Pep Costa, 8th, Pierre Leboucher, 9th, Guillaume L’Hostis, 10th, Keni Piperol, 11th

Pep Costa, VSF Sports, 8th

“It was intense! I’m happy to have done this race, I sailed well, the boat is performing well, but what was complicated is that I lost all the instruments during the upwind leg, which made me lose a huge amount because I had no wind information, no autopilot in wind mode. It was really difficult with the unstable wind. I couldn’t sleep, so everything became even more complicated! Before that, the pace was fine, but as a result I slept less than I had planned. Still, it’s good, I gained experience, which is very important, we keep learning. In any case, there are quite a few of us sailing well and getting pretty fired up!”

Pierre Leboucher, Penfret, 9th

“I’ve arrived, that’s already something! I had quite a few issues, in all areas really: no navigation system at the start, and especially a lot of energy problems, even though I eventually found a solution for the engine. It was only my fourth time sailing the boat. It’s a bit frustrating because I couldn’t sail with the others, but the potential is there. When I was a bit freed from all my tinkering, I was able to catch up, so that’s a good sign for the future. The goal was to finish the race. I hadn’t done a solo race since 2021, so it was nice and I still know how to do it! The course was great, conditions were easy. I’m not too exhausted, the problems kept me busy—I didn’t even have time to get tired!”

Guillaume L’Hostis, ALTERNATIVE SAILING - CONSTRUCTIONS DU BELON

“It was intense in terms of competition! The conditions weren’t strong but very unstable, so you had to stay focused all the time. I actually slept quite well, maybe that’s why I got overtaken! I didn’t want to burn out, I wanted to be careful about that, eat well, sleep well, get back into my rhythm, take care of myself and enjoy it. The first part of the race was really good, but upwind it got complicated. I had speed issues, quite a few bad decisions, and then it’s hard to come back because the leaders don’t make mistakes. But it’s good for a first race: there’s some very good, and some very bad, and we’ll be able to work with all of that!”

Kéni Piperol, Dampied, DREPACTION, 11th

“The race went well, I had a lot of things to observe and test. It had been a long time since I last did a solo race and I was afraid I might be rusty, but in the end it’s fine, I haven’t forgotten too much! At the beginning, I struggled to let go and allow myself to sleep, so I’m pretty tired, but the nutrition and everything else was fine. It was extremely interesting, I learned a lot about the boat and about my level in the fleet—there were many twists and turns. There are plenty of areas to work on, the settings were right for this first race. I didn’t want to get the exercise wrong and I’m happy with the result.”