Transat Quebec-St Malo Race

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Fenetre Cardinal has hit some light conditions approaching the finish they have about 49nm to go. Defi Quebec St Malo Agglo have moved into second place and are heading North towards Fastnet Rock Vers un Monde sans Sida have slipped to third. In the half boats Campagne de France are leading the Class 40 fleet and Vento Di Sardegna is the leading monohull in the open fleet (fourth place overall). The mono fleet (open and class40) heads straight to St Malo the multi's detour for some sight seeing round the Fastnet.

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Erwan Le Roux on FenêtréA Cardinal 3 overall winner of the 8th Québec Saint-Malo. Fenetre ghosted into St Malo on the lightest of breeze after an impressive transatlantic crossing. Their closest competitor still has 534nm to sail and are yet to round the Fastnet Rock at the southern tip of Ireland.

La Trinité based skipper Erwan Le Roux on the trimaran FenêtréA Cardinal 3 has won the 8th edition of the classic west to east transatlantic race by crossing the line under the imposing walls of the old city of Saint Malo today, August 1st 2012, at 07:56:05 local time

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More from Erwan Le Roux on the race.

FenêtréA Cardinal 3 total elapsed time is 9 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes and 5 seconds for an average speed of 14,27 knots to cover 3,288 miles. The 50' trimaran also broke the previous reference time, set by Escoffier in 2008.

This is the first major offshore victory for Erwan Le Roux, after the success in the 2009 double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre with Franck Yves Escoffier. The Multi50 FenêtréA Cardinal is the former Crêpes Whaou 3, the winning crew is composed by Erwan Le Roux Antoine Carpentier, Mathieu Souben and Yvon Cardinal

Just moments after his arrival in Saint Malo, an happy Erwan Le Roux, skipper of FenêtréA Cardinal 3 declared: “The race was a two-stages thing. First the fantastic start in Québec, the descent of the St Lawrence, with all those marks to round. It was a real show, with so many spectators waiting and cheering for us. Later it was harder, with some upwind sailing and the boat slamming and suffering in that choppy, confused sea. It was hard. We really had to wait for the right moment to attack and get 100% out of the boat, but in the end we managed to do that for four full days and we were able to choose our course across the Atlantic. It was amazing, and we will all remember that forever. From the Fastnet Rock to Perros and here to Saint Malo it was a bit crazy... we rounded the Fastnet in the morning and got to Sept Iles in the afternoon, mad. The boat is incredible because she lets you reach high speeds while feeling always safe. We needed to take a reef sometimes and there was someone at the mainsail trim all the time, but we never nosedived or crashed heavily. The boat is extraordinary. I'm convinced that a 7 days record is still possible with a Multi50, we made a lot of extra miles, especially towards the finish, but if one can make some gain all over the course, the record is feasible.”

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Giles Lamire's ORMA60 Defi Quebec St Malo Agglo and Erik Nigon's Multi50 Vers un Monde sans Sida are approaching the turning point at Fastnet rock and sailing within .8nm of each other it looks like they might go neck and neck till the finish in the battle for second place.

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The second and third placed trimarans have passed the turning point at the Fastnet and are now headed for St Malo. Giles Lamire's ORMA60 Defi Quebec St Malo Agglo has about 177nm to go to finish and Erik Nigon's Multi50 Vers un Monde sans Sida is about 6.8nm astern at this point still anyones race.

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All of the multis have now arrived Gilles Lamire and the crew on Defi Quebec St Malo Agglo ORMA managed to hold off the challenge from Erik Nigon and crew on the Multi50 Vers un Monde sans Sida. In the end they finished about 20 minutes apart. Well done to the multi crews!

Here are the extracts from the news:

Gilles Lamiré crossed the line today at 20:09(FR)!

Aug 02, 2012

By crossing the line today at 20:09:04 Gilles Lamiré and his crew on Défi Saint-Malo Agglo have finished in second in the 8th Transat Québec Saint-Malo in the Open class.Their total elapsed time is 11 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes and 45 seconds and they have covered 3,224 miles at an average speed of 12,1 knots.

Nigon crossed the line today at 20L30(FR)!

Aug 02, 2012

Erik Nigon skippering Multi50 trimaran Vers un Monde sans Sida finished in third of the Open class, crossing the line in Saint Malo on Thursday August 2nd at 20:30: 23 local time. Total elapsed time is 11 days, 2 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds to cover 3,160 miles at an average speed of 11,84 knots.

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Videos of the arrival of the Multi's in St Malo from the Transat Quebec - St Malo website

First
Fenetre Cardinal (Multi50)

http://vimeo.com/46746732

Second
Defi Quebec St Malo Agglo (ORMA 60)

Third
Vers un Monde sans SIDA (Multi50)

http://vimeo.com/46845212

I was watching the video of Fenetre Cardinal and sympathised with their ghosting along at the end guess if you have to do that a lightweight high powered racing trimaran is the best way! They were still making good way with the floats barely skimming the water.

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Destopnews have a small section in the latest video at 5-40 talking about the Transat Quebec - St Malo and Erwan Le Roux on Fenetre Cardinal. I watch the whole videos from Des they offer a good snapshot on whats happening in the sail racing world.