Bonafous scores her first IMOCA Class win in the Rolex Fastnet Race

Racing with French veteran Yann Eliès, alongside Basile Bourgnon and Gaston Morvan of France, Bonafous, 29, reached the finish line off Cherbourg in the early hours of the morning just eight minutes ahead of second-placed Jérémie Beyou and his team on Charal.

Bonafous’ crew on board Association Petits Princes-Quéguiner had taken two days, 14 hours and 7 minutes to complete the highly technical 695-nautical mile classic course from Cowes on the English south coast to Cherbourg, via the Fastnet Rock off the southwest tip of Ireland.

This year’s course was mainly upwind to the Rock and then downwind on the way back, as the six IMOCAs that completed the race sparkled close to the front of a Fastnet fleet of nearly 450 boats.

For Bonafous this result confirms her status as a major player in the IMOCA Class on board her new Guillaume Verdier-designed foiler in the run-up to the next Vendée Globe in 2028, and now places her at the top of the IMOCA Globe Series Championship for 2025.

Eliès described Bonafous’ debut in the Class as an “exceptional” start to her first season. “There are several reasons for that,” he explained from on board the boat this morning as it made its way back to Concarneau in Brittany. “First we have a great boat, which is super-versatile. Second, we have a great skipper who learns really fast and we also have a great team that delivered us a boat that worked well.”

“Now we just have to keep a cool head,” he continued, “because it’s only the early-season races and not all the teams in the circuit are here. Overall, on this Fastnet Race I think the weather conditions favoured the boat a bit, since it’s quite versatile.”

Eliès said moderate winds made for a kinder start to the race than two years ago and getting round the Fastnet Rock in the lead was key as the wind softened for the boats behind. He said the battle with Charal was a real classic with Beyou and his crew finding extra speed at times with differing sail set-ups. But in the closing stages he reckons Bonafous’ team made slightly better choices, in terms of placement in the tide, to close out the win, with their boat also going slightly quicker in light winds.

“Let’s say they deserved the win just as much as we did,” he said of Beyou’s crew. “What made the difference was the forecast and final stretch conditions, which were light winds, played more to our advantage – that’s the boat’s strength.”

And Eliès, who has sailed with many different skippers down the years, gave a vivid insight into the personality of Bonafous as a skipper and sailor on the water. He said she sulks when the boat gets overtaken, but says that is a good thing.

“It’s normal that it hurts when you lose, it means she cares,” he explained. “And at the same time, her management style is kind and smart because she knows how to put the right people in the right roles, especially in a crew setting and she trusts them and lets them take the initiative. I think she’s really up to the role of skipper,” he added, “she’s still the boss, but it’s all done with intelligence and mutual respect.”

Source @IMOCA