Heroes' welcome

Victorien Erussard and his crew bring their rudder-less trimaran home in the Transat Quebec-St Malo

Victorien Erussard and his crew of three - the two Loïcs (Escoffier and Fréquet) and Erwan Thibouméry - crossed the finish line of the Transat Quebec-Saint Malo today at 08:22:59 GMT, after 16 days 16 hours 22 minutes and 59 seconds of racing. On board their Laiterie de Saint-Malo trimaran, the youngsters, all extremely keen sailors, took up the challenge of crossing almost all of the North Atlantic without a rudder following a collision with a whale. Despite this impediment they finished fifth in the 50ft multihull class. Around the Vauban Basin, this local crew, who managed to get their damaged boat home in one piece has certainly impressed the crowds.

Having moored Laiterie de Saint-Malo up at the pontoon of honour, Erussard was clearly enjoying this great moment of pleasure: "This finish was highly emotional: more even than my first Route du Rhum. I can hardly believe we managed it, as it was a bit hard at times! When we collided with the whale 300 miles east of Newfoundland, everything collapsed for us. We had set out with the intention of being up with the winners. At that moment, we were really going for it, even if we had a good margin to play with: In any case, we managed to claw back the miles. Thanks to all those, who have given us their support and for this welcome, which looks as if we'd won!"

On 27 July, 300 miles east of Newfoundland. Sailing at full speed and at full power chasing Crêpes Whaou!, Laiterie de Saint-Malo was suddenly stopped when she collided with a whale. The accident broke the rudder, the only one fitted on this old generation trimaran. The rest of the story is well known: Victorien and the lads carried on regardless sailing downwind in some very strong conditions.

The figures speak for themselves: 10 days of sailing without a rudder, 2100 miles on the clock (1631 miles on the direct route), 270 miles covered in 24 hours... The crew showed some extraordinary seamanship in spite of their bad luck. Sails angled out, draglines, improvised steering using the winches: the four associates remained confident they could bring their trimaran home. "In light conditions, she is not as fast as multihulls from the latest generation, but in a breeze, she can fully express her sea-keeping abilities. We covered 460 miles at the start of the Atlantic crossing," explained Loïc Escoffier. "But what really surprised us was what happened after the loss of the rudder. We reached peak speeds of 22 knots, which wasn't really very reassuring, but we never once thought about capsizing."

They were welcomed home as heroes in Saint-Malo. The last word goes to Erwan Thibouméry: "We did the job well. The boat is here. I'm pleased to see her mast in the Vauban Basin. We're pleased to have brought her home. We set sail on a race and ended up experiencing a fabulous human adventure. It was a truly magnificent experience for us..."

13 Class 40s home

They promised us a race to the end and that is exactly what we got. The light airs during the night they sailed along the northern coast of Brittany from the Héaux Light in Bréhat, led to some close finishes… as boats arrived in in quick succession, rather like a Figaro event. The five Class 40 boats beginning with Beluga Shipping (Boris Herrmann) and ending with Appart City (Yvan Noblet), and including in order Techneau (Gilles Dutoit), Rev'86 (Alain Grinda) and L’Esprit Large-Talmont Saint Hilaire, crossed the finish within an hour and a half of each other. Later in the morning, the pace increased when Groupe Partouche (Christophe Coatnoan) and SAIPEM-Leadership in Safety (Gwenc’hlan Catherine) finished in 12th and 13th place respectively in the Class 40 results.

"This race was an excellent way for us to get to know the boat," said Alain Grinda ( Rêv’ 86 ): "Until now, we had only sailed her to Quebec on the delivery trip. Apart from that we have just our local sailing experience. Discovering the high seas was a revelation for us. Being able to fight it out up to the finish with the other crews was very enriching. A breathtaking finish, as only a few minutes separated us from Techneau, with us losing out unfortunately…"

Gilles Dutoit ( Techneau): "This was our first major ocean race. There were five of us on board, which may seem a lot. But it was the same crew that sails together on a 747 One Design. We couldn’t leave anyone behind! The Pogo 40 is a fantastic boat. Like the others we had our own peak speed contest."

