Virbac makes it to France

Jean-Pierre Dick's Farr-design Open 60 completes her half circumnavigation

Following her launch earlier this year in Auckland, the new Farr Yacht Design Open 60 Virbac and her skipper Jean-Pierre Dick reached Lorient, France late last week.

Like Ellen MacArthur when Kingfisher was launched, Dick opted to sail the boat back to Europe from from her makers in New Zealand. However rather than go eastabout with the prevailing winds, and hence practising the second half of the Vendee Globe, Dick opted to sail westabouts, a route more akin to the Global Challenge or Chay Blyth/Mike Golding/Philippe Monnet record attempts.

Virbac’s passage back from the opposite side of the world has not been at record pace. Dick set off on 8 May with two other of his crew on board. They stopped in Perth, Western Australia at the end of May for six days. Here they repaired the hull following a collision and made repairs to the rigging and the electronics.

Leaving Perth on 3 June, Dick chose a northwesterly route across the Indian Ocean to pick up the trade winds bound for Cape Town. This part of the voyage he sailed double handed with Jean-Yves Gau, who is part of his shore team.

On 27 June they put into Durban to shelter from the weather and make further repairs. Dick and Gau were joined by Virbac technical manager Nicolas Abiven who then sailed with the duo down to Cape Town.

On 24 July Jean-Pierre Dick set off from Cape Town singlehanded for the return journey back to France, a voyage which will stand as his qualifier for the Vendee Globe. His return journey up the Atlantic saw him cross the Equator on 9 August and Dick carries out an experiment to see whether the water in Virbac's tiny gallery basin does indeed start spiralling down the plug hole in a different direction.

15 August saw Virbac pass the Cape Verde islands in light north to northwesterly winds bound for the Azores. In the Azores Dick picked up Nicolas Abiven who will be sailing on board during November's two handed Transat Jacques Vabre to complete their qualifier for that race on the return journey to France. Abiven has spent the last 15 years sailing with Dick in events such as the Admiral's Cup and repeatedly in the Tour Voile but has also been runner up in the Match Racing Worlds in 1995, Mumm 36 World and European Champion in 1996. As Technical Director of the Virbac campaign he worked closely with Farr Yacht Design and then oversaw the build at Cooksons in Auckland.

The duo set sailed from the Azores on 20 August and returned to France via the Fastnet Rock in order to carry out the necessary 1,000 miles for the qualifier. They arrived at the submarine base in Lorient at 1600 on 28 August.