Maël Garnier and Catherine Hunt (Selencia - Cerfrance), 4th in the Transat Paprec!

The duo wasn't spared during the race. A torn mainsail, a damaged spinnaker, and a faulty overhead sail: Maël and Catherine faced up to it, never gave up, and held on until the end. This tenacity allowed them to cling back to the top 10 at the end of the race before finishing this Transat Paprec with a bang, just 35 seconds off the podium!

THEIR RACE IN NUMBERS

Arrival date: Friday 9th at 3:04 a.m.

Race time: 18 days 20 hours 2 min 56 sec

Gap to first: 46 min 02 sec

Gap to previous: 36 seconds

Average speed over ground: 9.4 knots

Distance covered: 4,258.2 miles

THEIR RACE DECRYPTED. The Race, in English

Until their last interview on the pontoons, just before casting off in Concarneau, Maël always turned to Catherine and spoke to her in English. The language of Shakespeare is the link between the two skippers. Maël, already present during the previous edition (7th with Julia Courtois), was keen on this double challenge: to join the fight for the places of honor and take advantage of it to " improve his English." "It's a way of taking a step towards her." "Even if I sometimes feel a little guilty about not speaking French, I am truly very grateful to him ," Catherine confided a few days ago.

The sporting challenge is far from forgotten. Maël demonstrated incredible enthusiasm even before the start: he completed a tour of France by bike, meeting Selencia-Cerfrance employees and a way to get into shape. And the duo quickly got into the game: in the "top 5" at Cape Finisterre, 8th in La Palma, the pair was in the running. In the Atlantic, a slightly more southerly position caused them to lose a few places in the rankings. The equipment was put to the test: the mainsail tore while passing the Canaries, it was necessary to climb the mast to repair aerial problems and then repair the spinnaker.

"The race really got on our nerves ," confided Mael, exhausted by these adventures. But both are fierce competitors. So after ten days of racing, Mael assures us: " we erase our doubts, fatigue, and disappointment and look ahead!" The large area of light wind blocking the front of the fleet gives Selencia-Cerfrance another chance. With cunning, Maël and Catherine dive south, the most daring but also the most direct route, which allows them to re-establish themselves in the "top 10." What followed was a hell of a battle to come back, push hard, and climb to the top. At the finish, despite the fatigue and repeated efforts, they inserted themselves into the "top 5" and then threatened to overtake Cap Saint Barth. At the finish, Selencia-Cerfrance arrived just 35 seconds behind Cindy Brin and Thomas André!