Transat AG2R La Mondiale.- Roland Jourdain cerca del podio provisional

Opción Norte NO, opción Sur SI.

Los veteranos de la Vendée Globe están experimentando todos los estados posibles de ánimo, desde el éxito a la decepción en la Transat AG2R LA MONDIALE. La opción norte ha demostrado que no va a dar beneficio alguno, en particular para las tripulaciones dirigidas por Michel Desjoyeaux, Jean Le Cam y Kito de Pavant. Por otro lado, en el sur, el que resurge con fuerza es Bilou. 


La suerte está echada en la Transat AG2R, la regata Figaro entre Concarneau y Saint Barth: los navegantes deberán descender hacia el sur, hasta las islas de Cabo Verde para encontrar los ansiados alisios. Por desgracia para los de la opción norte, la estrategia de seguir la ruta directa no funcionó. El role de viento que buscaban nunca se materializó y se vieron obligados a poner proa al sur antes de lo que habían imaginado. Una pena para Jean Le Cam y Gildas Mahé, a bordo del Concepto Interface, Michel Desjoyeaux y Corentin Horeau a bordo del Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Performance, así como Kito de Pavant y Gwenael Gbick navegando a bordo del Made in Midi. Ahora van a tener que trabajar duro si quieren alcanzar las posiciones de podio ya que los navegantes de la opoción sur, spinnaker izado, han transformado el déficit de 200 millas en una ventaja de más de 100 millas a lo largo del fin de semana.

Roland Jourdain y Martin Le Pape a bordo de La Cornouaille © Alexis Courcoux

1300 millas hasta Saint Barth

Con menos de 1300 millas por babor navegando en los alisios antes de llegar a Gustavia (capital de Saint-Barth), las diferencias en la velocidad hablan por sí mismas. Esta situación va a provocar que los navegantes de la opción norte puedan rematar hasta con 24 horas de diferencia con respecto a los de la opción sur. Hay que añadir que a principios de este fin de semana, hubo una segunda desarboladura en la regata. Después de Gildas Morvan y de Charlie Dalin Cercle Vert a principio de la regata, esta vez les tocó a Thierry Chabagny y Gedimat de Erwan Tabarly perder el mástil. Puede ser una coincidencia, pero ambos fueron desarbolados con vientos que no eran tan fuertes cuando lideraban la flota. Chabagny y Tabarly se dirigen a Madeira con un aparejo de fortuna.

Siempre hacia el sur, Lunven y Péron lideran la ruta.


En el sur están acelerando... El mejor clasificado, de entre los que participaron en la Vendée Globe, es Roland Jourdain y su joven co-patrón, Martin Le Pape a bordo del Figaro Bénéteau La Cornouaille. Al mediodía de hoy martes se encontraban en el cuarto lugar a tan solo nueve millas del trío de cabeza. El líder, al que le faltan 1280 millas para cruzar la línea de meta, Nicolas Lunven y Eric Péron a bordo del Generali han encontrado la buena velocidad y tienen una ventaja de 14 millas sobre el Safran -Guy Cotten de Gwenolé Gahinet y Paul Meilhat, 26 millas sobre el Skipper Macif de Fabien Delahaye y Yoann Richomme y 35 millas sobre el Cornouaille de Bilou y Martin Le Pape. La batalla se está librando entre los cuatro barcos; la pelea por el podio de esta Transat AG2R está servida.

A modo de anécdota, Roland Jourdain terminó en cuarto lugar en dos ocasiones en esta regata, en 1996 y en 2006, pero podemos estar seguros de que preferiría repetir su éxito de 1992 donde acabó tercero y, sobre todo mejor que en 1994, fecha en la que hace exactamente diez años que Bilou ganó la Transat AG2R junto a un navegante desconocido, un tal Jean Le Cam.

En el norte, van a estar luchando cuerpo a cuerpo por un puesto de honor con una batalla continua entre Kito de Pavant, Jean Le Cam y Michel Desjoyeaux, los cuales han elegido cada uno diferentes latitudes para tratar de mitigar sus pérdidas. Ellos ya no pueden luchar por ganar, pero la batalla entre ellos va a ser todo un espectáculo.

Transat AG2R LA MONDIALE
Clasificación a las 11:00 de hoy 22 de April.
(posición, patrones, barco, distancia)

1.- Nicolas Lunven / Eric Péron – Generali,  1282 millas a meta
2.- Gwenolé Gahinet / Paul Meilhat – Safran Guy Cotten, a 14.4 millas del líder
3.- Fabien Delahaye / Yoann Richomme - Skipper Macif, a 26.2 millas del líder
4.- Roland Jourdain / Martin Le Pape – La Cornouaille, a 35.2 millas del líder
5.- Gérald Véniard / Jeanne Grégoire – Scutum, a 53.9 millas del líder
6.- Alexia Barrier / Laurent Pellecuer - 30 Corsaires, a 84.6 millas del líder
7.- Gwenael Gbick / Kito de Pavant - Made in Midi, a 102.2 millas del líder
8.- Simon Troel / Ronan Treussart – Entreprendre en Cornouaille, a 126.1 millas del líder
9.- Jean Le Cam / Gildas Mahé - Interface Concept, a 166.8 millas del líder
10.- Yannig Livory/Guillaume Farsy – Lorientreprendre, a 232.1 millas del líder
11.- Corentin Horeau/Michel Desjoyeaux – Bretagne Crédit Mutuel, a 240.5 millas del líder
12.- Nicolas Thomas/François Guilbourdin - Guadeloupe Grand Large 2, a 301.0 millas del líder
13.- Mathieu Forbin/Arthur Prat – Guadeloupe Grand Large 1, a 392.8 millas del líder
ABD Gildas Morvan / Charlie Dalin – Cercle Vert
ABD Thierry Chabagny / Erwan Tabarly – Gedimat

Saludos y buenos vientos.

