by Soazig Guého
The tricky approach to the coast of Costa Rica ended successfully for the duo, Guillemot - Caudrelier Benac. In light winds, they led Safran to a fully deserved victory after 15 days, 19 hours and 22 minutes of intense sailing.
It was daylight in France, but still dark in Puerto Limon when Safran crossed the finish at 2h 52’ and 10’’ (local time) or 8h 52’ 10’’, GMT. It marked the end of some genuine suspense, as Safran and the boat chasing after her, Groupe Bel had both been sailing in stealth mode since the previous day. Marc and Charles did not have any information about their most dangerous rival. “It was tough right up to the finish. With the thunderstorms, rain, wind holes, there were a lot of uncertainties and worries. Now it’s done. With Charles, we said we would be back to do better than last time and we have kept our word.”
“Never a moment’s rest”
To obtain this victory, Marc and Charles had to give it their all. “We’re completely exhausted. We lived in wet conditions for the whole fortnight. The physiotherapists are going to be busy… I think it is one of the most difficult races I have taken part in. I’ve never worked so hard aboard a boat.” Marc Guillemot, at the age of fifty has achieved a remarkable win, which comes in addition to his long list of successes over thirty years of ocean racing, after being in the top three in the Vendée Globe, and is quite simply exceptional on a sporting and human level. Charles, aged 35, can also savour this moment of triumph. “Marc is incredible and I’d like to thank him for letting me come aboard again. Safran too is quite remarkable. This boat backed us all the way and never faltered. She took the pounding in her stride and offered us some magical surfing moments. I didn’t know we could push her as hard as this. There was never a moment’s rest, especially on this final night.”
“Good sailing and good sail choices”
“There are always two great moments in any race - the start and the finish,” explained Marc. Between those two moments, there was the satisfaction of some good sailing, with good sail choices and the fact that we made it out of the storm in the lead. And we enjoyed keeping Groupe Bel at a distance, keeping up the pressure in spite of the sailing conditions being permanently difficult.” In this year’s race, for the first time outside help with the routing was not allowed. Sylvain Mondon, an expert at Météo France who worked alongside the Safran Sailing Team, is a happy teacher today. “As far as I am concerned, they fully deserve this win. They clearly sailed the best route of the whole fleet.”
As soon as they arrived, Jean-Paul Herteman, President of the board of the Safran group, thanked the two winners: “I’d like to offer congratulations on behalf of Safran and the 55,000 men and women, who work there on this fantastic win, achieved at the end of a race, where the weather conditions were difficult and the competition extremely tough. This honours your talent and your professionalism but also the partnership, which is different from the others, between the major high-technology Group that is Safran and the exceptional sailor that is Marco. I mean this most sincerely, but thanks a lot!”
Safran’s race in figures
Race time: 15 days 19 hours 22 minutes 10 seconds
Average speed on the direct route: 12.46 knots
Average speed out on the water: 13.87 knots
Distance covered: 5263 miles
Safran
Transat Jacques Vabre
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