La Defonce Presented with C. Gaither Scott Trophy for Corinthian Spirit

Bill Wagner

Laurent Givry was thinking out of the box when he bought a Beneteau Figaro 3 to compete in point-to-point races on the Chesapeake Bay as well as offshore distance races such as Annapolis-to-Newport.

Touted as the first production foiling one-design monohull ever designed, the Figaro 3 is more closely associated with short-handed sailing out of France and other locales in Europe.

Givry is a relative newcomer to competitive sailing, having jumped in with two feet by purchasing a brand new Farr 400 high-performance racer. The 52-year-old surrounded himself with a strong team of professionals and promptly captured the Virginia Cruising Cup as overall winner of the 68th Down the Bay Race.

The Fairfax Station, Virginia, resident took a similar approach after acquiring the Figaro 3, going to great lengths to find someone with the expertise to teach him how to properly handle a foiling sailboat.

Givry managed to connect with one of the world’s most renowned sailors, convincing French former professional Sidney Gavignet to come to Annapolis for a pair of week-long training sessions.

Gavignet, a four-time veteran of the Volvo Ocean Race, even agreed to join Givry aboard La Defonce for the Annapolis-to-Newport Race. They entered the Double-handed Division and wound up making history by finishing first of the 23 boats in the Friday start of the race.

This was the 37th edition of the biennial event that connects two of the East Coast's greatest seaports, and never before had a double-handed team taken line honors. Givry, an amateur sailor, and Gavignet did not receive the newly-commissioned Chip Thayer Perpetual Trophy for lowest elapsed time among Friday starters because foiling boats are not eligible. However, the two Frenchmen did earn an even more prestigious award.

La Defonce was presented with the C. Gaither Scott Trophy for Corinthian Spirit during the Annapolis-to-Newport Race prize-giving ceremony, held Wednesday night At the Deck of Waites Wharf.

The C. Gaither Scott Trophy for Corinthian Spirit is presented at the discretion of the Annapolis-to-Newport race committee. This special award, which is not handed out during every edition of Annapolis-to-Newport, was named in honor of the Annapolis Yacht Club’s longtime race committee chairman and was introduced following his death in March, 2000.

“I am totally overwhelmed to get this trophy. I was not expecting this at all. I’m very touched. It’s an amazing honor,” an emotional Givry said immediately after the ceremony. “I just called Sidney to tell him about this. He’s very happy as well. We are very grateful to the Annapolis Yacht Club to consider us worthy of this wonderful trophy.”

Gavignet, whose swan song as a professional sailor was capturing overall victory in the Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race aboard the 50-foot Café Joyeaux, painstakingly taught Givry how to understand weather models and utilize that information to perform advanced navigational routing.

Together, they developed a wise game-plan then executed it to perfection – rounding the Chesapeake Light upon entering the Atlantic Ocean then sailing in a northeasterly direction 60 miles offshore.

La Defonce entered the Gulf Stream just as a low pressure system was developing and the duo was delighted when the wind clocked around from 50 to 120 degrees. Gavignet and Givry tacked immediately on the shift and sailed all the way to Newport.

It was a bold and brilliant move to go all the way out to the Gulf Stream, but worked as a charm because La Defonce went all the way to the finish line off Castle Hill Light on one tack.

“It makes me smile because I don’t understand why no one else did it. It really is pretty straight-forward. By going outside we had more right shift and more pressure,” Gavignet explained afterward. “We picked up a big right-hand shift in the stream and went straight into Newport. We wound up sailing a lot less distance than any of the other boats.”

Not only were A2N race committee officials impressed by the strategy, they also lauded Givry and Gavignet for handling the 32-foot boat in sustained 25-30 knot winds while pounding into 12-foot waves. They sailed for more than 20 hours with two reefs in the main and a J3 headsail while employing a watch system of two hours on and two hours, helping each other only during maneuvers and sail changes.

“I put everything I had into this race, both preparation-wise and out on the water. I give 110 percent effort to this Annapolis-to-Newport program,” Givry said. “It was a very tough race and we had to fight very hard for the win, there is no doubt about that.”

Givry acknowledges he took a beating along the way, at one point getting tossed around the cabin while taking off his foul weather gear and suffering a severe gash to the head that spilled blood everywhere. Reportedly, Givry also broke his hand at some point along the way.

“To be the first boat to finish while racing double-handed, that alone is a stellar display of seamanship. Factor in that Laurent did this race with a broken hand and that makes it more impressive,” Annapolis-to-Newport Race chairman James Praley said. “The race committee felt Laurent and Sidney sailed the boat incredibly well and were very deserving of this special recognition.”

Some traditionalists may take issue with a foiling sailboat competing in such an iconic and venerable offshore race as Annapolis-Newport. However, Praley noted that foiling sailboats are here to stay and said you can’t fight progress.

“That Laurent would take new technology like that and bring it to a race of this type is noteworthy,” Praley said. “Give Laurent credit as someone who was willing to challenge the race with whatever technology is out there.”

Givry spent a lot of time on various boats while growing up in the south of France and served in the French Navy. He moved to the United States in 1991 and is the owner of Elite Wines, an importer and distributor of fine wine.

“Despite this great accomplishment, I have to stay very humble because I’m just a regular guy trying to learn about sailing. I still have so much to learn,” said Givry, who was already thinking about where to display the very large C. Gaither Scott Trophy at his home. “I’m going to have to push some stuff aside in my office and make a special place for it.”