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My first race in a Class40 is in the books!
1000 miles around the Mediterranean: Porquerolles, Bonifacio, southern Sardinia, Menorca… and finally back to Marseille.
It was a fantastic and challenging race. The weather was incredibly unstable, with strategic options everywhere and rankings constantly reshuffling. Our goal was simple: take the opportunities when they came, and avoid mistakes.
And I think we did that.
We sailed a clean race, had good speeds throughout, and stayed in the match the whole time — even in conditions that weren’t particularly favorable to us. #89 is an older generation hull that really shines in lighter conditions… and we had almost none of that.
One of the biggest discoveries for me was racing with constant access to weather routing and detailed forecasts. Coming from the Mini, where you have almost no information, suddenly having current models, radar images, wind barbs and polar percentages felt like unlocking a whole new side of the game.
I loved it.
And I feel really lucky to share this project with Marine. We approached the race with the same mindset — sail clean, stay committed, and keep pushing. She’s incredibly tenacious and calm under pressure, and it already feels like we’re building something strong together onboard.
Huge thank you to Mer Connexion for making this possible. Mathieu knows this boat inside out and prepared it incredibly well, which meant almost no technical issues and the ability to focus fully on racing.
And finally… I think this first finish line in a Class40 will stay printed in my mind forever:
A sky somewhere between sun and clouds.
Flying under gennaker.
One perfectly timed gust before the finish line.
Right on the edge of a broach.
And the silhouette of Marseille welcoming us after six days at sea.
Pretty special way to finish my first Class40 race.
