15th Défi Azimut Lorient Agglomération - Another win for MACIF Santé Prévoyance

A win for MACIF Santé Prévoyance in the hands of Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar in the Défi Azimut - Lorient Agglomération © Christophe Favreau

The British skipper Sam Goodchild, who was a key part of the crew on Biotherm that won The Ocean Race Europe, followed up with victory in the two-handed Défi Azimut - Lorient Agglomération 48 Hours race today.

Sailing alongside Frenchman Loïs Berrehar, Goodchild skippered the Guillaume Verdier-designed MACIF Santé Prévoyance to win a light-airs Azimut 48 Hours from Teamwork-Team SNEF skippered by Justine Mettraux in second place.

It came just hours before the Biotherm crew, led by Paul Meilhat of France, confirmed their dominance of The Ocean Race Europe by winning the final coastal race at Boka Bay in Montenegro. Their performance in that race owed much to Goodchild who sailed as navigator on the first four legs of that race.

In the Azimut, Goodchild and Berrehar completed what was the fifth race win in a row for a boat which won the last Vendée Globe, when skippered by Charlie Dalin of France, and which has now won six of the nine races it has started since its launch in June 2023.

No surprise then to hear Goodchild describe it as "an incredible weapon" after reaching the finish of a 307-nautical mile course - out and back to Lorient - that they completed at an average speed of just over seven knots.

"For sure, we're still learning the boat but we've got a great team and the boat is amazing," said Goodchild, who took the lead midway through the race after an indifferent start. "As Jean-Yves Gau, the boat captain, reminded us when we stepped ashore - this was the fifth consecutive race win for MACIF Santé Prévoyance so yes, it's an incredible weapon. But, for us, we only started sailing it not that long ago, so we're learning every day," added Goodchild.

For Swiss sailor Mettraux, the 48 Hours proved a welcome return to the podium after a race that she and Xavier Macaire of France led in the early stages. The understated Mettraux described this as a "solid result" at the end of a testing contest on flat water which saw them cross the finish line just one minute ahead of third-placed Charal, sailed by Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière of France.

"We only had proper breeze for the last two hours or so," Mettraux said at the finish. "A few little stretches here and there. But never more than 10-12 knots. Very light, very unstable conditions, so you had to stay focused all the time. I think we got off to a pretty good start, with Xavier on the right side of the course, which allowed us to be in the game from the beginning."

She was delighted to edge Charal for second place, especially given the fact that she and Macaire had to deal with a tack line failure on their J0 sail. "It's great, it feels really good," she said. "We knew we were taking on this challenge with quite a small team, so it's nice to have a strong race here. We really wanted to do well and with Xavier, we didn't let much slip, so it's great to see it pay off."

Mettraux and Macaire will now focus on the build-up to the Transat Café L'OR from Le Havre to Martinique, which starts at the end of October. "On the Transat, the conditions will be completely different, but at least we know we can really push the boat and keep it in the match at its full potential," summarised Mettraux.

This race featured 12 IMOCAs and saw the competitive debut in the Class for several teams and boats, among them Armel Tripon and Tanguy Leglatin of France on Les P'tits Doudous, a new VPLP hull built from recycled carbon-fibre. Another newcomer was Nicolas D'Estais of France, sailing with Simon Koster of Switzerland, on Café Joyeux, the former Monnoyeur-Duo For A Job.

This pairing had a cracking race in a daggerboard-configured boat and were in contention for the podium before finishing fourth. An accomplished former Mini sailor, D'Estais loved racing this old IMOCA which won the daggerboard division in the last Vendée Globe and won that race overall in the hands of François Gabart in 2012-'13.

"This boat is really easy to get moving compared to the foilers, so we made the most of that," said D'Estais at the finish. "What we take away is that it's a great machine - there will always be conditions where we can really exploit it. It's up to us to make the most of the conditions and to hang tough when it's the opposite." D'Estais could see the parallels with his old Mini yacht too: "Everything's heavier - the sails, the ropes, everything's heavier. But still, it's basically just a big Mini," he said.

And the Café Joyeux skipper, who started his professional life in management consulting before switching to sailing full time four years ago, was thrilled to get his new sailing project off to such an impressive start. "Above all, this is the achievement of a project that I managed to build with Café Joyeux over the past year," he told the Class. "Just being on the startline was really the result of 12 intense months of work, with all the partners who came on board. So yes, it's a great start, a really positive sporting introduction."

And he and Coster are now also switching their focus to the Transat. "It's going to come very, very quickly. This was only our sixth sail on the boat and there are still lots of things we need to improve - in terms of preparation and in getting to know the boat better. But I'm super-excited to set off on this race. We just can't expect to finish this high every time. What matters is to make the most of it - we know we have a card to play," D'Estais said.

Meanwhile, at Boka Bay, Yoann Richomme's Paprec Arkéa was second in the coastal race behind Biotherm, which was enough to confirm them as runner-up overall, just ahead of Team Holcim-PRB skippered by Rosalin Kuiper. In fourth place, it was Team Malizia skippered by Boris Herrmann, which means they hold onto fourth place overall, one point ahead of Ambrogio Beccaria's team on Allagrande MAPEI Racing. The final two spots in the overall ranking are occupied by Scott Shawyer's Be Water Positive (6th) and Team Amaala skippered by Alan Roura (7th).