Route du Rhum--monohulls

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by Doug Lord, Sep 20, 2018.

  1. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Pressure Drop - Final Tune Up For Route du Rhum http://www.pressure-drop.us/forums/content.php?8603-Final-Tune-Up-For-Route-du-Rhum
    Excerpt-Azimut Challenge:

    From 21st to 23rd September, the eighth Azimut Challenge will bring together in Lorient La Base, an eclectic line-up with a record-breaking 15 IMOCAs taking part. This event has become one not to miss on the race calendar for the IMOCA class, even if it does not count towards the Globe Series. With a month and a half to go to the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, this will be a final opportunity for the sailors to see how they measure up against each other. On Friday at five in the afternoon, they will set off at the start of an intense 24-hour solo race. On Sunday, they will take part in speed runs, before a crewed race around the island of Groix.

    Out of the 22 sailors registered for the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe in the IMOCA category, no fewer than fifteen will take part in the Azimut Challenge. This goes to show how important this event has become for the class. "For the IMOCA, now based in Lorient, the Challenge is a great opportunity to meet up with the skippers, teams and their partners," explained Antoine Mermod, President of the IMOCA.

    Battle between foilers("foil assist" boats in this case!)

    Almost two-thirds of the fleet registered for this eighth Azimut Challenge are foilers. Nine of the fifteen IMOCAs taking part are fitted with these appendages. Everyone is looking forward to watching the first battle fought by Jérémie Beyou's magnificent Charal. He is currently getting used to his new boat and has just completed his qualifier for the Route du Rhum (1200 miles sailed solo). "I m here without any clear race goals, which is unusual for me," declared Jérémie. "With the team, I'm still finding out about the boat and ensuring the reliability of this highly complicated IMOCA. It's going to take some time to get used to her and get the most out of her. The Azimut Challenge will enable me to settle in in race mode and continue to work on the boat."
    The winner of the last IMOCA race, the Dhream Cup, British sailor, Sam Davies (Initiatives-Cœur) is setting off with some high ambitions: "The level will be a notch higher in the Azimut Challenge with more competitors, and more foilers. It's going to be more complicated getting onto the podium. I'd like to sail cleanly and make the right choices to keep up with the other foilers, and in particular, the IMOCAs from the 2016 generation."

    Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Art et Fenêtres) will also be watching closely the performance of the other IMOCAs with foils: "It's going to be interesting to watch Vincent Riou and PRB – she's a boat from 2010 to which he has fitted foils, but they are lighter than those in the 2016 generation. As for Ucar-St Michel, we know the boat has a lot of potential as shown by Jean-Pierre Dick, and more recently Yann Eliès, who has got his hands on a tried and tested boat. I'll be watching in particular to see how Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline – Artipôle) and Alan Roura (La Fabrique) do after fighting it out with them in the Vendée Globe, as they too have decided to fit foils on their boats."
    --------------------------------
    The line-up for the 2018 Azimut Challenge(Note: "Foiler" means a "foil assisted" IMOCA 60-the class rules prevent full foiling!) :
    Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Art et Fenêtres) - Foiler
    Romain Attanasio (Pure-Famille Mary)
    Jérémie Beyou (Charal) - Foiler
    Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline-Artipôle) - Foiler
    Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée 2) - Foiler
    Manuel Cousin (Groupe Sétin)
    Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Cœur) - Foiler
    Yann Eliès (Ucar-StMichel) - Foiler
    Boris Herrmann (Malizia 2-Yacht Club de Monaco) - Foiler
    Isabelle Joschke (Monin)
    Stéphane Le Diraison (Time For Oceans)
    Paul Meilhat (SMA)
    Erik Nigon (Vers un monde sans SIDA)
    Vincent Riou (PRB) - Foiler
    Alan Roura (La Fabrique) - Foiler

    ========================

    I still have a hard time when "foil assist" boats are called "foilers". It just perpetuates the confusion of the masses especially when a "foiler" doesn't perform all that well. It seems that in many cases the people doing the writing have no clue and use the word "foiler" because of the extraordinary interest in real foilers and /or ,I guess, because they like the sound of it. Oh, well.........dl
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2018
  2. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

    Thanks Doug for this thread, in complement here is the Azimuth Challenge web site (in French only .....) with all info to follow this warm-up event 21 to 23 sept :
    https://www.defi-azimut.net/
     
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  3. wet feet
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    wet feet Senior Member

    As it happens,I was in Lorient during the week and have a few image files on my camera.Its a bit late in the day and its raining,so I won't be going out to the car to grab my camera.However there will be something over the weekend.
     
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  4. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

  5. Dolfiman
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

  6. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

  7. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Thanks for the updates! I'm not sure but I thought there was a second part of the racing on Sunday which the Charal team was going to try to make?
     
  8. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member

    Yes, a second race is expected Sunday, either Round Groix Island or Runs , weather depending. And Charal hopes to participate if its electronics works again.
     
  9. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Its hard to tell but in the video Charal seemed very fast with significantly more of the boat out of the water. Such a disappointment that she had electronics problems! Video of the start:
     
  10. wet feet
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    wet feet Senior Member

    Some pictures of the boats.
    SMA.JPG


    SMA stern view.JPG
     
  11. wet feet
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    wet feet Senior Member

    Initiatives-Couer arriving and in the background you can see the burnt out shell of the former Groupama base.

    Initiatives-couer.JPG

    This was the view across the marina.

    view across marina.JPG

    I have a few more if there is any interest.
     
  12. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Love to see more! Thanks!!
    PS-what happened to the Groupama base? Was that a factor in them pulling their sponsorship of Frank Cammas?
     
  13. wet feet
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    wet feet Senior Member

    I think the Groupama base fire occurred after the decision to cease cup participation.A couple of views of Charal,one of which made me wonder quite what you might define as a sheer line and where it could be located.Have we moved beyond such concepts now that hulls are modelled in 3D?


    Charal stern view.JPG

    Charal acrosss marina.JPG

    Charal topsides.JPG

    Finally,for now,a recommendation for Doug;by hook or by crook you should get to Southern Brittany some time.From the boats at Fouesnant and La Trinite via the wonderful selection in Lorient there is much to see. In Lorient alone there are the glamorous Open 60's and a few 40's combined with Figaro boats and a dozen or so Mini-Transats.Add to this the museum devoted to Eric Tabarly,the IACC boat to look over and the chance to go for a sail on a Pen Duick and you have a fascinating place to explore.I haven't even mentioned the submarine to explore and the WW2 submarine pens in any depth (excuse the pun).
     
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  14. Dolfiman
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    Dolfiman Senior Member


  15. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    =================================
    Sounds like magnificent place!
     
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