Never again! (Except for next time…)
by John Curnow, Sail-World.com AUS Editor 17 Jul 22:00 NZST
Lenny, the Beneteau First 44 on Sydney Harbour © John Curnow
What's it like to take a Cruiser/Racer racing? Not just any racing, mind you, but two of the world's most famous courses. The Transpac and the Hobart. This was the premise presented to Charles Ettienne-Devanneaux ahead of our most recent chat.
In short, it comes down to what possesses someone to do it, and then after finishing the first one, send the boat on its own bottom to the other side of the Pacific to take on the next? Moreover, having completed all that, what are you left with, and what are you doing with your new-found knowledge?
The boat in question is Charlie's Beneteau First 44, Lenny. From the outset, this vessel had been set up to have a red-hot go, not merely attend and collect a t-shirt. Extra winches, a plethora of B&G electronics, and a spectacular wardrobe all attest to this. The owner and crew were also of impeccable standard, with many thousands of miles under each and every belt.
Delivered with just enough time to put the stick in ahead of the last Transpac, the crew did well to take her to second in division. Mechanical and technical issues compounded other problems in what was quite a brutal Hobart, and the final result was far less invigorating, shall we say. Indeed, it took Charlie a couple of months to even talk about it. He did not even get out on the water for a month after the 2023 Hobart.
In San Francisco the SailGP final was under way, and the Pacific Cup was commencing. The latter was sponsored by Charlie's company, Naos Yachting.
"Lenny is a very highly specced First 44, and despite it all, the boat and the races undertaken have brought a lot of joy to all who have sailed on her. It was back at the Miami Boat Show in 2022 that the head of Beneteau's boat division, Yann Masselot came to me with an Excel spreadsheet and said, 'How do we spec this boat?' We had to select the deep keel, tall rig, and even down to how many pumps were to be on board and where they would be, to say nothing of all of my B&G wind gear and MFDs.
"I was to get a very early boat, which I did, but due to all the supply chain issues of that time, my boat arrived only in April of 2023, and it was originally slated for December of 2022. This was barely two months before the Transpac, so it was a very speedy commissioning, and when we left the boat had barely 200nm under its belt."
"We just went to Hawaii with basically a toolbox and hoping for the best. I think it was a pretty good result without training."
Charlie is also very much into the two-handed scene, so going fully crewed was another element on top, especially the extra organisation required.
"I'm pretty sure we should have done much better because it's a race we know very, very well, having done it seven or eight times. So it doesn't have a lot of secrets for us. At any rate, we basically started to know the boat, little by little, and every day we were discovering something new to go faster.
"Looking back on it all now, we have done two big races without any real training. Not something I am very happy about, as it is not my normal routine."
It is important to note that, for with his next project, Charlie is basically ahead of the game by one year, and plans to use every second of it to get to know the boat as they build it up, and then sail it extensively.
Charlie would be the first to admit that the rapid-fire nature of the Lenny programme was not to his liking, and has a vast array of experience in preparing well, and racing to his best ability. It is perhaps the reason why is keen to offer his lessons learned from the particular grand adventure in question here.
"So the crew might have known the Transpac race, but by the time we assembled in Sydney for the Hobart it was a different story. Yann came in at the last moment, only Olivier and Pierre and myself had been offshore on board her, and the crew had really only sailed her in Sydney Harbour a few times, including Christophe Vanek who lives in Australia!"
"Australia is a long, long way away, and the effort and coordination required to get through all the items is made all the more difficult by the distance. I am indebted to Campbell Geeves of Flagstaff Marine for really getting us through all the safety audit items. Everything was already rush, rush, rush, and you don't appreciate that before you start, so to have him there was an incredible bonus. Having local support is imperative for anyone else from overseas looking to take on a Hobart.
"All in all, I think when we left Sydney, we were pretty tired, and I know I was completely exhausted. Add in transitions, and not being in the right place at the right time, along with water in the fuel, and yes, we are glad to have simply made it. At least the food on board was terrific..."
