2023-11-13 08:59:53
A victory, finally. Scheduled, as often, but this time well and truly brought to fruition: Armel Le Cléac’h and Sébastien Josse won the Transat Jacques Vabre at the very end of the evening this Sunday, November 12, crossing the line at Fort-de-France in 14 days, 10 hours and 14 minutes, first of five giant Ultime multihulls, more than 150 nautical miles ahead of the SVR-Lazartigue by Tom Laperche and François Gabart.
A clear and flawless success, which the two sailors achieved with the determination and rigor which characterize two maniacs for detail and a job well done. Before leaving Le Havre on October 29, Armel Le Cléac’h emphasized his appetite: “I really want to add to my list of achievementshe confided to us. Especially since I have never won this Transat. » For the Finistère, it is the end of a long disenchanted parenthesis that the skipper, accustomed to honors, struggled to close.
Journey of a gifted sailor
Armel Le Cléac’h wandered for a long time on the crest of the waves, fishing for rewards one after the other. The Finisterian, scion of a sailing family, already on deck at the time of his first steps for summer trips to Ireland, at the helm before he was even 10 years old, solo before his twenties, records his first major conquest in 2003, on the Solitaire du Figaro. He is 26 years old, embodies this generation of expert sailors who are pushing behind the weathered pioneers of yesterday. Armel Le Cléac’h, who dropped out of his engineering studies to become a professional skipper, clearly shows his eagerness to take over.
He reached the second step of the podium for his very first Vendée Globe, the solo, non-stop round-the-world race in 2009, followed by a new victory in the Solitaire du Figaro in 2010, and another second place on the Route du Rhum the same year. He earns a nickname that snaps like a jib stretched by the wind of fame: “the Jackal”. This hardly fits with the good manners of the rather calm boy and the rather smooth speech he displays on the ground. But it suits the fierce competitor who strives to push his machine to the maximum once on board. “What interests me is the sporting challenge, the fight against my little friends, this constant game of chess for almost 80 days”he said in 2016 before the start of his third Vendée Globe, which he won in 74 days and 3 hours, a record still to be beaten.
Bad luck comes on board
But the ideal trajectory will then find itself thwarted. And very nastily in November 2018 when, on his trimaran People’s Bank IX, he capsized on the second day of the Route du Rhum after hitting an unidentified floating object. For a few minutes then, in the raging ocean and before taking shelter in the overturned main hull, he saw death up close. “It makes you think, but it also makes you grow in your experience, because I also told myself that I had managed to get out of there,” he will later tell Radio France. Picked up by a Portuguese ship, the Finistère found himself without a boat, but could count on the confidence of his sponsor who very quickly launched a new construction.
Ce People’s Bank XI, it is his current steed, launched in April 2021, and still poorly mastered for the Transat Jacques-Vabre in the fall of the same year, where Armel Le Cléac’h will only finish third. But bad luck seems to be lurking in the hold when on the Route du Rhum 2022, the day after the start, it is the drift under the central hull which gives way, forcing a repair of a few days in Lorient, for a final result – seventh – obviously disappointing.
Next challenge, solo around the world in early 2024
Frustrated for too long, Armel Le Cléac’h was banking on 2023 to return to victory. She jumped on deck during the last Ultim 24 Hour Challenge in Lorient at the end of September. A good omen. This Transat Jacques-Vabre, the tandem therefore attacked head on, and well in front during the first half of the race. The final obligatory passage, the tour of Ascension Island, was an opportunity for the rival tandem Tom Laperche-François Gabart to demonstrate its excellence by temporarily returning to the front. But on the long home stretch off the coast of Brazil, People’s Bank XI found himself upwind carrying the right pace and the right settings to overtake his opponent and speed at more than 35 knots towards Martinique.
Mission accomplished: Armel Le Cléac’h adds a new race to his list, his first major success in a multihull. The Jackal is biting, and that’s good, two months before the first solo round-the-world trip reserved for Ultimes, the Arkéa Ultim Challenge, which is due to set off from Brest on January 7, 2024. “For me, this Transat is a real test to stay sharp before the world tourexplained the Finisterian before departure. It’s not a preparation race, but it’s a good time and above all, I hope, in terms of confidence. » Effectively. Here are Armel Le Cléac’h’s sails fully inflated.
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