A bitterly tough end to last season with The Ocean Race winning IMOCA - he stopped into the Azores with power problems on the Retour a La Base and then lost his mast within sight of the finish. But Seb completes a decent race to qualify himself for the Vendee Globe and validate some of the changes made through the winter. He rues lack of pre time and says he started tired, but nevertheless the Solitaire du Figaro winner from Les Sables d'Olonne is happy and ready to recover for the return race
His course in numbers
Fiinish time : 07:32:35hrs UTC
Elapsed time : 9d 20h 2mn 35 sec
Distance sailed: 3334,79 nms
Delta to first :1 d 13h 9mn 3sec
Average speed great circle : 12.50 knots
Real average: 14.13 knots
“I left the start exhausted after working a so much on the boat this winter. I felt that I was not 100% but I kept the goal in mind which was to finish. Overall, my 16th transatlantic went well. I had a little damage to the J3 furler at the start of the race. It penalized me a lot because I then spent a night without a headsail near the start of the race. Obviously, it went slower. On the other hand, it is a positive to see that the boat is able to go through conditions as harsh as those we experienced and that it finishes in this state. We did well to put all our energy into being in this transatlantic race, it is close to my heart. We had the option not to do it. We have now met the qualification for the Vendée Globe and were really lookng to see if all the work done on the boat this winter is validated, whther it can still be improved or needs to be modified." ......Simon this morning
