FenêtréA Cardinal smashes Quebec-St Malo record

Victory for Erwan le Roux's Multi50

French skipper Erwan Le Roux on the Multi50 trimaran FenêtréA Cardinal 3 won the 8th Quebec-St Malo crossing the line under the imposing ramparts of the old city of Saint Malo today, 1 August at 07:56:05 local time.

FenêtréA Cardinal 3's total elapsed time for the race is 9 days,14 hours, 21 minutes and 5 seconds or an average speed of 14.27 knots to cover 3,288 miles.

The 50ft trimaran also smashed the previous reference time, established by Franck-Yves Escoffier in 2008, by 1 day, 12 hours, and 58 minutes. This is the first major offshore race win for Erwan Le Roux, after his success in the 2009 doublehanded Transat Jacques Vabre with Franck Yves Escoffier. The Multi50 FenêtréA Cardinal is the former Crêpes Whaou 3, the winning crew was composed by Erwan Le Roux, Antoine Carpentier, Mathieu Souben and Yvon Cardinal.

Just moments after his arrival in Saint Malo, an happy Le Roux declared: “The race was in two stages. First the fantastic start in Québec, the descent of the St Lawrence, with all those marks to round. It was a real show, with so many spectators waiting and cheering for us.

"Later it was harder, with some upwind sailing and the boat slamming and suffering in a choppy, confused sea. It was hard. We really had to wait for the right moment to attack and get 100% out of the boat, but in the end we managed to do that for four full days and we were able to choose our course across the Atlantic. It was amazing, and we will all remember that forever.

"From the Fastnet Rock to Perros and here to Saint Malo it was a bit crazy... we rounded the Fastnet in the morning and got to Sept Iles in the afternoon - mad. The boat is incredible because she lets you reach high speeds while always feeling safe. We needed to take a reef sometimes and there was someone at the mainsail trim all the time, but we never nosedived or crashed heavily. The boat is extraordinary. I'm convinced that a 7 days record is still possible with a Multi50, we made a lot of extra miles, especially towards the finish, but if one can make some gain all over the course, the record is feasible.”