Transat Jacques Vabre: “We were passengers of the thing…”, the disappointment of the Beyou-Cammas duo at the foot of the podium

Candidate for victory in the Imoca category, Jérémie Beyou and Franck Cammas had to settle for fourth place this Sunday. Charal crossed the finish line under bright sunshine at 5:56:34 p.m. French time (12:56:34 p.m. local time) after 12 days, 8 hours, 26 minutes and 34 seconds spent at sea.

The monohull, reduced after suffering a problem with the sails, which handicapped it in the final, retained a small lead over the tandem Samantha Davis and Jack Boutell who completed the transatlantic at 18 h 13 min and 39 sec .

But this final standoff is not enough to alleviate the disappointment of the very experienced duo who were aiming for at least a place on the podium: “We weren't going to finish fourth but given what happened in the trade winds, we couldn't do better than this. We started well and finished well but the middle was a bit soft. We learned to go faster with a slightly degraded sail configuration,” commented Franck Cammas.

“We have a breakage which deprives us of a key sail for two thirds of the race,” continued Beyou, not hiding his disappointment. “We were a bit of a passenger,” he added. “We did the entire course with a reaching sail which is 100 m2 less than the downwind sail,” explained Cammas, specifying that this incident occurred after the Canaries.

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In sixth position, Teamwork.net completed a magnificent transatlantic race with Justine Mettraux and Julien Villion at the controls in 1 day, 8 hours, 58 minutes and 59 seconds. The duo, who had made the bet to follow a route to the north, will have at least succeeded in shaking up the favorites, grouped in the south, by offering themselves a provisional first place before the big names finally regain the upper hand in the final.

Finally, Boris Hermann and Will Harris (Maliza - Sea Explorer), brought up the rear of this extremely spectacular grouped arrival in the radiant bay of Fort-de-France at the end of a journey of 12 days, 9 hours, 01 minute and 03 seconds.