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Giancarlo Pedote and Gaston Morvan on Prysmian Groupe finish 11th on theTransat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre in the IMOCA category (before jury)

Giancarlo Pedote and young French co-skipper Gaston Morvan on Prysmian Group finished at 16:17:27 local time (20:17:27 UTC), on Monday 20th November. Their race time was 13 days 11 hours 47 minutes 27 seconds. The duo sailed the theoretical 3750 miles between Le Havre and Fort-de-France at an average speed of 11.61 knots. Out on the water, they actually sailed 5192.89 miles averaging 16.04 knots. They finished 1 day, 14 hours, 14 minutes and 56 seconds after the IMOCA winner..

Pedote, who was eighth on the last Vendée Globe and sixth on the 2021Transat Jacques Vabre, has updated his IMOCA over last winter and the previous one – changing to bigger foils and modifying the bow section of his VPLP-Verdier design which started life as Jean Pierre Dick’s Virbac Paprec. Winner of the Multi 50 class in 2015 with Erwan Le Roux, the Italian skipper has sailed the double handed season with Morvan,26, who is well established as a top Figaro racer and already this season finished second on the Transat Paprec mixed double handed race from Concarneau to Saint Barths. 

It was reported yesterday that fitness fanatic, ex boxer Pedote had been ill and he looked pale, drawn and very low on energy, confirming tonight that Morvan has been sailing the boat solo for the last few days. Nonetheless he said he was happy they had achieved their targets. 

Gaston Morvan: The final days were complicated as you can imagine, but it was a great race. At the end, I just wanted to bring the boat safely here. I felt a bit powerless. Eleventh place is where we should be I think. I now understood how violent it can be on an IMOCA in a front. It was atrocious. There are times when it is great aboard these boats, but sometimes it is very tough. 

Giancarlo Pedote: I am pleased because with Gaston we aimed to sail quickly, find the right trajectory and have a good time and that’s what we did. We dealt with the fronts. In terms of communicating we did well. I don’t know what happened to me after that. It wasn’t after a big effort. It was ironic because I had got through the big fronts and the storms OK but it was when we were downwind on the motorway that I started to feel bad. A temperature of 40 degrees. I felt hot and cold. I was useless, so Gaston did everything alone. We couldn’t fight any more. At one point I tried to work at the winch, but I just had to go back inside. I can tell you Gaston is able to gybe all by himself

Benjamin Dutreux and Corentin Horeau on Guyot Environnement – Water Family, the former Hugo Boss, finished at 12:26:10 local time (16:26:10 UTC), on Monday 20th November. Their race time was 13 days 7 hours 56 minutes and 10 seconds. The duo sailed the theoretical 3750 miles between Le Havre and Fort-de-France at an average speed of 11.75 knots. Out on the water, they actually sailed 5130.87 miles averaging 16.04 knots. They finished 1 day, 10 hours 23 minutes and 39 seconds after the IMOCA winner.

First words from Benjamin Dutreux and Corentin Horeau (Guyot Environnement – Water Family)

Benjamin Dutreux: A fantastic moment arriving here. Our problems? We broke our lazy jack. A foil problem. We didn’t have much in terms of sails at the end. A hole in our sail, in fact. We found what we were looking for. A nice race out of the Channel, but a bit too busy with DIY around the Azores. The group ahead was impressive and got away from us. Then, we saw those behind were catching us. We made progress together. We weren’t looking for comfort. We took what we needed for food and sleep and focused on performance

Corentin Horeau: I was a bit surprised by the boat. I’d like to do it again. It’s quite something to be able to finish the race. Many didn’t finish. We managed to repair and solve our problems. I’m pleased to have finished ahead of some of my Figaro rivals. We are in the best of shape, but suffered a lot with the noise.

Clarisse Crémer: We’re pleased to be here. We fulfilled all our ambitions, the main one was to finish. We had a lot of downwind sailing. We had some little problems at the start but the team had prepared the boat well. People have different ambitions, so different options were taken during the race. There were times when we thought we hadn’t trimmed well. We learnt a lot. I didn’t know all the settings. The boat sails at speed by herself. It’s almost as if we were cheating…

On the first night, in some nasty conditions we had a pocket of water in the sail. I was sick everywhere.  Then, we had engine problems, but sorted that out. We lost some wind instruments. It’s with the problems that you better understand the boat. None of the problems really cost us much time.  

