Day out on MACIF

Another winning ticket for thedailysail in this year's Artemis Challenge on Francois Gabart's Vendee Globe winner

Having sailed around the Isle of Wight in the Artemis Challenge on board the winning MOD70 Foncia last year, we again hung on to Michel Desjoyeaux's coat tail to sail aboard Francois Gabart's Vendee Globe winning VPLP-Verdier designed IMOCA 60, MACIF this year.

The blue rocket ship is a complete weapon and while Alex Thomson and his besuited crew on Hugo Boss led for the first half of the race we simply rolled them on the second close reach up to the Nab Tower to come home substantially ahead of the competition. Gabart and Desjoyeaux, who between them have won three of the last four Vendee Globes are sailing together in the Transat Jacques Vabre from Le Havre to Itajai, Brazil this autumn, soon after the Artemis Challenge went on to race the Rolex Fastnet Race doublehanded, which they also won, albeit less than a minute ahead of MACIF's sistership Maître CoQ, formerly Armel le Cleac'h's Banque Populaire, which came home second in the last Vendee Globe.