A margin of less than two minutes secured the Class40 victory last night for Corentin Douguet and Axel Trehin’s Faites un don sur SNSM.org after 700 miles of tense, tightly fought racing. This pattern continued throughout the fleet, with several places contested by equally slim margins, while almost the entire first half the 24-strong fleet finished in just 47 minutes.
Drama unfolded even as the starting cannon fired at the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes when more than 20 per cent of the fleet jumped the gun, incurring two-hour time penalties that would only be applied after the finish.
Corentin Douguet and Axel Trehin’s class-winning Class40 Faites un don sur SNSM.org arrives in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin © Paul Wyeth/RORC
Class40s have a reputation for incredibly close racing, yet Guillaume Pirouelle and Cedric Chateau’s Seafrigo-Sogestran, together with Milan Kolacek’s Inland Roots Ocean Soul somehow found find a vein of wind that enabled them to leave the pack behind and exit the Solent with a useful early advantage.
Nevertheless, Douguet’s team, of co-skipper Axel Trehin, Rodrigue Cabaz and Laurent Pruvost, moved into the lead after Portland Bill, little more than 60 miles from the start. Impressively, they never relinquished it – despite numerous threats and challenges – yet they were rarely far ahead.
VSF Sports finished strongly in second, the Class40 sailed by Pep Costa © Paul Wyeth/RORC South of the Lizard peninsula, for instance, Peitro Luciani’s Les Invincibles was less than a mile behind and Thomas Jourdren’s NST Racing & Cabinet Z a similar distance back in third. Douguet, however, did manage to extend his cushion to 26 minutes as they rounded the Fastnet Rock.
The return leg downwind was significantly faster than the outbound journey, and by 100 miles from the finish in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Pep Costa’s VSF Sports had already whittled Douguet’s lead down to 17 minutes.
Tension built steadily in the final five hours and 45 miles of the race, thanks to a weakening breeze for the leaders and increasing adverse tide that caused the fleet to compress still further. Any mistake in a manoeuvre risked losing the lead, yet there was no possibility of playing it safe.
After a series of quick-fire gybes close inshore along the rock-strewn northwest coast of Guernsey to gain relief from the adverse tide, Douguet left Alderney close to port, before another series of short gybes along the northern shore of the Cotentin peninsula, the last one less than a mile from the finish line.
From Cowes to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the Class40s remained close throughout the race, almost half finishing within 47 minutes © Rick Tomlinson/RORC
The boat is a Lombard designed Lift v3 that was only launched six months ago but has now enjoyed a clean sweep of victories in all three races it has entered this season. It’s an impressive result that bodes well for Douguet and Trehin in the Transat Cafe l’OR at the end of this year.
Douguet selected Trehin, who won the 2021 Normandy Channel Race in his own Class40 as well as taking third place in the 2023 RORC Caribbean 600, as co-skipper earlier this year. “It’s working very well with Axel and we keep winning,” he says. “There’s no better argument to convince our partners to follow us.”
This is Douguet’s second Rolex Fastnet Race victory in a Class40, having won in 2019 when racing with Luke Berry. He also won the 2021 RORC Transatlantic Race, the 2005 Mini Transat and took third place in the last Route du Rhum.
Belgium Ocean Racing, sailed by Jonas Gerckens, powered through the waves at the start in Cowes © James Tomlinson/RORC
“What a victory! It was an intense battle until the end,” he exclaimed on stepping ashore in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. “The Rolex Fastnet Race is always difficult, from the beginning to the finish line. But this year the finish was even more difficult because the other boats were getting closer and closer. There was maximum tension – it was interesting but stressful.
“It was a nice year for the centenary of the race, because we had really nice weather, with a maximum of maybe 20 to 25 knots of wind. So it’s the racing that was challenging, but not the weather.”
VSF Sports took second place, having pressed Douguet’s team very hard, especially in the later stages. Costa, a 26-year-old Spanish sailor, was part of Erwan Le Draoulec’s winning team in the 2023 Fastnet.
“It wasn't easy. It was very technical from a strategic point of view and also from a speed point of view,” he says. “Sometimes it was difficult to position ourselves well compared to other boats. We didn't always get exactly where we wanted to be, but we always managed to get back on track. We made a great team with Pablo, Alexis Thomas and Kevin Bloch, and it was a pleasure to fight so hard until the end.”
Les Invincibles, sailed by Pietro Luciani, Ryan Barker and Hugo Picard, finished in third place © James Tomlinson/RORC
Les Invincibles, sailed by Pietro Luciani, Ryan Barkey and Hugo Picard, took third place, six minutes after VSF Sports. We pushed from the beginning till the very end,” says Luciani. “We were coming back hard last night but caught a big rope on the keel near the Isles of Scilly that slowed us down big time. After we solved that problem, we were really fighting to get back because we felt there was space on the podium for us. First place was already booked – they really deserved it – but second was still possible with the conditions we had near the finish.
“We were missing our leader, William Mathelin-Moreaux,” Luciani adds. “He had a back injury and couldn't join us at the very last moment. But I’m happy and proud of the work we have done – I think he will be the first to be happy with our performance.”
