03:19C'est un grand feeling.
03:21Sunset on day 2.
03:23World Transatlantic on Eno.
03:25James Neville loving his machine.
03:27Ripping downwind.
03:49I knew it was going to be a close match race with our friends on Zulu.
04:00It was every bit of that.
04:02But it's always great to be lining up against these guys.
04:05It's fantastic.
04:06These boats are just incredible.
04:07They're the best racing boats in the world.
04:09I think it's a pretty significant record because it's such an iconic route.
04:14To be the fastest boat to go across is pretty special.
04:18We're under a barrier like 5 days.
04:21Where most people would be very happy with 20 day crossing.
04:24Then we did 4 days and 23 hours, 51 minutes.
04:28It's quite special.
04:40I think we more or less lost it on the starting line.
04:43It was a game of the rich getting richer at the beginning.
04:46It was a very quick race.
04:48There were absolutely only mad men behind us to try to catch up.
04:51There were certainly spots where we wanted to back down.
04:54But we knew the other guys weren't.
04:56So we had to push, push, push.
04:58Made for a very frenetic pace.
05:01The intensity sort of ramped up as we got into day 2 with the sea state building.
05:06The breeze building a bit.
05:07So all of a sudden you're going 30, 32 knots in big waves.
05:12Which is challenging in the daytime.
05:15But the nights were very long.
05:1713 hour nights.
05:18Very little moon.
05:19Very dark.
05:20Night time sailing on these things is brutal.
05:23It's violent.
05:24It's noisy.
05:25It's wet.
05:26But it's great fun.
05:27It's exhilarating.
05:28Your heart rate is up.
05:29It's real adrenaline time.
05:31You've got three numbers on the beam.
05:33You've got the boat speed, the true wind angle and the heading.
05:37And you are locked in on true wind angle.
05:40Because if that goes too high, you're flipping over.
05:44And if you stick it too low, you're burying the bows in and pitch poling.
05:47So you are on this highway of no margin for error really.
05:50And you're really focused.
05:51So we kind of do an hour of driving and then you're burnt out.
05:54There were a few situations where the guy that was next up in the helm rotation.
05:58And you're really focused.
05:59So we kind of do an hour of driving and then you're burnt out.
06:02There were a few situations where the guy that was next up in the helm rotation.
06:06said, look, fellas, I'm not up for it.
06:08Someone's got to cover me.
06:09This was everybody.
06:10Everyone needed a break at some point.
06:12So it's important to get into that helm seat in big conditions
06:15and feel confident and feel like you can do it.
06:17And if you can't, then you've got a strong team
06:19and everyone's going to help each other out.
06:21It's all about having people on board you trust so you can get to sleep properly
06:25and then they can trust you when they want to go to sleep.
06:27Well, the pod is luxurious.
06:30We have a wet bar here, an entertainment system.
06:35with female companionship.
06:38The team aspect, synergy is as important as skills and we really get on.
06:44There's great chemistry to the depth of experience that we've all had together.
06:47So we're out there and we can communicate and do changes without speaking
06:52and we know that the other guy is going to have your back.
06:55And that's just everything, especially in big conditions like we had in this year's race.
06:59Multi-Hel's got a little bit of danger involved in them and that's part of the fun
07:02is trying to find that balance of risk and reward.
07:04It's fun.
07:05It's fantastic.
07:06That's why we do it.
07:07You know, some we win, some we lose, you know.
07:09We like those guys.
07:10They're incredible competitors.
07:12We wouldn't be doing it if they were not here.
07:14So, no, no, no.
07:16None of it is frustrating.
07:17It was brutal at times.
07:19You know, food and sleep were difficult.
07:21But the rest of it is all fun.
07:23No, no, no.
07:24It's all fun.
07:25So we're really happy and proud for us here in Antigua and Barbuda to welcome the crew
07:30and of course the boats and they'll have wonderful respite from a tough crossing across the Atlantic.
07:36Well, I really love Antigua and it's such a beautiful island, great people.
07:41So we're very happy to be finishing the race here for the first time.
07:51She's a fast boat, amazing machine.
07:56And we set a benchmark.
07:58We did it in six days, 22 hours.
08:04Now what the favourite moment with the boat, this kind, is when she starts accelerating.
08:11And you feel it just wants to go faster.
08:13And it's almost breathtaking because it comes so quick and so defined and she just moves away.
08:20You feel it.
08:21You feel it.
08:22It is amazing.
08:23That's why when he says it, you feel the acceleration, it's pretty crazy.
08:28And I did some Mod 70 not long ago and I realized it's exactly the same kind of acceleration.
08:34But you're on a 40 plus ton boat and they are seven tons, which is massive.
08:41This boat is powerful, for sure.
08:44You know, if you can do a race like this in under seven days, you've obviously had a lot of things go your way.
08:49I mean, the weather was awesome.
08:50We know the boat is fast.
08:51It's just a matter of keeping the thing in one piece.
08:55We spent two and a half years before we decided we were ready to do this race.
09:00It's a downwind race, which we're still trying to develop the boat for that.
09:03But the boat is super fast through the water.
09:06Being on an ocean, you need safety.
09:09And this boat is a good combination between a fast monohull and a foiling boat.
09:15There's the difference from a normal foiling boat.
09:18When she's not flying, she's crashing.
09:20This boat, you know, you get a huge amount of writing moment who lifts the boat up.
09:26But as soon as the foiling stalls, she says it's like a normal boat.
09:31So we have water ballas, 10 tons of water ballas, who keeps us writing comments.
09:36So I would say this boat is safer than any other offshore boat.
09:41But it's no question of it's a working concept.
09:44I think you will see more boats of this type.
09:47Yes, no question about it.
09:48I think you will see this type of foils because they're efficient.
09:52But of course, it's a bit of complication to run a boat with this type of foils.
09:58So it's a certain type of owner who wants a boat like this.
10:04It's no question of it's fast, it's reliable.
10:08You can get all this stuff into it without.
10:11And I think that will make this manageable for any sailor, really.
10:18Comanche, when you're doing those sort of speeds, you're at 23 degrees a heel.
10:23The thing is just leaned over and just everything is completely loaded up.
10:28Whereas when we finally get going and we're doing 30 plus knots,
10:32we're at six degrees a heel and it's beautiful.
10:37And if it's a flat sea state, the thing just wants to go faster and faster.
10:42Yeah, we have to limit the speed running because the loads get up there.
10:47I think we did a good race, sailed the boat well.
10:49The boat's got potential for sure.
10:51The group that we've put together on this boat, it's all really good guys.
10:54A lot of us have sailed together over the years
10:57and we've spent a lot of time sailing on this boat and trying to understand it.
11:00The dynamics work. There is not a crossword. It actually is a pleasure to sail.
11:05The humour remains no matter what's going on and that makes a big difference.
11:10We're really happy to be here. I think it's a success for us to actually finish the race at six days.
11:16I think that's a great thing. Yeah, absolutely.
11:24It's always memorable when you cross the Atlantic Ocean. Every day is memorable.
11:28It was my first time, so all of it was amazing. Yeah.
11:31All the time is like experiencing something. It was good fun.
11:37I would definitely do it again. I could go right now. I mean, it was that much fun.
11:42And it doesn't feel like it was almost three weeks, but it doesn't feel like that.
11:47So I'm ready to go anytime.
11:49This is one of the dreams for the owner. I should do this transatlantic race.
11:55For a lot of the guests and the owner, they've never sailed across the Atlantic before.
11:59This is a lifetime achievement for them to be able to sail a boat and their own boat across the Atlantic.
12:04But having it as part of the race, that bit of competition, so it kind of adds to that fun.
12:09Even at the finish, we had, you know, three boats finishing just in a couple of miles.
12:14We really had a good time all the way across.
12:19A lot of our friends back home thought we were crackers doing it in this.
12:25And yeah, it was worth it. It's always been Sam's dream to do something like this.
12:30It's the boat he really grew up with.
12:32This is the boat that we both started sailing off shore in at home.
12:37This was the grassroots for us.
12:39The beginning of the race was all about staying rested and getting to a routine.
12:42And we did that really well.
12:44Always made it very clear to the guys after day six, it's going to get very tough.
