk I) was the first Imoca to sail with foils at the Défi Azimut 2018.
Five years after the foil première of "Charal", the performance level in the Imoca class has risen enormously
The astonishing images went around the world at the time, leaving behind enthusiastic but also sceptical observers. Five years later, the 13th Défi Azimut show was strong proof that things are progressing in leaps and bounds on the technical front. In the final of the speed runs, the twelve best foiling imocas travelled through the mint green waters of Les Courreaux de Groix at speeds of between 30 and 35 knots, leaving behind unforgettable images.
The new "Charal" - a Manuard design from last year for Jérémie Beyou, who took part in the Défi Azimut this year with jack-of-all-trades Franck Cammas - was narrowly beaten by "Paprec Arkea" and "Macif - Prévoyance" in the final of the speed runs. However, with an average speed of 30.2 knots, it was "Charal" that shone with the best time over the day. Beyou and Cammas thus put one last big exclamation mark behind their victory in the 48-hour race.
Everyone has a chance of finishing at the top" (Antoine Mermod)
At the same time, "Macif - Santé Prévoyance" (Charlie Dalin/Pascal Bidégorry) and "Paprec Arkéa" (Yoann Richomme/Yann Eliès), the youngest generation of foilers from this year, were able to demonstrate what they are capable of. But the Défi Azimut organisers also noted in their final announcement: "Everyone has a chance of finishing in the top places. This also applies to boats like 'Malizia - Seaexplorer' (Boris Herrmann/Will Harris) and Biotherm (Paul Meilhat/Mariana Lobato), which took part in The Ocean Race and gained a lot of experience during their sprint around the world."
Boats such as "For the Planet" (Sam Goodchild/Thomas Ruyant), which came third in the 48-hour race over 600 nautical miles, and "Teamwork" (ex-"Charal Mk 1") with Justine Mettraux and Julien Villion in sixth place showed that even the slightly older boats are capable of impressive performances if they are sailed well. The only downer when looking back on the 13th Défi Azimut is the as yet unexplained mast breakage on "Corum L'Épargne".
Boris Herrmann with humour and ambition for the Transat Jacques Vabre
Boris Herrmann and Will Harris also did well on "Malizia - Seaexplorer" after the summer refit. An incorrect waypoint approach cost them a possible top five result in the 48-hour race. The new Imocas may be very fast, but "Malizia - Seaexplorer" is keeping up. Her crew will also be able to count on the reliability of the German-flagged Imoca, which has been tried and tested in The Ocean Race.
Boris Herrmann commented with humour on the intensive test for all Imocas on their course for the Transat Jacques Vabre, which starts on 29 October: "It's almost unfair that the rest of the fleet found weather conditions in this 48-hour race for which we had to sail around the world. On the circuit in the Bay of Biscay, we had almost Southern Ocean conditions at times."
We were very fast under certain conditions" (Boris Herrmann)
For Team Malizia, the Défi Azimut was the first competition since the Ocean Race, which finished at the beginning of July. It offered Boris Herrmann and Will Harris a good opportunity to get back into two-handed sailing and train for the Transat Jacques Vabre. Boris Herrmann was "satisfied" with two seventh places in the 48-hour race and the speed runs.
The 42-year-old five-time circumnavigator's summary: "The race went well, the boat was perfectly prepared, we had no problems and were quite fast in certain conditions. We changed a few things during the summer refit and they seem to be working well. They make the boat faster and we are very happy about that."
Boris Herrmann: "The Défi Azimut gave us a lot of self-confidence"
Commenting on the 48-hour race, Boris Herrmann said: "We made a few navigational errors during the race. If we hadn't made them, we might have been able to keep up with the group at the front of the fleet. But we are satisfied, and this race, which brought us our first confrontation with the new, strong boats in the fleet, was important and good training for the Transat Jacques Vabre next month. I think we can do well. The Défi Azimut has given us a lot of confidence."
Will Harris is also positive about the Transat Jacques Vabre: "We had more different weather conditions in this race than on some Ocean Race legs. It was a good test for us to learn how to set up the boat in different configurations. It's great to be racing in such a big fleet again. The standard is very high, but with our experience we are in a really good position. I think we can do very well in the Transat Jacques Vabre."