Boris Herrmann ( Beluga Shipping): "We were by far the youngest crew in this transatlantic race with an average age of just 23. We learnt a lot and we have just one desire now. That is to come back and improve on our position in a future race."

Jean-Edouard Criquioche ( Esprit Large – Talmont Saint-Hilaire): "This crew came together through a series of friendships. There were already four of us, when we found out that Lionel, who usually races against us, had been dropped by his partner. As it was out of the question for him to remain ashore, he became the fifth man. We were afraid that we had five leaders on board, but in fact, everyone was prepared to listen to each other and so it worked really well… "

Philippe Vallée ( Groupe Sefico): "We are currently 523 miles from Port Olona sailing at six knots with the wind directly behind us. The conditions yesterday were very pleasant with 25 knot westerly wind and sunshine. That allowed us to dry the foul weather gear, the boat and to wash. This didn’t last long however, as during the night the damp weather returned with drizzle. As an ocean-racing novice, I thought that the Transat Quebec- Saint Malo was raced in summer. I think I misread the holiday brochure! Apart from the situation with the weather, morale is still good, and we hope to finish in Les Sables d’Olonne this week-end. That would work out well for us, as we all start back at work on Monday 11th August. Say hello to the sun, if you happen to see it and tell it to pop by and see us at 46°33 N and 14°27 W."

This afternoon we await the arrival of Fermiers de Loué-Sarthe (François Angoulvant), who has been slowed down in the strong head currents. During the night, unless becalmed we should see the arrival of Khat 7 (Eric Galmard). Finally, tomorrow morning, Destination Calais, slowed down by a damaged rudder should complete the Class 40 finishes.

At lunchtime today, while Pierre-Yves Chatelin and his crew were approaching the 7 Îles off Northern Brittany in light airs, they discovered that they had lost half of their port rudder… and it must have happened several days ago. "We still hope to finish in Saint-Malo tonight or early tomorrow morning. Please leave us a little wind to make the finish exciting. The least you can say is that we haven’t really been very lucky," said the skipper of the Calais boat.

A great adventure is coming to an end, which is never an easy moment: damaged equipment, the whims of the weather, the wet conditions… but soon there will only be the fine memories. The ones that only the oceans can offer…

We should add that out of the eighteen Class 40 boats taking part, only two boats were forced to retire: Entreprises Lorraines (Patrice Carpentier), which ran aground in the Saint Lawrence, and Groupe Sefico (Philippe Vallée), which dismasted and is currently sailing a little over 500 miles from the French coast under jury rig….

Summary of the latest boats to finish

7th Class 40 Béluga Shipping at 03H 10MN 10S GMT
Race time: 16d 12H 10 mins 10 S
Average speed: 7.20 knots

8th Class 40 Techneau at 03H 31MINS 58 S GMT
Race time: 16d 12H 31 mins 58 S
Average speed: 7.199 knots

9th Class 40 REV86 at 03H 33MINS 42 S GMT
Race time: 16d 12H 33 mins 42 S
Average speed: 7.199 knots

10th Class 40 L'Esprit Large Talmont St Hilaire at 04H 18MINS 21S GMT
Race time: 16d 13H 18 mins 21 S
Average speed: 7.18 knot

11th Class 40 Appart City at 04H 44MINS 54S
Race time: 16d 1 3 H 44 mins 54 S
Average speed: 7.17 knots

12- Groupe Partouche (Christophe Coatnoan) at 07h 45 mins and 38 secs
Race time: 16 d 16 h 45 mins 38 secs
Average speed: 7.12 knots

13 – SAIPEM- Leadership in Safety at 08 h 52 mins and 15 secs
Race time: 16 d 17 h 52 mins and 15 secs
Average speed: 7.10 knots

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