Sailing: Achille Nebout, the skipper from Montpellier, achieves great success on the Quebec – Sant-Malo

Achille Nebout avec Gildas Mahé et Alan Roberts à l'arrivée de la course. – AMARRIS

Sur son Class40 Amarris, il a remporté la Transatlantique après 14 jours, 21 heures et 59 minutes. 

"He made four Transatlantic races for two victories, a second place and a fourth place." After his victory in the Quebec race – Saint-Malo, Monday July 15, Achille Nebout could only be satisfied with the behavior of his boat since its acquisition.

"It‘is very reassuring because we were fast regardless of the conditions. We made small changes to the sails which paid off. And I think that we can still, moreover, make it progress a little. But two years after its construction, it remains a reference for the circuit", assures the Montpellier skipper about his Class40 Amarris. Especially since he was up against all the best boats in his category.

And yet, he was in great demand in his last months and suffered the breakage of a rudder. "1,300 miles from the finish, almost halfway, we heard a big boom. I go out and see that the stainless steel bit that holds it in place is completely broken. This is a major damage to our boats. We have two rudders, when we only have one, it's very complicated, explains the 2nd in the Transat Jacques-Vabre.

Change of rudder in the middle of the Atlantic

Who with his racing companions, Gildas Mahé and Alan Roberts decided on the best option to take. "We weighed the pros and cons. We also took some outside advice from architects to find out what could be done. And in fact, we said to ourselves that if we manage to change rudders at sea, it is perhaps the best solution to reach Brittany as quickly as possible."

A perilous operation because the rudder weighs 30 kg and there are several rolling parts which can fall into the water… After 4.5 hours of mechanics, they succeeded and then tacked on one side then the other until the finish, changing the rudder to… hellip; 30 minutes. A well-managed situation which allowed them to keep the lead and win after fourteen days of racing.

FLASH INFO – L’équipage du Class40 Amarris réalise une opération McGyver de changement de safran en mer 🥴 Ce matin la mèche de safran tribord s'est cassée net entrainant la perte du safran. Pour lire la suite👉🏼 https://t.co/sI0FkhwXgu pic.twitter.com/vtBSPvfk7D

— Achille Nebout (@AchilleNebout) July 9, 2024

Achille Nebout was thus able to reunite with his 4-month-old daughter, who he will be able to enjoy for two months before the next race. "A beautiful chapter in this season and in this Class 40 project which is finally to come and sail in the Mediterranean on the Med Max."& nbsp;Where the native of Montpellier will be practically at home in Port-Camargue and will display great ambitions.