New IMOCA upsets the formbook
French co-skippers Charlie Dalin and Yann Eliès surprised many pundits by winning the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre in October with a new Verdier-designed IMOCA 60, Apivia.
Apivia was one of five new generation foiling IMOCAS in the fleet. The doublehanded transatlantic race was highly anticipated as a predictor for next year’s Vendée Globe as well as being a key qualifier for many skippers. Having only launched in August, however, Apivia was not predicted to be as fast as Jérémie Beyou’s new Charal, which has had more than a year of preparation.
Dalin and Eliès seemed to be the faster of the new boats upwind, but the pair also shared a video of Charal sailing over the top of them under gennaker, apparently some 2-3 knots faster in light broad reaching conditions. Beyou and co-skipper Christopher Pratt extended their lead to some 120 miles and looked set for victory, before being stalled by a high-pressure system in the doldrums which saw Charal reduced to single figure boat speeds for days on end.
Dalin and Eliès took a more easterly course and were never stopped, going on to win comfortably. There was a tight battle for 2nd, with Kevin Escoffier and Nicolas Lunven sailing PRB to finish just six minutes ahead of Charal.
Apivia is a Guillaume Verdier design, and Dalin’s team is part of the Groupe Macif racing programme that includes 2012 Vendée winner Françcois Gabart.
Another new design which showed impressive speed during the race was the Verdier-designed Advens for Cybersecurity). Despite having to stop at Cherbourg just after the start of the race to repair their autopilot, Thomas Ruyant and Antoine Koch recovered to finish 5th, having sailed through most of the fleet.
Meanwhile, Yachting World columnist Pip Hare finished in 24th place on her older generation 2000 vintage boat, after a duel with Alexia Barrier and
Joan Mulloy, beating them by a mere 11 minutes after 18 days of racing.