ALAN ROBERTS RACING LTD

"The Transat Québec St-Malo was a really fun race. There were three main parts to it - the exit of Le Saint-Laurent river which felt like a Figaro race... pretty intense, lots of decisions, current, the local wind effect - it was really challenging and really interesting with a backdrop of beautiful scenery.⛵️ "Then the transatlantic crossing in the next major part of the race. Very variable conditions with the weather changing a lot from one grib file to the next - you had to be really decisive with the decision making and then try and define your own logic in how you thought the weather was going to play out. It was pretty interesting for the whole fleet.🗺 "We made the option to dive south which was a bit longer in distance travelled, but we felt like it was a lower-risk option. It worked out well for us in the end, so we were really happy. We had quite a few challenges crossing the Atlantic. We had some technical issues, the major one was breaking a rudder, which meant we had to switch the rudder from side to side during the race to be able to spend time on the other tack. That was quite a big decision for us internally - to decide what to do and how to manage that. We managed to find a solution that worked for us, but obviously when we did that - we were never sure if we'd be able to finish the race. So we were obviously really happy to come out on top.🤩 "The third part of the race was entering the English Channel. The fleet compressed as we approached the European shoreline and it was back into intense racing again, 24 hours of light winds, local effects, current, making the right decisions. We had to sail the boat very differently because we were limping on only one rudder. That was a challenging aspect for us. Right up until the last five miles we weren't sure how we would deal with it, but then we had a nice finish into the end and a brilliant arrival into St Malo. A really fun race, I got on really well with the guys and I was really chuffed to get this result - a transatlantic race win in the Class 40 under my belt. I had a lot of fun, and learnt a lot from this type of boat racing in a really high standard of fleet.🙌 "Next for me, I'm still working with Clarisse Crémer and we're in preparation for her Vendée Globe. The other boat's currently in the workshop so right now it's the planning phase, getting all the technical equipment up to standard service, new sails - so I'm mainly working on that side of stuff for her, and the boat will be launched in September.⛵️ "So now it's time for me to take a bit of rest and I potentially have another big announcement to make, sometime in the coming month. So stay tuned!"😲 #Class40 #TransatQSM #Sail #Sailing

NEXT RACE: Transat Québec St-Malo ⛵️ Next I'll be taking on the Transat Québec St-Malo - a transatlantic racing in the Class 40. 🌊 There are about 30 Class 40s doing the race. The race starts in Quebec in Canada, up a river called le Saint-Laurent - we sail out of there which could take three to four days, and we cross the Northern Atlantic, so we sail all the way to France. St Malo is the finish line, right off the port. It's a classic course. I'm sailing with two French Figaro sailors that I've raced a lot against. One called Achille Nebout - it's his boat - and the boat is Amarris. The other is Gildas Mahé, who is another Figaro sailor that I've raced with before. We're quite a rounded team. We've done a lot of Figaro sailing so we can handle the boat ourselves. The race is expected to take somewhere between 10-12 days and it's going to be an interesting one! There's a lot of top level boats here - it's going to be a pretty intense battle all the way across and I'm really looking forward to it! 🙌 The race starts later today - follow for more updates! #Class40 #TQSM #Sailing #Sail

Its been a while since I last posted, but now it's time to get back connected... A quick recap of the past six months: ✔ My Facebook page was hacked! (Sorry for anyone who got offered Taylor Swift tickets.. that was not me!) ✔ A broken ankle - this slowed me down. Probably life telling me to take a break! ✔ Weather routing work with the ULTIM Actual during the Round the World Race. While Antho the Skipper was onboard racing single handed around the world, I was part of a tight team working and monitoring the boat 24/7 to help him with any issues and provide weather routing for him as he raced on one of the most amazing boats on the planet. ✔ Supporting Clarisse Crémer over the winter period. For those who know, this was an interesting situation and a different application of skill sets. An incredibly difficult time for Clarisse and Tanguy. Not pleasant to see how some people can be. Nevertheless, another challenge overcome.💪 ✔ Winter IMOCA training, we re-launched the boat, commissioned and trained hard in preparation for two single-handed transatlantic races Clarisse took part in, in order to qualify for the Vendée Globe. ✔ Shore support using the racing... believe it or not, this was quite tiring! Responding and reacting to technical problems at any point in the day. This is incredibly stimulating although I cannot lie, I would have also loved to have been out on the water! ✔ Clarisse qualified for the Vendée Globe!! Next up, it's my turn to get out racing a transatlantic race in the Class 40. More to follow!😉

