This afternoon, Virbac-Paprec arrived in Lorient harbour, having covered more than 1000 nautical miles on her qualifying passage for the Transat Jacques Vabre. The milometer was set running at the start of the SNSM record in St Nazaire last Saturday. As the 1st monohull to finish in St Malo, they immediately got underway for Cork (Ireland) from where they rallied Lorient. JP and Loïck are both perfectly satisfied. Firstly as the two sailors got along very well, and secondly as the boat had been very well prepared. This 5 day passage is excellent training but JP and Loïck don’t intend to stop there. They will be setting out again very shortly. They are determined to be ready for the start in Le Havre. “Loïck and I are on the same wave length. I can’t wait for the Transat Jacques Vabre”.

JP : “Everything went really well. Since the start of the SNSM, we were flat out all the time. After having sailed up to Cork, we were downwind with the spinnaker up. We were flying along at an average speed of 17 knots, with a 22-26 knot wind. Some great sensations. We tried out a few manoeuvres in heavy conditions. Sailing with Loïc was highly instructive for me. His experience was useful for me. He knows how to hand his experience down. When he is on board, you can go for it all the time, keep clear headed. It all goes in the right direction. We keep each other motivated. There’s a sort of chemistry with Loïck and he knows how to live. Tea with honey at 5 o’clock, a novelty on board Virbac-Paprec ! ”

LP : “Super sailing ! Sailing with JP is brilliant. He knows his boat inside out. This was quite a physical qualifying passage. We tried out every possible sail configuration. We spent a lot of time at the helm. Pretty funny down wind with the spinnaker up. Sensations were similar to those on a multihull. But it’s less stressful than on a multi. Less of a headache ! I haven’t gone through that in quite some time. The boat had been really well prepared. There are some very nifty details here and there. We had a great sail. A good thing for the Transat Jacques Vabre. ”

Crew : Jean-Pierre Dick, Nicolas Abiven, Charles Caudrelier, Erwan Tabarly et Nicolas Béranger.

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