Class 40 victory by 25 seconds

Stéphane Le Diraison and Vincent Barnaud win Les Sables-Horta-Les Sables...just

While Jacques Fournier and Jean-Edouard Criquioche aboard Groupe Picoty may have been first home on the return leg of the Class 40's Les Sables-Horta-Les Sables races, it was Stéphane Le Diraison and Vincent Barnaud who were the ultimate winner based on results in the outbound and return legs, their accumulated elapsed time for the two being 13 days 5 hours 53 minutes and 26 seconds.

However to say it was close for the overall prize would be an understatement with ex-Vendee Globe skipper Yannick Bestaven and Christophe Bouvet aboard Aquarelle.com second overall by just 25 seconds.

It was hard to determine who was the more elated of the two crews who crossed the finish line by Les Sables d'Olonne's Nouch Sud this afternoon - Fournier and Criquioche enjoying their first substantial victory in a Class 40 event or ex-Mini sailor Le Diraison and Barnaud for whom this was one of their first races in their Pogo S2 Bureau Véritas.

Bureau Veritas had come second on the leg into Horta, astern of the leg winner Aquarelle.com and the two and a half hour advantage she had over Groupe Picoty, which finished third on the outbound leg, was more than enough for Le Diraison and Barnaud to outweigh Groupe Picoty's 15 minute lead on the return leg into Les Sables d'Olonne.

Bureau Veritas' Vincent Barnaud commented: "With this race, we had an accelerated training in the Class40. We don't yet know what we can do and what we can't."

Stéphane Le Diraison added: "This win - it builds trust. We are now convinced that we can go fast. It also puts helps our preparation for the next Transat Jacques Vabre." 

Combined elapsed times: