SolOceans - News - Halvard Mabire on board a SolOceans one-design (05/28/2009)

Halvard Mabire on board a SolOceans one-design

Thursday May 28th 2009 News RSS

The Norman Halvard Mabire* took advantage of a good breeze to go sailing in the Channel Sea on board the SolOceans one-design (16 metres - 52.5 feet) at his favourite spot, just off Cherbourg Harbour (Normandy - France) between the Raz Blanchard and the tip of Barfleur. Halvard Mabire was on board with British offshore sailor Miranda Merron (Skipper of 40 Degrees), who won the 2008 Class40 Championship.

Halvard Mabire on board the SolOceans one-design - May 2009 The Norman skipper Halvard Mabire sailed in strong conditions off Cherbourg (Normandy - France) on board the SolOceans one-design.
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"We first went up to the Raz Blanchard and sailed in the big waves, with 25-30 knots of Southwesterly wind", Halvard Mabire explained - with a big smile on his face once back at the Port of Cherbourg "First, we were reaching, at 14-15 knots on average, then we sailed close hauled. It was great. She is powerful, even if she does not have inertia ballast tanks like the Open 60. We had two reefs in the main and the staysail. We started well. The helm of the SolOceans one-design is extremely precise and she is well-balanced."

"We bore away and the wind slowed down. We reefed and unrolled the genoa. Everything is easy on this boat. We sent the spinnaker as soon as possible and the wind pushed us away from the coast. Then again, we sailed in a 25 knots breeze. We were between 17 and 19.7 knots. The SolOceans one-design is a fast sailing yacht. If we had not scheduled a meeting with journalists back in Cherbourg, we would have kept on going for a while at 18-20 knots. The SolOceans one-design is made for sailing long distances at a high pace, without tiring her crew."

"It reminded me of how nice it is to sail on a racing yacht. Going fast with a minimum crew, it’s great. The SolOceans one-design will fit well in a single-handed offshore races program. You can trust her, you feel safe on board. She was Made In Normandy (JMV Industries at Cherbourg) after all!"

"This boat is great", Miranda Merron said, "She is easy to sail and goes fast. Single-handed: no problem, everything is easy. On the wind, I was agreeably surprised. For a downwind boat, she is nice when facing the waves and is well balanced. I prefer a tiller to a wheel. But it’s a detail... It’s really great"

"As a conclusion to this sailing session on board the SolOceans one-design, I would be more than happy to lead a 100% Norman team for the first edition of the SolOceans, in October 2011. It is always hard to start a new concept. But the concept of the SolOceans Class and of the SolOceans is a good concept. So when it will start, everybody will want to be part of it! I’d better be at the start of the adventure and take the opportunity to sail as many times as possible on the one-design in order to gain experience."

* Halvard Mabire, 52 years old, is of Norman origin and has never really left his region of origin … except to cover more than 250,000 nautical miles during race, including five Whitbread around-the-world race with crew and 32 transatlantic race. He also took part to the Solitaire du Figaro single-handed race seven times. This French Viking sailed onboard multihulls (catamarans and trimarans) as well as on monohulls. Halvard Mabire sailed alongside the best French Sailors: Eric Tabarly, Marc Pajot, Philippe Poupon, Eric Loizeau, Jean-François Fountaine, Pierre Follenfant, Bruno Peyron, Alain Gautier and many others. He also sailed alongside renowned Anglo-Saxons skippers such as Chris Dickson, Cam Lewis and Ross Field. As well as being a talented solo sailor or crew member, Halvard Mabire has also knowledge in: architecture, high-tech construction. He is a renowned Project Manager. Let’s not forget that Halvard Mabire most recent victory was during the Summer 2008, when he won the Transat Québec - Saint-Malo in Class40 on board Pogo Structures designed by Finot - Conq and Associates, like the SolOceans one-design.