The mastery of Charlie Dalin, on his monohull Apivia, at the top of the Imoca category classification since the very first hours of the Route du rhum, is dazzling. If genius there is, he has a divine cape that allows him, at certain speeds, especially upwind (the speed closest to the bed of the wind), to widen gaps to the point of burying his adversaries, who nevertheless have new boats, but also lacking in development.
The 38-year-old skipper from Le Havre, on a 2019 boat designed by the architect Guillaume Verdier, was, at the start of this Route du rhum, the big favorite in his category, knowing that he had won all the single-handed races of the season: Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race, Vendée-Arctic-Les Sables and Azimut Challenge. He had also crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe first, in January 2021, before being demoted to 2e place, Yannick Bestaven having been declared the winner after time bonuses for the rescue of Kevin Escoffier.
The explanation of Charlie Dalin’s supposed “genius”? This is what the Malouin Louis Burton said a few days ago, he who abandoned, Saturday, November 12, on broken mast: “Charlie is far ahead, but he is above all an exceptional sailor: he knows his boat like the back of his hand. »
Large foils
Masterly sailor, great sailor, sharp intelligence, scientific composure and endurance. To this, Charlie Dalin adds a substantial advantage: his boat is equipped with large foils, these appendages allowing him to fly above the water, longer than those of his opponents, which give him a speed two, sometimes three times higher. knots on his pursuers.
Its monohull actually benefits from a priority rule. At the end of the last Vendée Globe, the Imoca class decided to reduce the size of the foils of the boats being built, both for cost and safety reasons: large foils exert such forces on the structure that, sometimes, the masts do not resist it. And thus to limit the volume of the foils to 8 m3. Charlie Dalin would have a good cubic meter more. At the same time, three Imoca were allowed to keep their appendages: Apivia (Charlie Dalin) Office-Valley (Louis Burton) and the formerArkea-Paprec (Sébastien Simon) – now without a skipper, this boat has not sailed since its return from the Transat Jacques-Vabre 2021.
These old monohulls therefore benefit from this rule but with technical constraints, including fewer adjustment angles on the foils, to counterbalance the power of these large appendages. This rule is valid until January 2025. This means that at the start of the Route du rhum 2022, the Transat Jacques Vabre 2023 and the Vendée Globe 2024, the majority of Imocas will be equipped with 8m foils3but three units in the fleet will still be equipped with larger foils.
You have 44.44% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.