"We even missed seeing the Organ Pipes (Cape Raoul) in the morning of that last day, so I guess that provides me with the taste to come back and do it again. I want to see for real the picture I have as the screensaver on my computer."
Now Lenny was fully loaded, the crew was stacked with veterans of Transpac, Transat, and even the Vendée. So was the First 44 enjoyable?
"Yes. It was actually more comfortable than I was expecting. It is a fast cruiser/racer. On top of that, when you have a freezer, fully galley, and someone like Pierre as chef, well it makes for great times.
"I have prepared a lot of boats for racing, and controlled everything that has been put on. The big lesson here was time, or more accurately, the lack of it. Never again. We never had really the time to do the analysis of the boat in terms of weight, equipment from the factory, and points of sailing. Especially so offshore."
"The First 44 is a quality boat, with a lot of form stability. Very seaworthy. It's a pure offshore boat, and hope is to find someone who can really put it on the racetrack properly. We were looking at setting all the time and just reacting with, 'Wow. This is working!' We built the performance schedule of the boat just by action, not really by training. So there was no automatic feel for things. Knowing the entire boat is fundamental to this.
"My biggest frustration was never really having the time to learn the First 44. The hull by Biscontini powers along really well, especially on a beam reach or further aft where her substantial beam can be put to good use. It is also a really handsome vessel. We never really rounded up with that boat because of the stability. So maybe it was too much, but there are things you can only discover once you go training and sailing a lot."
"There are no doubt a lot of qualities there that you would realise by spending the time out on the water with her. Then over time you start from a higher position each outing as you build your own database of knowledge specific to the First 44," said Charlie.
"I would also add that optimising the rating for the boat is critical. This is certainly another area I feel that we did not perform well in with the Lenny campaign. One of the reasons I think we did very well on the Transpac is because it was a lot of downwind racing. Having done it so many times with good results previously means we knew it by heart, and it was a case of just looking at the sky and knowing the transitions.
"I had absolutely no idea when I went to Australia. So now I know a little bit, and I hope to jump on a crew for the next one. My dream would be to sell Lenny and then charter it back to do it all again. One day, I may even come back with my new machine."
As for what is next, well it is pretty special. It is the first, First TP36 by Seascape (now a division of Beneteau), built for two-handed work. Races on the projected calendar include Newport to Cabo 2025, Transpacific 2025, Pacific Cup 2026 and Sydney to Hobart 2026.
In short, the whole thing comes down to prior preparation prevents poor performance. Charlie states, "You need to make time to acquire what I call 'automatism'. I had a First 30 some time ago now. I did three Pacific Cups with that boat, and two big Mexican races. I can tell you I didn't need to put a light on during the night to do something on the deck. Also, I knew just by the noise, by the flow of the water out the back, if the boat was doing well or not.
"That's the feeling you have when you are a racer, you cannot replace it."
"It also means you know what result you are going to have if you change something. Not having that connection and confidence with Lenny was my biggest frustration. Being the first to try that hard and far really does require you to take the time, and not expect it all to happen out of the box, as if by magic.
"The Lenny project was my first time back as a as a skipper of a fully-crewed vessel, and also a large boat. The last time I did a big project like this was with a First 40 more than 12 years ago. Personally, I think completely underestimated the time and resources that you need to achieve something, even more especially when you go far away, like Australia," added Charlie.
The frustrations are as real as the lessons, and you can bet they are all going into the next project. Equally, the downside has not quelled the desire for more, and that is a sign of true sailor. More is always better.
Lenny is lying in Sydney awaiting a new custodian. Apart from the impressive physical inventory, there is also a large pool of data to tap into to make your dream a reality. Contact Flagstaff Marine to inspect this First 44 with so much to tell already, and even more to reveal to a caring owner.
OK. There it is. There is so much more on the group's websites for you. Simply use the search field, or 'edition' pull-down menu up the top on the right of the masthead to find it all. Please enjoy your yachting, stay safe, and thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com
John Curnow
Sail-World.com AUS Editor