We didn’t know each other before July, but we have complementary experiences. We’re the same age. The same frustrations. The same level of competition. So we got on well together. I am exhausted. The violent movement of the boat is tiring. But it’s normal I suppose due to the lack of sleep.

Alan Roberts: We got on well together. We learnt a lot. Our competitive side wanted to go north, but as a sailor, we decided to go south. This is a fantastic boat. The goal was to discover the boat, the systems. This is a great boat for Clarisse for the Vendée Globe. 

We’re more or less on a direct route towards Martinique. The weather charts announce an area of light winds at the end of the race course and a gybe before the finish to come up from the South.  The past few hours haven’t given us much rest. The wind isn’t stable, neither in strength nor direction.  There is a swell hitting the beam, which isn’t making things easy. We keep adjusting the autopilot or steer ourselves. We must be getting less wind than some of our rivals, who are making faster progress. We remain focused and hope to pick up some more wind like them. The weather charts are not very close to what is really happening, so we are not feeling confident. There are quite a few boats not far from us in terms of distance to the finish, but there are big variations in terms of positioning, so any slight changes in the wind can have a big effect. 

Alan Roura and Simon Koster

Last night, we fought a bit harder in the squalls and wind shifts than our rivals. That has taken us slightly further north of the group. This has led to us climbing up the rankings, but we can’t say if it will work out in the end. We should get a better angle than our friends, but less wind. We’ll see what happens. We’re attempting some small strategy plays to try to get back up with the group that is much too far ahead for our liking. 

Cédric Château and Guilluame Pirouelle

On Friday 17th November, Giancarlo PEDOTE decided to contact the Race Doctor after some dizzy spells and feeling unable to stand up in the boat. He has a high temperature and is dehydrated. 

In permanent contact with the Race Doctor over the past 72 hours, his condition is stable, but Pedote must get some rest and avoid strenuous exercise to look after himself. 

After twelve days of racing in the Transat Jacques Vabre – Normandie Le Havre, Giancarlo PEDOTE and Gaston MORVAN, are due to cross the finish line this evening in Fort de France (Martinique). Now in the final stretch, they hope to make it to the top ten in the IMOCA rankings.

Maxime Sorel:
We’re pleased to have arrived here in Martinique. I’m pleased to have done this race with Christopher. We both enjoyed it.
We didn’t get straight into the race after 9 days of waiting in Le Havre. We didn’t make too mistakes and can be proud. We were missing a sail and the wind gear, so weren’t at 100%. The new boats are certainly fast. I don’t know what the Vendée Globe will be like, but they will be extremely fast in the Southern Ocean. 
I’m a bit disappointed not to be with the others in the group ahead. The foils whistle and at these speeds, I think I have become deaf. We achieved very good average speeds. It is still very wet aboard all the time. It’s hard to get the bow up on this boat.
We looked at the north. Teamwork gained a place by going for that option. We would have been alone up there. In the South we worked on the boat and learnt a lot. So, no regrets. 
 

Christopher Pratt: 
It went smoothly with Maxime. I feel a bit frustrated. We missed out in the Canaries and didn’t find the speed downwind. We spent two hours recovering the sail when the hook broke and the sail was not as efficient after that. We would have been with the group ahead if that hadn’t happened.  As soon as the boat or the men aren’t at 100%, you can’t succeed. But there were others forced to turn back, so we’ve nothing to be ashamed of.

Maxime Sorel and Christopher Pratt on V and B – Monbana - Mayenne finished at 01:53:01 local time (05:53:01 UTC), on Monday 20th November. Their race time was 12 days 21 hours 23 minutes and 1 second. The duo sailed the theoretical 3750 miles between Le Havre and Fort-de-France at an average speed of 12.15 knots. Out on the water, they actually sailed 5390.05 miles averaging 17.42 knots. They finished 23 hours 50 minutes and 30 seconds after the IMOCA winner.