The first competitors in the Transquadra Madeira Martinique arrived in Funchal last night after an epic leg, for both the Mediterranean and Atlantic fleets. Mistral winds and violent currents for the southerners, an autumnal depression and a poorly placed ridge of high pressure for the competitors who set off from La Turballe: the weather gave these non-professional skippers over the age of 40 a hard time... But it was also a lot of fun!

In the Atlantic fleet, in the single-handed Performance class, it was an ocean-going rookie who won on corrected time: Philippe Benaben (Platypus) at the helm of a Sun Fast 3200. "This is the first time I've done the Transquadra. I didn't know the other competitors. I knew by reputation that Alex was very strong. I sail in the English Channel, whereas they tend to sail in Brittany or La Rochelle. It was also the first time I'd spent so much time alone and so much time at sea in one go. I was dead tired and in a very tense state’, said the sailor from Altosquan on his arrival."

Philippe Benaben beat Alexandre Ozon (Bepox 990 - Team 2 Choc) by 58 minutes and 30 seconds. As usual, the man from Royann led the fleet in real time for a good part of the leg, but the changing weather conditions meant that there was no room for escape: ‘There was a great battle for contact, but for us who were in front, at each transition, the doors closed: we were never able to change and the others came back behind,’ explained the man from Royann, twice winner of the event.'

Two fronts followed one another, followed by a ridge of high pressure: the vast majority of this leg between La Turballe and Funchal was sailed close-hauled, limiting the sailors' chances of breaking away with hulls built for surfing.

Will the 2nd leg be a postponement?

The podium was completed by Henri Laurent (Sailgrib), 37 minutes behind the Royannais.

In the double-handed event, the duo of Eric Guigné and Tangi Caron (JPK 10.30 - OSE) won both the real and compensated races with a fine margin of 2h21 over Pierre-Yves Fouché and Luc de Camas (Moïse), two rookies who have once again prepared very seriously for this Transquadra.

Eric Guigné / Tangi Caron on their arrival after battling, for fun, in real time and in match race mode right to the end with Alex Ozon: ‘We're super happy! I'm too exhausted to express my joy! We finished 6th 3 years ago. This time, we were aiming for a podium finish, so it's off to a good start!
We sailed with Alex and I'm really proud to have fought with him. He's an extraordinary competitor... as well as being a great friend. It's fantastic, I'm really happy!'

Their runners-up on the JKP 10.10 Moïse are happy too, of course: ‘We're happy, satisfied, overjoyed! It's been really intense. The start was pretty intense and really tough. It was contact racing all the time. We crossed paths with our direct rivals every day. It was crazy. We kept an eye on what the others were doing. We were watching the rankings all the time...’.

The duo of Pascal Bernebe and Eric Chalaux (Pour Aster Bretagne) completed the podium, 16 minutes behind the 2nd place finishers: tight and tense right to the end!

The Mediterraneans all experienced a nightmarish passage through the Alboran Sea, helplessly swept along by opposing currents. The less fortunate were trapped for 4 days before being able to extricate themselves from the Big Blue.

The experienced Frédéric Ponsenard (with 5 Transquadra races to his name), generally solo and exceptionally as a duo with Paolo Manganelli, were the quickest to avoid the Mediterranean traps on this leg: they won both the real and compensated races. Their southern compatriots are expected to be there next night and tomorrow.

‘We didn't come here to perform, but this is the cherry... and it's a very good one! We're very happy with our leg and the way we sailed. And if we can record in the annals of the race that I finished ahead of Alex Ozon, that would be really good, because I don't think that'll ever happen again,’ joked Frédéric Ponsenard on his arrival.

And what about the Cruisers?

In both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the frontrunners battled it out with and in front of the ‘Performance’ boats, while maintaining their philosophy of pure-pleasure-at-all-costs.

Emmanuel Ungaran and Nicolas Peyron (RM 1070 Chaac), 1st Mediterranean cruiser, arrived 10h00 after the first Performance duo (Coco): a fine performance after 12 days of racing: ‘It was a great experience! It's been more of an adventure than a race for us: the Mistral, close to 40 knots at the start. The Alboran Sea with the calm and the currents: we sailed like corks, letting the currents carry us forward. Gibraltar at night, very impressive with lots of wind and currents. Passing off Tangiers is very beautiful... And when you get back to the calm of the Atlantic, it's super easy! A real epic! But very interesting.'

On the Atlantic side, the first double-handed Atlantic cruiser, Azora, sailed by the British duo of Stephen Thomas and Chris Morton, battled throughout the leg in the top 5 of the double-handed Performance boats. Their corrected time was the same as that of the 4th Performance double: hats off to the British!

In the solo class, Alexandre Lajeunesse (Cohésion Internationale) made a superb start to the race, battling it out with the top 10 in the Performance class. He is expected in Madeira tomorrow morning.

The arrivals are still going strong this Tuesday at the eastern tip of Madeira. Smiles and hugs followed 2 hours later in Funchal.

Around fifteen boats were already moored at the race pontoon at the start of the afternoon, with another ten or so expected to join them by this evening. The rest of the arrivals will be staggered over the next night and tomorrow.