Racing News
History
made as double-handed team takes line honors for Annapolis-to-Newport Race
Bill Wagner
Laurent Givry went into the 2019
Annapolis-to-Newport Race with no expectations other than to gain
experience.
“I swear I did not care
about the result. To me, this was all about becoming a better sailor by
learning as much as I could,” Givry said.
Givry
learned quite a bit by doing a 475-nautical mile inshore-offshore passage along
with one of the world’s most renowned sailors. Famed French racer Sidney
Gavignet agreed to partner with Givry for this race and together they made
history.
Gavignet
and Givry became the first double-handed team in Annapolis-to-Newport Race
history to capture line honors. They were both on deck when La Defonce, a
Beneteau-designed Figaro 3, crossed the line off Castle Hill Light at 9:38
Monday morning.
“We
are very happy because we pushed the boat very hard and sailed very well,” said
Givry, a resident of Fairfax Station, Virginia, who berths both his racing boats
in Annapolis.
Givry
bought the Figaro 3 last year and has only competed in a handful of races since
then. Last month, Givry embarked on his longest journey with the 32-footer –
entering the Down the Bay Race and finishing last among six entries in PHRF A
Spinnaker class while competing double-handed with Fred Probst.
The
Beneteau Figaro 3 is the first production foiling monohull ever designed and
Givry realized he needed someone familiar with such boats to teach him how to
properly sail it. Mark Sims, owner of True North Yachting in Annapolis,
connected Givry with Gavignet.
Gavignet, who has competed many times in the
Figaro singlehanded race, came to Annapolis for a total of two weeks to train
Givry. Gavignet is a four-time veteran of the Volvo Ocean Race, winning the
2005-2006 edition aboard ABN Amro 1.
Most recently, Gavignet earned overall
victory in the Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race aboard the 50-foot Café
Joyeaux. The 50-year-old legend declared that event the end of his 25-year
professional sailing career.
“Laurent was looking for a Figaro sailing
specialist and Mark Sims put him in touch with me. I was very happy to help him
learn the boat and about single-handed sailing,” Gavignet said. “Laurent is
very enthusiastic and really keen to learn. We have done a lot of sailing on
the Chesapeake Bay and I’m onboard just as a coach.”
Prior to starting the Annapolis-to-Newport
Race, Gavignet engaged Givry in studying weather models and conducting advanced
routing. “Sidney makes sure I understand everything he tells me. We did the
routing together with software and he talked about why we were making the
decisions we did,” Givry said.
As one would expect of a wildly successful
sailor with thousands upon thousands of ocean miles under his belt, Gavignet
developed a wise game-plan. Upon entering the Atlantic Ocean and rounding
Chesapeake Light off Norfolk, he and Givry took La Defonce directly offshore.
“We were very, very organized and knew
exactly what we wanted to do,” Givry said. “Everything was meticulously planned
in advance. We knew our game-plan when we exited the Chesapeake Bay. Our route
was dictated by the research we did beforehand.”
La Defonce sailed approximately 60 miles
offshore and entered the Gulf Stream at the beginning of a low pressure system.
Gavignet said the wind clocked around from 50 degrees to 120 and that is when
he and Givry decided to tack. It proved to be a brilliant move as the Figaro 3
reached Newport on just 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 said. “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.”
Gavignet said La Defonce sailed in 25-30
knots of wind for at least 20 hours and rarely saw less than 11 knots. It was a
rough ride as the 32-footer pounded into 12-foot waves with two reefs in the
main and carrying the J3 genoa.
“When we were in the Gulf Stream with big
waves and 30 knots it was very demanding,” Gavignet said. “Laurent was alone on
deck for long periods and did fantastically well.”
It was a two hours on and two hours off
watch system with Givry and Gavignet helping each other only during maneuvers
and sail changes. 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.
“It was extremely tough physically and I got
totally beat up,” the 52-year-old said. “I hurt myself pretty bad when I fell
and hit my head, but I feel very good now.”
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. He skippered Jeroboam, his Annapolis-based Farr 400,
to victory in PHRF 1 class for the 2017 Annapolis-to-Newport Race.
Capturing line honors aboard a 32-foot boat
was more rewarding and satisfying than winning aboard a 40-footer, he said.
“This was the toughest race I’ve ever done in
life and I put 110 percent of my effort into it,” Givry said. “We were always
trimming, trimming, trimming for speed, speed, speed. We worked harder during
the night than we did during the day. We pushed the boat nonstop and Sidney
made me realize how a professional races a boat. We finished first because of Sidney,
there’s no question about that.”
At present, the Yellow Brick Race Tracker
predicts that La Defonce will finish seventh overall on corrected time.
Apparently, the boat takes a massive rating hit because of its foils, but
Gavignet said La Defonce never lifted out of the water at any point during the
race.
“I am very happy and feel this accomplishment
is great for Laurent. Any time you make history it is nice,” Gavignet said.
“However, it is not fair that we are not the winner on corrected time after
sailing such a great race. I told Laurent he needs to fight for the right
rating. He needs to get that corrected.”
Gallant, one of the Naval Academy’s Mark II
44-footers skippered by rising senior Christian Hoffman, was the second
finisher. The Pedrick-designed and Pearson-Tillotson-built Navy 44
crossed at 3:06 p.m.
As of 7 p.m., another Mark II Navy 44, was
two miles from the finish off Castle Hill Light.
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