A clear victory for Guillaume Pirouelle at the Trin’40
Departure on Friday, 24 April 2026 at 2:00 p.m.
That’s what you call a great performance—and quite a season opener! After 4 days, 30 minutes and 14 seconds of racing, the skipper of Sogestran-Seafrigo crossed the finish line of the first edition of the Trin’40 in first place at 2:30:14 p.m.*, Tuesday, April 28. He completed the course at an average speed of 8.4 knots.
The sailor from Le Havre, who took the lead of the fleet on the second day of racing off the tip of Penmarc’h, never let it go again, setting an impressive pace for the rest of the competitors and never giving his closest pursuers a chance to catch up with him. Six months after winning the Transat Café L’Or, and following a winter marked by a victorious Jules Verne Trophy aboard Sodebo Ultim 3, Guillaume Pirouelle shows that he will undoubtedly be a key contender in the intense 2026 Class40 season now underway.
Guillaume Pirouelle’s first words upon arriving at the dock:
“I tried not to give my fellow competitors too many chances, but they pushed hard behind me anyway! I fought to stay in front. Of course, there’s a gap at the finish, but the conditions also made it feel like an elastic band constantly stretching and contracting. I was always a bit wary of Corentin Douguet, who’s very fast upwind—there are others too—but there was a bit more distance. My boat performs well downwind; that’s how I took the lead, and then I held off the attacks, you could say! It’s great because with the team we’re working on ironing out our weaknesses upwind, and little by little we’re getting there, which is really encouraging.
I hadn’t done a solo race like this since my Figaro years—there was the return leg from Les Sables–Horta, but it wasn’t such a close-to-the-coast course. I love this kind of racing, but this morning was tough—I was nodding off in front of the computer! The conditions were very unstable, making it really hard to get any sleep. Every time you went to rest, you risked being much slower, so many of us didn’t sleep much. Mentally I’m fine, but I was definitely dozing! It’s clear we couldn’t have kept up that pace for twenty days… There weren’t any major strategic choices on this course; it was good for working on speed and comparing ourselves to others, with long legs, holding positions for a long time—it wasn’t always easy, but it’s a good exercise and a solid return to solo racing!”
*Subject to jury confirmation
