Direction Fernando de Noronha on France Bleu Provence. At 7.15 am French time on Tuesday, the boat “La Compagnie du Lit, / Jiliti” was sailing in the Brazilian archipelago off Natal in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. At the helm, the Var Clément Giraud and his teammate Erik Nigon, whom France Bleu Provence was able to join in the open sea in the middle of the night. And while the boat is speeding towards Fort-de-France, after two weeks of racing, Clément Giraud, still with a smile, shares his impressions.
So far it’s going really well. It was quite intense at the beginning since we left with little wind, a lot of current and we had to not stall with our little friends, we had to change course a little to adapt to the weather – Clément Giraud
The first competitors of the Transat Jacques Vabre made landfall in the night from Monday to Tuesday in Fort-de-France, it was Primonial (Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben), among the Ocean Fifty, who won after crossing the line arrival at 2:54 a.m. (metropolitan time). The two skippers therefore completed the route in 15 days, 13 hours and 27 minutes. Since the arrivals follow one another. An arrival that pleases Clément Giraud: “I am super happy because in their category it is not the last very recent boat that has won, it is the oldest boat in the fleet of the category, it is good for nature that the older equipment can win “.
Arrival in a week
“La Compagnie du Lit, / Jiliti”, which operates in the IMOCA category, is betting on a arrival in Fort-de-France in a week, “We are thoroughly” says the sailor. The two men have been living together for two weeks now. A primarily human adventure for Clément and Erik who know each other well but 20 years separate them. Clément Giraud confided before the start all the admiration he has for Erik Nigon. Two weeks later, how’s life as a duo? Obviously pretty good. The Var likes to smile.
Erik? Olala it is unbearable! He leaves his pants lying around, he’s unbearable[…]. No it’s really great! It’s going very very well, we also took pleasure in writing little notebooks that we read on the internet. We have great conversations … and as it is a long journey, I am learning a lot of things!