Racing in Newport, a success for Archambault !

In just a few hours last Friday, the Archambault North America crew members accomplished what they had been working on for the past twelve months : Winning the NYYC IRC Around the Island Race for the second year in a row. The Team skillfully handled their new A40rc « Ciao ! » and finally crossed the finish line with another bullet ! « I thought it would be harder to win this race again this year » says Philippe Paturel – Skipper and Driver of « Ciao ! » - who came this year in Newport with a forty footer instead of the 2008 Archambault 35. « We were short in crew, so it was not ideal but good team work makes the difference ».

On Saturday and Sunday, « Ciao ! » was competing in the NYYC 155th IRC Anniversary Regatta. The level was quite impressive in IRC 3 where Ciao’s sister yacht « Jubilee », owned by Cal Huge, also did very well around the cans. Both Archambault 40rc’s finished  inside the top 4 within one point overall. « Jubilee » ended up 4th with a nice recovery on the last two races and « Ciao ! » came out with a 3rd overall. « It was really interesting to almost match race another A40rc during an IRC Regatta » says Alain Fedensieu – Tactician on « Ciao ! ». « Even if I was anxious of racing at such level with a shortage of 3 crew members, we found out that the A40’s set-up can work when short handed. Manoeuvrers were smooth and efficient, we were just missing some ballast on the rail when the wind was over 12 knots but overall we are pleased! ».

Over 103 boats entered the New York Yacht Club Regattas this past week end. The fleet took the first start in deep fog on Friday with the sun finally showing up after a few hours with an average of 10 to 15 knots. « Ciao ! » won the Around the Island Race, even passing some yachts from the 2 previous starts boat for boat !

The two new Archambault A40rc were very pleased to finish in the top 5 of IRC3 as both semi-amateur crews are still discovering their boats and know they are not yet at their full potential. « I am delighted of the way we raced our brand new boat this week end » says Cal Huge – Owner Driver of « Jubilee ». « We are racing again in Block Island and I am confident that we will soon be in a position to get even more out of our A40rc during this 2009 season ».

Next, « Ciao ! » will be delivered to Marblehead MA in order to compete in the next Halifax Race. Paturel who won his class during the last edition is very confident about the offshore capabilities of his new Archambault 40rc. « She was optimized for offshore racing, so we will try to finish in a good position » said the Skipper.

Final results of the week end in Newport

-    CIAO ! – A40rc / Around the Island Race : 1st – NYYC Regattas : 3rd
-    JUBILEE – A40rc / Around the Island Race : DNC – NYYC Regattas : 4th

Ciao! crew (left to right/top to bottom) : Eric Holden (Main), Luke Porter (Pitt), Alain Fedensieu (Tactics), Philippe Paturel (Helm),

Mike Evans (Trim), Jared Lathrop (Bow), Alexis Lepesteur (Trim).

Jubilee from Charleston - Skipper Owner : Cal Huge