First race in your garden, the Mediterranean, and a victory with Gildas Mahé at the end: is that satisfying?
It was a lot of emotion, especially at the start when it was packed with people in the bay of Aigues-Mortes off the coast of Port-Camargue all the way to Sète. There were thousands of boaters cheering us on. And I recognized a lot of people: it was pretty crazy. It was a great pride to be at the start of this race because I had been waiting for it for a long time, but to win it too… it’s the icing on the cake! It was a perfect season for me: a victory in the two races I ran and the birth of my first child.
It was a great fight, didn’t we have to give up?
We expected when we came to do this Med Max that there was going to be some action both on a sporting level given the field, as well as on a weather level: we had a lot of surprises until the end. We were served. It was magnificent. This is the type of race we do offshore racing for. It was really great. The scenario was crazy. In Class40, it becomes a bit of a specialty.
What made the difference?
You had to be good until the end. There were a lot of twists and turns, things that we didn’t really expect. We had to not break down, we had to stay very calm and play this last shot which was a long reaching leg in very strong wind at full throttle. And luckily, it’s the boat’s strong point. We made the difference on this last leg towards Saïdia (Morocco). Quite a wild edge.
Has your knowledge of navigation in the Mediterranean helped you?
Yes, I had to get back into it a bit because it’s not quite the same way it works as in the Atlantic, particularly regarding site effects. We were surprised sometimes, particularly in Menorca and even in other places. But I knew how to calm things down sometimes because tons of things could happen until the end. We had to remain patient, stay focused, united with Gildas. And we’re getting there really well. We work really well together and maybe it was going to happen on the last night… and it happened on the last night!
Do you have to be opportunistic in the Mediterranean?
Yes, you have to be opportunistic but without burning your wings, measure your strategic moves, think about the fleet from time to time. Knowing how to defend or attack at the right time. That’s what we did pretty well. We defended a little but when we made attacks, they were well felt and that allowed us to gain small gains to stay in the top three; And that night (night from Thursday to Friday), we did everything we had to go as quickly as possible without thinking too much about what was going to happen to this boat. But in addition to being magical, this boat is solid.
And what is it like to arrive in Morocco, which is also new for you?
We haven’t had time to see the Marina yet because customs has just passed but we can already hear the typical music that makes you want to go see the city. It looks really nice. The timing of the arrival was perfect: we were told not to arrive at night because we still passed almost all the islands at night and there, it was magnificent!
Class40 ranking:
1. Achille Nebout – Gildas Mahé (Amarris) arrived this Friday at 8:22’7” after 4 days 19:22’07”
2. Matteo Sericano – Luca Rosetti (Tyrolit) in 4 days 19 h 58’28”
3. Mikaël Mergui – Corentin Douguet (Centrakor) in 4 days 8:10:01 p.m.
