Lalou Roucayrol and Multi 50 Arkema right on track
by Team Arkema 7 Jun 2018 14:35 BST
Multi50 sailing © Jacques Vapillon / GPEN
Great start to the 2018 season for Lalou Roucayrol and his Multi 50 Arkema who gave a stunning performance in the first two crew events, winning the Grand Prix Guyader in Douarnenez and then finishing in 2nd place at the Grand Prix de l'École Navale in Brest.
The technical choices made during the winter refit have been fully validated, and Arkema now shows a great potential. Following these two weeks of intense competition, Lalou and his team are calmly confident ahead of the season. With one event a month for the Aquitaine-born skipper, alternating solo and crew sailing, Lalou Roucayrol will be definitively ready for the major event at the end of the year: the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe.
The Multi 50 Arkema crew had two major objectives for the inaugural events of the 2018 season: to measure themselves against first-class competition, and to validate the modifications made to the trimaran during the winter refit. Thus the Grand Prix Guyader (a win over three other crews) and the Grand Prix de l'École Navale (2nd place out of five Multi 50 boats) gave satisfaction in every respect.
A tried and tested and closely knit crew
For the Grand Prix Guyader in Douarnenez, from 4 to 7 May, Lalou Roucayrol surrounded himself with four "regulars" from the team, César Dohy and Karine Fauconnier, in charge of the boat's sails and its performance respectively, and two members of the team: Quentin Vlamynck, boat captain of the Multi 50 Arkema, and Romaric Neyhousser, the boat's architect. At the Grand Prix de l'École Navale in Brest, from 8 to 12 May, Romaric Neyhousser was replaced by the Aquitaine-born sailor Yannick Bestaven.
"We were all pleased to be together again for these two events on superb bodies of water and in very nice conditions", explains Lalou. "I'm extremely happy with both our performances. We were fully engaged from start to finish, every maneuver was fluid, and it's a dream when everything comes together like this. We improved throughout, it's all going the right way!"
An optimized boat
If you want a great crew to achieve convincing results, you need a machine that is up to it, which is clearly the case with the Multi50 Arkema. "These two events have showed that the boat has improved a lot following the work undertaken last winter, in particular with new sails, the overall balance of the boat being altered, and the layout of the boat deck being optimized", Lalou Roucayrol is pleased to say. "The technical choices we made were positive. The boat is responding really well. We improved our speed in light and moderate winds, and didn't underperform in breezy conditions. Now the boat is fast in any conditions! The outcome is very satisfactory."
Looking forward to the "Rhum" already
To prepare in the best possible way for the high point of the season, the Route du Rhum Destination Guadeloupe, Lalou Roucayrol has dreamt up a devil of a training program, alternating solo sailing with crew sailing.
After a few weeks' training in the Médoc region, Lalou will be on the starting line first of the Mille SNSM leaving from Port-Médoc (22/06), followed by the Drheam Cup (23/07) leaving from La Trinité-sur-Mer to defend his title.
"We will be sailing the Mille SNSM in 'false-solo' mode, explains Quentin Vlamynck, boat captain of the Arkema trimaran. "I will be accompanying Lalou for this race, and also in the solo training. This enables us to give feedback on the sails to César and on the boat's performance to Karine. And for me, these are opportunities to sail by Lalou's side: I learn something from him on our trimaran every day. He knows it inside out and it's very helpful to be working with him on a daily basis. Then, we will take part in two crew trophy races, in Saint-Quay-Portrieux and in Roscoff before switching to the Route du Rhum configuration."
It is in fact in less than six months, on 4 November, that the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe will sail from Saint-Malo. In his three previous participations in this legendary event, Lalou always clinched a podium place, but never the top step. On an upswing in his career, the skipper of the Multi 50 Arkema is this year rightly a serious contender for 1st place. To achieve this, he will need his boat to deliver a flawless performance. For now, it's all systems go!
2018 program for Multi50 Arkema:
1st in Grand Prix Guyader: 4 to 7 May 2018
2nd in Grand Prix de l'École Navale: 8 to 12 May 2018
Mille SNSM: departure 22 June 2018
Drheam Cup: departure Monday 23 July 2018
Trophée des Multicoques Baie de Saint-Brieuc: 24 to 26 August 2018
Grand Prix Valdys: 1st to 8 September 2018
Route du Rhum: departure Sunday 4 November 2018