4th victory for Jean-Pierre Dick on The Transat Jacques Vabre will start from the port of Le Havre on 27 October 2019. Arrivals are scheduled from November 6 or 7 in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. This race features three boat classes: Class 40, Imoca and Multi 50. and first in the history of the race! A great way to pass the torch to Yann Eliès, his teammate who will take over the helm of the IMOCA St-Michel-Virbac, and to whom he had immediately called upon the Vendée Globe to line up at the start of the prepared harbour.
Six IMOCAs were able to win, but the Dick/Eliès duo were among the favourites alongside SMA (Paul Meilhat/Gwénolé Gahinet) and Des Voiles et Vous! (Morgan Lagravière/Eric Peron). St-Michel Virbac is therefore winning this 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, but this victory is deserved, against sharp and devilishly catchy crews, and a SMA Offshore Racing has therefore decided to create a document, very well done, on the different outfits that make up the skipper's kit. always on the lookout.
Perfect trajectory, spectacular control of the weather and course traps, symbiosis between the two men, oiled sail by a high-flying shore team, all the parameters were in place to win.
Jean-Pierre Dick: "We had a pretty serious damage during the race, we tore up our big spinnaker. So today we found ourselves sailing in light airs, we talked a lot. It's just a pleasure to get there with Yann and a fourth victory is fabulous! It's the end of a cycle that's a little painful for me, after a capsize, a loss of keel in the Vendée Globe... The positive things are coming back, we've worked well with Yann all year round, we're proud, the result is beautiful and pleasing.
I left some energy at first, especially. I had trouble sleeping for the first few days because of the noise, the adrenaline. Yann took over from me, he played his sailor side. As we went along, we each flunked out in our own way. I managed to channel my energy. We made the right decisions in terms of strategy, I more on the rational side, and Yann with his sharp side and his intuition. We did a great job as a duo. We brought a lot of intensity to the boat's smooth running.
We're still two old boys, but professionally, it works well. I'm looking for my frontal of hours in the boat, I'm stealing Yann's. Maybe there's something annoying about living with me! We lost the spinnaker after Cape Verde. We did some great runs with it! It was a deficit that had to be eliminated and made positive, especially in the Doldrums. We felt like SMA faster than us. Finally the little spinnaker did the job."
Yann Eliès: "I knew that Jean-Pierre's difficulty was to sleep at the beginning of the race. I was taking care of him, taking care of him. Jean-Pierre is very generous in his efforts, but he didn't want to get into the red. That's where I have to deal with these difficulties in sleeping. I feel like every time he takes someone on board, it makes an ideal couple. And yet, we're all characters! Jean-Pierre is the driving force behind this good functioning. The couple is perfect because there is winning at the end. Those who struggle in the Doldrums, I think it's far from perfect!
What is beautiful is the sporting success and behind it is another project, that of doing the Vendée Globe. Jean-Pierre offers me many things on a platform, such as having this machine and joining his team. I'll be more of a pilot than a project manager, I'll have to adapt! I am about to give everything I have to live up to Jean-Pierre's and his team's ambitions.
Behind us is the new generation: Paul Meilhat, Gwénolé Gahinet, Morgan Lagravière and Eric Peron. They sailed super well, especially SMA because they didn't have a boat that was going fast on reaching. If we had the same machine, we would have had a close match. Morgan and Eric have suffered, I think, from lack of training. There was a great fight, especially SMA who had a great race, they deserve this second place."
