The Atlantic Challenge is a race reserved for Class40s. It is a "return" transatlantic race organised after the Route du Rhum. From Guadeloupe, the skippers will stop over in the Azores before heading to France. For this first edition, the 12 competitors have the right to embark between 1 and 3 crew members.
Skipper Luke BERRY has surrounded himself with a group of friends and préparateurs: Ludovic Méchin, Pablo Santurde Del Arco and Yannis Troalen. They are not there to be extras and with the Class40 Lamotte Creation Module they quickly take second place.
But on Sunday, March 24 at the end of the day, when they had been racing for 24 hours, the Manuard plan suddenly dismasted.
And suddenly, the mast fell off!
Luke tells us about the circumstances: "It was 5:30 p.m. UTC. We were in full swing in the Trade Winds. We had just established code 0. And a few minutes later, the tack of the sail broke. Immediately, the code 0 went backwards, taking with it the mast that broke in two, before ending up in the water. It all happened very quickly."
The Atlantic Challenge is a race reserved for Class40s. It is a "return" transatlantic race organised after the Route du Rhum. From Guadeloupe, the skippers will stop over in the Azores before heading to France. For this first edition, the 12 competitors have the right to embark between 1 and 3 crew members. At that time, we were on the bridge: Pablo at the front putting the ends away, Yannis at the foot of the mast taking care of the halyards, Ludovic tucking in and myself at the helm.
At the time of the incident, you don't believe it. Then it takes you a quarter of a second to realize what's going on, and finally you understand that the race is over."
The crew of former Ministes is as experienced as it is resourceful, so they quickly organize themselves according to priorities.
The Atlantic Challenge is a race reserved for Class40s. It is a "Then after more than an hour of attempts, having tried by all means and without success, we went to the obvious: we had to disengage the mast from the boat, because the latter, tossed by the swell, damaged the hull and it was essential to limit the damage. The Atlantic Challenge is a race reserved for Class40s. It is a " transatlantic race organised after the Route du Rhum. From Guadeloupe, the skippers will stop over in the Azores before heading to France. For this first edition, the 12 competitors have the right to embark between 1 and 3 crew members. The first reflexes are to secure the crew, then the boat and finally try to save what we can: the sails, the mast, the boom, etc. So immediately, we start trying to get back on board what we can. The Atlantic Challenge is a race reserved for Class40s. It is a " transatlantic race organised after the Route du Rhum. From Guadeloupe, the skippers will stop over in the Azores before heading to France. For this first edition, the 12 competitors have the right to embark between 1 and 3 crew members.
Contacting the ground
The race director follows each boat with the beacons, if one of them stops it's a bad sign. And if he doesn't have contact with the boat, he'll initiate a rescue procedure.
" transatlantic race organised after the Route du Rhum. From Guadeloupe, the skippers will stop over in the Azores before heading to France. For this first edition, the 12 competitors have the right to embark between 1 and 3 crew members.
The boat, without speed, is delivered to itself, across the powerful Atlantic swell and a 25 knot wind. One can imagine how difficult and dangerous it is to recover a carbon rig with sharp edges
"
Then, under makeshift rigging, the 4 sailors took their trouble in patience. Advancing only to 5kt, they have time to digest what has just happened.
For Luke Berry, many phone calls follow: the emergency services, the shore team, the partners, the insurance companies, not to mention the relatives who are following the race. Now we have to bounce back.
