Transat Quebec Saint Malo - Bad Wind, Bad Bump, Good People

Newfoundland, Canada - It has been a slog for the boats sailing in the 2008 Transat Quebec Saint Malo, and a miserable one at that. With the trimaran Crêpes Whaou being the first boat to clear Newfoundland, the speeds are beginning to pick up, and the sprint across the Atlantic has begun.

Last night, the IMOCA 60 Cervin EnR struck a UFO they assume was a "sea creature" and did major damage to the port rudder bearing on the vessel. Yannick Bestaven and his crew made the call to divert for emergency repairs, and safely made landfall at Port aux Basques. Hopefully the repairs can be made in time to get the yacht back in the race.

Another yacht, the large monohull Saint-Malo Team skippered by Denis Douillez, destroyed their main sail track and had to stop in Matane (on the Gaspésie coast) Thursday. The locals rallied to the aid of the vessel, and got the crew and boat back in the race in no time. The captain commented: "On arriving in Matane yesterday we were a little demoralised as we wondered how on earth we could get the necessary parts over 800 km from Montreal: two metres of track, plus 15 inserts. That was before we considered the kindness of the inhabitants of Matane. In addition we were given fresh supplies of drinks and smalls desserts. We should take to the sea again this evening with the promise that we will return here one day”.

Transat Quebec Saint Malo 2008 Entrants

Class 50' Open

• Pierre ANTOINE
  Imagine
• Hervé CLÉRIS
  Prince de Bretagne
• Hervé DE CARLAN
  Délirium
• Victorien ERUSSARD
  Laiterie de Saint-Malo
• Franck-Yves ESCOFFIER
  Crêpes Whaou!
• Pascal QUINTIN
  Forget Formation

Class 40

• François ANGOULVANT
  Fermiers de Loué-Sarthe
• Patrice CARPENTIER
  Les Entreprises Lorraines
• Gwenc'hlan CATHERINE
  SAIPEM - Leadership In Safety
• Pierre-Yves CHATELIN
  Destination Calais
• Christophe COATNOAN
  Groupe Partouche
• Jean-Edouard CRIQUIOCHE
  Esprit large - Talmont Saint-Hilaire
• Tanguy DE LAMOTTE
  NOVEDIA Group - S.E.T. environnement
• Gilles DUTOIT
  Techneau
• Éric GALMARD
  Khat 7
• Alain GRINDA
  Rêv'86
• Peter HARDING
  40 Degrees
• Boris HERRMANN
  Beluga Racer
• Oliver KRAUSS
  Mistral Loisirs - Pôle santé Elior
• Halvard MABIRE
  Pogo Structures
• Yvan NOBLET
  Appart'City
• Benoît PARNAUDEAU
  Prévoir Vie
• Giovanni SOLDINI
  Télécom Italia
• Philippe VALLÉE
  Groupe SEFICO

FICO

• Yannick Bestaven
  Cervin ENR
• Christophe Bullens
  An Ocean of Smiles
• Denis Douillez
  Saint Malo Team
• Georges Leblanc
  Port de Québec

Transat Quebec Saint Malo Ranking July 25 21:00 UTC

Class 50' Open

1 Victorien ERUSSARDLaiterie de Saint-Malo (photo above)
2 Pierre ANTOINEImagine
3 Pascal QUINTINForget Formation

Class 40

1 Giovanni SOLDINITélécom Italia
2 Tanguy DE LAMOTTENOVEDIA Group - S.E.T. environnement
3 Halvard MABIREPogo Structures

FICO

1 Christophe BULLENSAn Ocean of Smiles (photo below)
2 Georges LEBLANCPort de Québec
NL Yannick BESTAVENCervin ENR

- YC for YachtPals.com

Video: Departure of the Transatlantic race Quebec Saint Malo (Départ de la Transat Québec Saint-Malo 2008).