For her first Vendée Globe, Justine Mettraux, tenth in the ranking, had a very successful race. Engaged in a chase race along the South American coast which could allow her to enter the top five, the skipper of TeamWork Groupe SNEF spoke to Voile Magazine.
Voile Magazine: Hello Justine, how are you? No major damage on board since the loss of your D0 and after 26 days spent in the Deep South?
Justine Mettraux: “The navigation at the moment is not the most pleasant, but it’s still okay. We are in 25 knots upwind along the coast of South America. It’s not too bad yet, it’s okay… Physically, I feel in pretty good shape. As for the boat, it seems to be okay, it’s holding up for the moment. Damage-wise, I was lucky. After losing my J0, I had no other problems with the sails. Nothing except the loss of my masthead aerials. »
Voile Magazine: How are you going to compensate for the loss of this sail on this journey across the Atlantic?
Justine Mettraux: “We’ll see, I wouldn’t have a choice anyway, I have to deal with it. Either by favoring routes which are quite luffed or those which have a reduced percentage of use of J0. In any case, I have to try to make the best use of the other sails, namely the Fro (split gennaker) and the Mast Head, to compensate for this lack. »
Voile Magazine: You seemed very moved as you passed Cape Horn, what does that mean to you in your career as an offshore racer?
Justine Mettraux: “Cape Horn is always an important passage in a sailor’s career because you don’t pass it many times in your life. I’ve been racing offshore for 15 years and this is only my second Cape Horn, the first solo. There you go, these remain quite exceptional moments so I think that’s also why there is emotion and then as I said in the video, it took me a while to succeed in putting together a Vendée Globe project. This is why I think there is even more satisfaction in having managed to pass this famous milestone. »
Voile Magazine: You are sailing in a fairly compact group with five competitors who are not very far from you, do you see a weather opportunity in the coming days to get ahead of them?
Justine Mettraux: “It’s difficult to say because the weather isn’t very good so it doesn’t make me want to take too many risks for the moment either, at least that’s what I tell myself. I have the impression that the group will continue on a slightly easterly route, remaining upwind for a little while longer.
-There was also the possibility of passing the front in which we are currently sailing and going west to look for other things. It was quite tempting because it’s less upwind sailing but it didn’t seem sophisticated enough to play this option or too risky in my opinion. So, there you go, we’ll see, for the moment I tell myself that we have to take the weather forecasts one after the other because things are moving quite a bit and then we’ll see later if there are any opportunities…”
Voile Magazine: Does your ranking, tenth at 11 a.m., live up to your sporting hopes?
Justine Mettraux: “Yes, I think that given the boats in front of me, this is about my place. It’s already great to be able to be so close to boats like those right next to me, after more than 50 days of racing. It’s true that in the other races of the season, I often had better rankings than that, but it’s also because there wasn’t necessarily everyone in the other competitions or because some boats in front of me were damaged. In addition, the bulk of the new IMOCA fleet, very complete and competitive boats, have held up well, so they are still there. It also affects the rankings. »
It’s already great to be able to be so close to boats like the ones right next to me, after more than 50 days of racing
Voile Magazine: Do you think that your boat, the old Charal, is a little less good in VMG downhill in the breeze than the new foilers?
Justine Mettraux: “No, I think it’s in general, there are times when I can’t go as fast in heavy seas. It is also true that new boats manage to maintain averages which are really very strong. So afterward, do they agree to shoot at the boat anymore? In fact, I think that it is mainly the potential of the boat which explains this gap. But in the south, I didn’t feel too handicapped…”
Voile Magazine: Are you in a hurry to cross the finish line?
Justine Mettraux: “No, I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s true that before passing Cape Horn, you count down a bit and then now that it’s over, you say to yourself, anyway, there’s still quite a way to go. I think I still have 6,000 miles to go, so that’s about two deck chairs.
So there you go, you get back into a slightly more day-to-day rhythm, you try to move the boat forward, to go to the right place without having too much wait for the moment of arrival. In any case, of course as you pass Cape Horn, you start to think a little about the arrival, but I’m trying not to think about it too much for the moment because it’s still far away, it could be going through a lot of things, so there you go, I’m trying to leave that a little aside for now. »
