After his remarkable performance on the Return to Base in December, Tanguy Le Turquais took first place in the ranking off
Imoca without foils.
11th in the general classification, out of the 33 starters (32 if we except Jean Le Cam, and his true-false start), the skipper of Lazare once again showed that he had resources and that he was capable to push its Finot-Conq plan from 2007 (ex-DCNS, ex-Apicil on the Vendée globe 2022) to the point of even leaving behind a few foilers (Hublot, Biotherm, DMG, MACSF, etc.) some of which, admittedly, have experienced problems important techniques, but still.
I’m delighted because it was the last race before the Vendée Globe and I arrive here, in the United States, with an empty job list. It proves that the boat is super reliable and I have a superb team, who worked really well on it all winter so it’s great. I am comfortable on board and I feel like I am in good control of my boat. Two years ago, it was more him who controlled me… I am exactly where I wanted to be with a view to the Vendée Globe. I’ve been dreaming of doing this transatlantic for years and here it is, it’s done.
In weather conditions, ultimately not so favorable to daggerboard boats, Tanguy Le Turquais produced an impeccable trajectory.
“I loved this deckchair”
We had strong winds, but I found the conditions to be idyllic. I loved this race, it did me a lot of good after the complicated winter we had. I felt really good at sea and there were no difficult moments, I enjoyed every moment, it was good training for the Vendée Globe. One of my best moments was the arrival. The sea was very smooth and suddenly the wind picked up. The boat started going at more than 15 knots, on flat seas with the sun rising, it was magical!
Long in the fight with Benjamin Ferré, whose Monnoyeur (ex-Macif de Gabart, ex-SMA of Paul Meilhat, and ex-Banque populaire of Clarisse Crémer), Tanguy le Turquais certainly took advantage of the latter’s abandonment to take the orders for the classification of without foils
.
But he is ahead, by a long way (nearly 20 hours) of Guirec Soudée, and Violette Dorange who also both produced a very clean copy on this North Atlantic course.
Classification of “without foils”.
1. Le Turquais (Lazare) 9 days 22 hours, 35 minutes. 2. Welded 10 days 7:08 p.m.; 3. Orange 10 days 19 hours 20 minutes; 4. Bellion (Stand as one) 11 d 9h 1 min; …