"We got on well. The boat was launched just a few months ago and we've learnt a lot. Our competitive side wanted us to take the northern option, but we decided to stay south and we were happy to see that so many other skippers would make that decision also. It's a great boat, ideal for Clarisse Crémer's Vendée Globe. The aim was also to learn and that's been the case in terms of trimming and systems.”💬 Read the latest news from L’Occitane Sailing Team following the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre: https://bit.ly/3urel0q #TJV #TransatJacquesVabre

After 13 days, 1 hour and 50 minutes, Clarisse Crémer and Alan Roberts crossed the finish line of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre 2023 in 9th place.🤩 Check out some of the photos from the arrival into Martinique earlier this morning.🏝 📸 Jean-Louis Carli / Alea #TJV #TransatJacquesVabre L’Occitane Sailing Team

THE TRANSAT JACQUES VABRE IS NOW UNDERWAY!🙌 After a nine-day delayed start, the 16th Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre is now underway for the IMOCA fleet.⛵️ Alan, Clarisse Crémer and the rest of the fleet set off from Le Havre at 9.30am (local time) this morning in fantastic conditions.🌎 📲 Track the duo, here: https://bit.ly/3FNK6TJ 📸 Jean-Marie Liot / Alea #TJV #TransatJacquesVabre L’Occitane Sailing Team

RACING UPDATE 🌊⛵️ It's been a while since my last update and things have been pretty busy since finishing The Ocean Race back in July... After the race, I headed straight back to the UK and joined L’Occitane Sailing Team with Clarisse Crémer. The boat had just gone into the water, so I helped with preparations before heading straight into the Fastnet Race. With only a few days of training, and a huge effort from the team, we got the boat to the start line after being unsure whether it would happen. It was a pretty punchy forecast and we had a bit of fun leaving The Solent, but it went really well and we got a good result.🤩 I finally took a little break and raced in Cowes Week in an XOD which was a lot of fun. Then I had a couple of days away in the mountains before coming back to work. It was time to learn about the boat, we did some training with Neal McDonald and Andrew Cape, and then with Clarisse - we did a few 5-6 day offshores where we set objectives and learnt more about the boat and how to work together as a duo. Then, just before the Défi Azimut, we did a delivery run to France. It was a pretty busy event for us with sponsors and the boat christening, but we did well - a top 10 result so we were happy.🤙 Since then, it's been all eyes on the TJV. We did a week's training camp with different sailors, sailmakers, the shore crew working on the electronics, the rigging etc - trying to make key improvements. Then we delivered the boat to Le Havre (where we are now) - ready for the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre this Sunday.🛠 It's been really interesting sailing such a huge variety of IMOCA 60s and I feel I've learnt and progressed a huge amount in this last year. Now is a new challenge with a big team and lots of learnings. It's hard work and I feel like my body probably needs a bit of a break at some point, but it's got another month of intense racing before I step off the boat and Clarisse takes it single-handed back across the atlantic.🌊 Our objective in this race is to very much get to the other end. We've got a good boat, we could do really well but we have to manage and balance our risk vs reward the whole way across because it's a really important qualification process for the Vendée Globe - that we make it to the other side and Clarisse starts the return to the base race. For this, I'll be based on shore as a contact point for her and supporting her 24 hours a day.😎 Stay tuned for more TJV updates!📲