THE CLASS40 IBSA WINS THE LES SABLES-HORTA-LES SABLES

With a first place in the first leg and a third in the second, tonight Alberto Bona – together with co-skipper Pablo Santurde Del Arco – won the Les Sables-Horta-Les Sables on board the Class40 IBSA. The regatta, which started on June 27 from Port Olona (France), is divided into two stages: the first from Les Sables d’Olonne to Horta, in the Azores; the second from Horta to Les Sables d’Olonne, back to France.

Alberto Bona and Pablo Santurde crossed the finish line of the second stage during the night, after 4 days and 12 hours of navigation. The total sailing time of the over 2,500 miles of navigation brings the Class40 IBSA to the top step of the podium of a difficult, tactical and very important trial for the classification of the season in Class40.

After the wonderful victory in the first leg, Bona sailed at his best in the return stage too. In the lead since the first day of the second leg, after leaving five days ago from Horta, in the Azores, Alberto and Pablo had to manage the race amid uncertain weather: a first disturbance allowed the team to leave the calm of the Azores and – at the head of the fleet – project into the Atlantic at high speeds, but the wind direction and the low wind conditions in the Bay of Biscay forced the majority of the boats to continue north, well beyond the great circle route for the arrival, reaching almost the entrance of the English Channel. From there, the descent towards the finish, along the Breton coast, saw the Class40 IBSA choose a prudent and controlled route, while a part of the group who risked more extreme choices – with an even more decisive northbound track – was rewarded with more substantial speeds.

“At a certain point”, explainedBona, “we just had to run as much as possible to minimise the gap from the leader, using the advantage of the first leg to stay ahead. So we did, and a very important victory came for us, in a tactically very complex race, with calm conditions and strong winds and tactical choices difficult to make: a great satisfaction. I am really happy that I chose to participate in this regatta, which plays an important role in the Class40 season and championship. We learned a lot, and above all we accumulated further miles together with Pablo, which is very important in view of the last stage of the championship, the Transat Jacques Vabre, which awaits us at the end of October”.