12:47And it did.
12:48Drove the whole way. There's no auto helm on this boat.
12:51It's not as bad as you think it is. You just need to go below.
12:54And then you realise that it's different.
12:57The off-watches were much tougher than the on-watches for sure.
13:00You know, it's a bit wet, but to give the boat more credit.
13:03You know, she's an old girl, but you know, she's super reliable downwind.
13:07Yeah, it was very satisfying to do well against bigger boats.
13:11To win our class, that was, like, fantastic.
13:14But to be able to get third overall and beat the boats we did over the water was amazing.
13:22We were so chuffed with that.
13:25Hell of a tough race. There was no let-up in the whole race.
13:30It was windy the whole way across.
13:33It's been an amazing battle with Cullinad and the lift boat maxitude.
13:37They were pushing us hard like two or three days out.
13:40It was far more challenging, far more difficult.
13:42And it actually went gradually tougher and tougher with more wind.
13:46And the Culls get bigger and stronger.
13:48So very more challenging than I expected.
13:51Winning the Yacht Club de France Trophy for the ROC Transatlantic Race
13:55means a lot to me when you look at the names on that club.
13:58I have the highest I could achieve so far, so I'm so delighted to be there.
14:04It was a hell of a battle.
14:05With Pallinad, the overseas were able to push harder than us.
14:09Congratulations to those guys. It was a fair fight. They won.
14:32It's a fantastic dream to win the Troisades du Roche 2026
14:37for a father, a father of Antoine.
14:41It's the main dream I can have about sailorations.
14:45So it's fantastic. And I'm very proud of myself.
14:48So for us, the ROC Transatlantic Race was a big event.
14:51It was our leading one to really see the potential of the boat.
14:54I'm Sam Manuel. I'm the Yacht Designer of Pallinad 4.
14:58When you race the boat, you actually feel the beast.
15:02You can really feel what the guts of the boat are.
15:06And especially during this transit, because we had some strong winds downwind,
15:10sometimes some very choppy winds.
15:13so it was really cool to understand better the dynamics with waves, etc.
15:19It was a steep learning curve.
15:21And I got plenty of ideas on how to improve it and how to make it faster.
15:26This is our second boat that we build with Sam.
15:29So it definitely builds strong connections.
15:32And the crew, they are all friends of Antoine and friends of me.
15:38The mix was fantastic.
15:40All the crew really, at the end, we were jibing like it's pigfish.
15:44We were focused on our own race.
15:46And we really go into the upholars, our routing,
15:50and really focusing on trilling and learning.
15:53And on this boat, having a scowl bar means a lot less resistance at the tiller,
15:57which means the helming is easier.
15:59The good thing about the tiller is that you really get the feel for the boat.
16:03And especially downwind, you need it's micro-movement sometimes
16:08to go through, nicely through waves.
16:11We were asking ourselves during the race,
16:13because obviously sometimes it's quite nice to be standing alone on the driving,
16:18so you have a very good vision of the waves, of the boat, how it moves.
16:23Nevertheless, the micro-feeling of the tiller is really nice.
16:28That's the only difficulty, is being lateral versus frontal.
16:33So it's still within debate, but in terms of feeling,
16:36you really feel like you're driving, like steering your laser, unfortunately.
16:40I'm still mixed. I still don't know what's the best solution.
16:48It's really, really nice to be here, and we were lucky with the conditions.
16:51The finish, which was incredible, it was so much fun.
16:55And then the other one for me was, in the dark of night, the surfs,
16:58when the boat just takes off, and you're literally just driving,
17:01like you feel like you're driving a laser,
17:03but the thing is that you don't know where you're going,
17:05so you're just watching the numbers, just following your own goals,
17:09and the boat just keeps riding the waves and going and going,
17:13and yeah, it doesn't get old.
17:16So, for us, the World Transatlantic Race was a big event.
17:19It was our leading one to really see the potential of the boat,
17:22and we managed to push the boat hard.
17:24The feeling was intensity, intensity, intensity, but we kept up.
17:28We had a very strong crew and very very pleased with the result.
17:31I'm very pleased with the result.
