First and last steps Louis Duc and Masa Suzukl finish 14th IMOCA

For the 40 year old Suzuki, this race with Duc is his first step towards the 2028 Vendée Globe, his next progression after competing on the Coffee Route twice in Class40, racing the MiniTransat and racing round the world on the Globe40 race over 10 months. For Duc this was his last race on the boat which took him to 26^th on the last Vendée Globe. And, as the skipper from Caen noted, this was the third consecutive time he has finished 14^th on this race. 

They made a solid start to their race and were just behind Fabrice Amedeo and Andreas Baden (FDJ United-Wewise) on the exit of the Channel and ahead of Café Joyeux on to Biscay. Indeed it was only when they strayed north into lighter winds that they really lost Café Joyeux which is widely recognised as the fastest daggerboard IMOCA having been launched as François Gabart’s 2012 Vendée Globe winning Macif and more recently finishing 16^th on the Vendée Globe as Benjamin Ferré’s Monnoyeur Duo For A Job, top daggerboard boat. 

Language tests....

The duo worked in a mix of French and English, Masa admitting at the dock tonight that there were a few occasions when he had to revery to Chat GPT to translate some important phrases. They had only sailed together five days before the start and previous to that had not really met. The Japanese co-skipper paid tribute to Louis’ skill and patience passing on his abundant knowledge with the boat, even if the meticulously organised and methodical Masa chuckled that every watch for him required tidying the cups and mess Duc had created. 

Suzuki said on the dock, “This is the my first time sailing an IMOCA and in fact the biggest boat I have sailed so for example in the Mini and Class40 you can make mistakes and get away with it but not so on the IMOCA. It is so important not to make mistakes and so Louis was very good that way. In manoeuvres I want to be quick, quick, quick and Louis does it slowly, point by point, pointing with his finger to make sure everything is right. He makes sure you check everything. It is a good time to learn how difficult and dangerous IMOCA sailing can be. Sail selection, how to trim the sails, how to use the ballast, the keel, it was a good time to learn. And of course I could not have reached this level already if I had started alone. It is a really good way to learn and now I want to do the Vendée Arctique and the Route du Rhum. I will buy this boat now with ten guys. I made a French company with ten shareholders. And so this boat fitted me best because I wanted one I could sail with the previous owner. The last races in Class40 I have always been the skipper and this time I was co-skipper but it was great with Louis.”