The Class40 crews put up a great fight throughout the course of the Paprec 600 Saint-Tropez, and what a thriller it was!
On Friday, April 24, after covering more than 600 nautical miles, five Class 40s arrived in the Port of Saint-Tropez, one after the other.
A clear indication of the level of the competitors, who gave their all to achieve victory in both light airs and heavy seas! And as if to salute the group winners, the wind picked up to honor their arrival in Saint-Tropez.
At the same time as the arrival of the Class40s, the only Multi in the race, ELEVEN with Hugues de Saint-Germain and Nicolas Rose also made its return to Saint-Tropez, as did the crewed yacht LECLERC HENNEBONT COCODY with Richard Fromentin, who finished second in real time in the crewed group after Tulikettu, which had arrived the day before. A great performance!
The double-handed crew, Libertine with Marco Paolucci and Niccolo Bertola, crossed the line at 6:30 p.m. and finished first in real time in their group. The rest of the fleet (IRC crews and duos) will be arriving tonight.
The prize-giving ceremony on Saturday April 25 at 6:30pm at the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez will reward the winners of each class.
PHARE 40 wins Class 40
After a hard-fought battle, Mathieu Claveau and François Verdier on the Class 40 FRA 142 PHARE40 completed the course in 4 days 13 minutes 54 seconds. Despite a difficult final stretch between Corsica and the mainland, with a few periods of calms constantly throwing up competition between the Class40s, the duo didn’t give up until the finish line!
The GER 135 AQUAMARIN with Chris Kerl and Benoit Tuduri came second, followed by the SUI 134 STELLA NOVA with Omar Nass and Louis Toreilles.
In fourth place was the FRA168 RDT LOGISTIC OCEAN CONNECT with Yves Courbon and Nicolas Guibal, followed by the young crew on the FRA155 FLAMINGO ROSSO with Gilles Morceau Loquen and Raphaël Maniglier who finished 5th.
Following the retirement of the FRA 207 IMAGIN ACT, only the Class40 FRA 98 Qwanza is still racing, and should cross the finish line overnight.
Matthieu Claveau: “We sent when we had to and we also managed when we had to protect ourselves – Everyone had their chance during the race, there were frequent changes of position (…)”.
François Verdier : “I remember that it’s not over until the end – it’s a very tough race, but we’ve always kept our good spirits, which is important”.
Watch live at https://carto.oceantracking.fr/paprec600/carto
Program to follow
– April 25 at 6:00 p.m.: Deadline for arrival and line closure
– April 25 at 6:30 p.m.: Awards ceremony
