Record SNSM - the Jedi Master Sails to Victory

The racing fleet of IMOCA Open 60's made it back into the Loire Estuary this morning for the finish of the Record SNSM sailing race. The fleet was led by Gitana 80, which crossed the line at 0544:07GMT with an overall time of 1 day 12 hours 9 minutes and 7 seconds. YachtPal Loïck Peyron and his four crew – Cyril Dardashti, Antoine Mermod, Didier Le Vourc’h and Sébastien Thétiot – now add the Record SNSM to Gitana Eighty’s growing list of victories.

According to Loïck: “After what was a fairly average start on Sunday we were slightly behind but our first descent from Sainte Marine towards Saint Nazaire enabled us to make up some ground and overtake a fair number of our playmates. Yesterday, we did very well weaving our way along, particularly at the approach to Belle-Ile and on the passage of Ile de Groix. The move proved decisive. 2nd at the midway mark, during our passage at the entrance to the Loire Estuary yesterday, we kept gaining ground on Paprec- Virbac before getting ahead of them at the exit from the Baie de Quiberon. However, our lead really got a boost off Lorient when Jean-Pierre Dick, skipper of the latter, and his crew opted to pass beneath Groix (round the outside) and that cost them dearly. Aboard Gitana Eighty, we went for the other option, namely passing between the mainland and the island. That appeared to me to be a better option both in terms of the weather and the currents. The scenario as we exited Groix proved we'd made the right choice as we saw them downwind of us and we had a good lead. The second descent towards Saint Nazaire was concerned with controlling and optimising our speed and trajectory”

“There was a steady pace throughout the 36 hours of racing. We had five crew aboard Gitana Eighty (compared with six on the majority of the other boats), so there was always a fair amount of work on deck. You have to be on top of things in order to get the most out of the various weather phenomena and not cut down on the manœuvres… That’s what we did! The race was complicated in terms of strategy but very pleasant in terms of navigation: a medium breeze alternating with upwind sailing and reaching, the whole thing coloured by glorious sunshine… we couldn’t have hoped for better! This victory is reassuring on a number of levels” concluded Loïck Peyron, aka "The Jedi Master."

The IMOCA podium was filled out by VM Matériaux skippered by Jean Le Cam, and Cheminées Poujoulat skippered by Bernard Stamm. The race was tight and tactical, as the less than 45-minute spread among the top three IMOCA's shows. All classes saw tight competition in beautiful weather

The crew of Gitana Eighty on the Record SNSM: Loïck Peyron (Skipper), Cyril Dardashti, Antoine Mermod, Didier Le Vourc’h, and Sébastien Thétio.

-- RECORD SNSM RACE RESULTS --

IMOCA Class
1. Gitana Eighty (Loïck Peyron), finished at 0544:07GMT
2. VM Matériaux (Jean Le Cam), finished at 0616:12GMT
3. Cheminées Poujoulat (Bernard Stamm), finshed 0627:20GMT
4. Delta Dore (Jérémie Beyou), finished 0630:22GMT
5. Foncia (Michel Desjoyeaux), finished at 0649:27GMT
6. Paprec-Virbac (Jean-Pierre Dick), finished at 0703:43GMT
7. Ecover (Mike Golding), finished at 0711GMT

40 Class
1. CG Mer (Wilfrid Clerton)
2. Ixfun (Olivier Rabine)
3. Monbato (Damien Grimont)
4. Neurodon.fr (Christian Chardonnal)

Multi 2000 Class
1. Corsair Marine (Aymeric de Chezelles)
2. Interroll (Eric Dumont)
3. 600 vies sauvées (Martin Guillaume)
4. Restabern (Jean-Christophe Lair)

IRC Class
1. Aegide (Gilles Avril)
2. Print Eco (Thierry Sanchez)
3. SNSM Côte d’amour Lion’s Club (Dominic Bichon)
4. DCNS Esprit d’Entreprise (Yves Grellier)
5. Mordicus Offshore (Guillaume Hauser)
6. Naos (Jean-François Queldan)
7. Optimi’x (Franck Lang)
8. Merlin (Laurent Ducheny)
9. Brava (Erik Ranieri)
10. SNSM Le Croisic (Patrice Kergadallan)
11. Arlova (Jean-Claude Lancou)
12. La Baule Nautic (Nicolas Groleau)
13. Asgo (Gilles Buekenhout)

HN Class
1. Firbris Gigatest (Melody) – Gwénaël Ogier
2. Ubik 245 (Pogo 650) – Julien Masson
3. VSC Destineo (First 29) – Patrick Héroux
4. Prim Avel (Pogo 8,50) – François Bothorel
5. Vitamin Sea (Dufour 34) – Guillaume Bobrie
6. Groupe Fit Memoris (First 36.7) – Christophe Dalichampt
7. Macif 10 (Dufour 40) – Pierre Potier
8. Ad Libidum (Hanse 370) – Pierre Le Berre
9. SNSM Pornic Pays de Retz (J109) - Jean-Noël Tourin
10. Sauveteurs 1 (Dufour 525) – Jean-Michel Méhat
11. Ti Moun (First 260) – Cédric Andrieu
12. Destineo (First 32 GTE) – Serge Hardy
13. Hormiguero (Océanis 393) – Jean-Yves Fourmy

- BH for YachtPals / Photos by Yvan Vedda