Roland Jourdain ready for a fourth Vendée Globe

He has already clocked up three Vendée Globe races, including one, where he made it to the podium in 2000-2001. Missing out on the last race, Roland Jourdain is clear today that he would like to return to the Vendée Globe with the goal of winning the event. We met up with him this week in the aisles of the Paris Boat Show. 

Roland Jourdain © Frédéric Augendre / DPPI

Roland, what is your motivation for wanting to return to the Vendée Globe?

Roland Jourdain: “Because I love the race (laughs). I really want to give it another go. Straight after the end of the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe, I decided I wasn’t going to be doing the 2012-2013 race, as I don’t want to do it for the sake of simply doing it. On top of that, I had another sailing programme lined up on the MOD70 with Veolia Environnement. Unfortunately, the sponsoring project came to an abrupt end in 2012. I know that the Vendée Globe requires a lot of commitment. In the last race, the duel between François Gabart and Armel Le Cléac’h was incredible. It was also very demanding before the race started, as preparing these boats takes a lot of time, and there are so many unforeseen incidents along the way. But today, I feel ready to take up the challenge for the fourth time.”

With a winning project?

“Of course, over the last 25 years, I have always lined up to race with the goal of winning. I’m well placed to know that to win, you first have to finish (Roland was forced to retire in the 2004-05 and 2008-09 Vendée Globes, editor’s note). It is indeed very tough to find the funding to set up a winning project.”

Where are you in this quest?

“We’re making progress. I have some smaller partners, but I’m still looking for the headline sponsor. It’s a bit like fishing: you put out your crab pots and just hope that it’s worth it. I can feel there is a lot of interest in the Vendée Globe, as firms appreciate the image conveyed by the race. But everyone knows what the current economic situation is and that scares people off and gets them worried. It’s true that it takes a lot of money to commit to the Vendée Globe. But there is no problem about the media coverage and the return on your investment: all of the sponsors, who have signed up for this race have had positive results. I just have to convince them to go for it, which is not that easy. There are all sorts of financial arrangements that are possible. For example, two headline sponsors can work out well, as it reduces the cost and everyone gets what they are looking for.”

So on a practical level, what exactly are you doing to win over potential partners?

“I don’t do much knocking on doors with all my papers ready. In today’s world, where there is so much communication and advertising, firms already receive so many proposals. I take advantage of meetings. This year, I was lucky enough to sail with Jean-Pierre Dick on the MOD70 Virbac-Paprec (until the 70-foot boat capsized a few weeks before the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, editor’s note). That enabled me to stay in contact with the world of ocean racing. In my Kaïros base in Concarneau, we have been working in particular on research and development involving biocomposites. That means I have got other contacts away from the ocean racing sector. In any case, there are no miracle solutions. You just have to keep at it. I’m not lazing around waiting for a sponsor to come and find me.”

Are you planning on buying a boat or building a new one?

“It all depends on the budget I manage to find, and at what point in time it gets sorted. There won’t be many of the top boats on the market apart from François Gabart’s MACIF after the 2014 Route du Rhum. Ideally, I’d like to build a new monohull. 2014 will be a crucial year. We have to ensure everything is sorted out by the end of the year. I’d really like to get my hands on a boat at least a year before the start of the Vendée Globe. So that means that I’d need to get the construction underway in early 2015 at the latest.”

So you’re not competing in the next Route du Rhum?

“I’d really love to get out there and defend my title, but for the moment, I can’t see how that is going to be possible. It’s a pity, but that’s life.”

The IMOCA class has announced a race between New York and Barcelona and the establishment of a new world championship (the IMOCA Ocean Masters). Do you see that as a good thing?

“Yes, the fact that there is a commercial entity like OSM working to internationalise and promote the class is very positive. It really needs international coverage, in particular for the Vendée Globe. The more foreigners that compete, the greater the race and the wider the coverage. We also need to create races abroad like the New York – Barcelona, while at the same time understanding that French firms are not necessarily involved in markets abroad. This should benefit everyone involved. The Vendée Globe remains of course the pinnacle event. But with a clear circuit planned for a four-year period, that is positive in terms of the technology, the preparation and communications.”

What is your race programme for the coming months?

“I was supposed to compete in the Krys Ocean Race, a transatlantic race for MOD70s aboard Virbac-Paprec with Jean-Pierre Dick. But the race has been postponed. So I’m going to reschedule my programme. I’m not too worried as there are so many different types of boats that interest me, from small monohulls to giant multihulls.”



Best regards and fair winds