Beyou and Guillemot stood out in Lorient this weekend

Including one night of solo sailing, a race around the island of Groix with a crew and speed runs, the Défi Azimut brought together this weekend in Lorient part of the IMOCA fleet that will be competing in the forthcoming Route du Rhum. Jérémie Beyou (Maître Coq) and Marc Guillemot (Safran) shone during this rehearsal in Lorient. Not far behind we find Vincent Riou and François Gabart, who also proved that they are ready to race.   

With seven of the nine skippers about to race in the Route du Rhum in the IMOCA class, the Défi Azimut looked like a dress rehearsal for the big event. On Friday night, the sailors set off on a 100-mile voyage starting and finishing in Lorient. After a closely fought contest, Jérémie Beyou (Maître Coq) finished first, a quarter of an hour ahead of Marc Guillemot (Safran) and Vincent Riou (PRB). Looking beyond the simple race result, Jérémie Beyou stressed what it entailed. “For us this was a way to train and finishing first or second wasn’t what mattered. What matters is that I could see that i am up there and the work has paid off. It was very close and exciting with Macif, PRB and Safran. We all enjoyed it. We had to do a lot of manoeuvres and sail changes. It was very intense and there was no room for any mistakes.” We should add that François Gabart was in fact the first to finish, but unforeseen circumstances led him to stand down. “It was up and down with Jérémie Beyou all the way, when I had some problems with the electronics and as I was helped by my mediaman, I didn’t want to cross the finishing line,” explained the skipper of Macif, whose honesty was praised by everyone.

 

Looking forward to the big four in the Rhum

On Sunday afternoon, the skippers sailed around the island of Groix in light winds. Marc Guillemot’s crew won the race finishing 1'29" ahead of Maître CoQ and 1'53" ahead of PRB. “This is a reward for my team and I. It’s always nice to win before the Route du Rhum,” declared Marc Guillemot at the finish. The race record set in 2011 by Vincent Riou (with a time of 1h 28’ 41’’), was not beaten. Just before rounding Groix, the crews warmed up with some sped runs on a mile and a half course between two ports. Jérémie Beyou’s Maître CoQ crew was the fastest with a time of 6’ 56’’. Marc Guillemot came second ahead of François Gabart and Vincent Riou as we might have expected. The Défi Azimut confirmed what we were suspecting. The forthcoming Route du Rhum is likely to offer us an exciting race in the IMOCA class.

 

Défi Azimut IMOCA 60 rankings (100-mile course)
1 - Jérémie Beyou (Maître CoQ)
2 - Marc Guillemot (Safran)
3 - Vincent Riou (PRB)
4 - Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée)
5 - Armel Tripon (For Humble Heroes)
DNF François Gabart (Macif)
Round the Island of Groix race


1 - Marc Guillemot
2 - Jérémie Beyou
3 - Vincent Riou
4 - François Gabart
5 - Armel Tripon
6 - Tanguy de Lamotte
7 - Louis Burton
Speed runs

1 - Jérémie Beyou
2 - Marc Guillemot
3 - François Gabart
4 - Vincent Riou
5 - Armel Tripon
6 - Louis Burton 

7 - Tanguy de Lamotte
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