© © Anne Beaugé / Retour à La Base

Damien Seguin crossed the finish line of the first edition of Retour à La Base in fifth position this Sunday, December 10, at 3:55 p.m. The skipper of “Group APICIL” completed the theoretical 3,500 miles of the course in a time of 9 days 22 hours 55 minutes 53 seconds, at an average speed of 14.64 knots.

Damien Seguin started the race hungry for success after a frustrating Transat Jacques Vabre which was marred by a broken boom which required a pitstop into Lorient to repair. In Martinique he promised he would press the throttle harder on the solo race back, and he did, achieving an excellent fifth place.

But the race did not start so well for him on the first night the Paralympic champion, born without a left hand, suffered a "big sprain" of his index finger. He found working the boat hard but managed to stay with the top 10 catching up with Sam Davies (Initiatives Cœur) who he raced almost alongside for the rest of the race.

And so it was another duel of the two red boats, reuniting Davies with the sailor who she called earlier this season her ‘most faithful wingman’. Pushing each other hard they profit and stay  in contact with Boris Herrmann in front.

Riding out the gusts to 40kts and big seas on the Bay of Biscay, Seguin – who finished seventh on the last Vendée Globe – returns his best IMOCA finishing position to date. 

Seguin said on the pontoon


“I’m tired, that’s for sure, but the fight was really fun between our four boats.  It was worth it to race like this and it feels good to finish. With Sam Davies (Initiatives Cœur), we played cat and mouse throughout the race, so it was quite nice. Every time we crossed paths, we sent each other little messages or managed to catch each other on the VHF, always in a good mood. I'm really happy to have had this match because it keeps you awake, and it was a good reference for me and I was able to benchmark myself well. And in the end it is a good result. It  took me a little time to get into it. The four who are in front, they started a little faster out the blocks I didn't get into the rhythm like them, but afterwards I managed to fight well to move up the fleet gradually, so yes I am satisfied."

 

HIS RACE IN NUMBERS


Finish 10/12/2023 14:55:53 UTC
Race time: 9d 22h 55min 53s
Delta to first: 22h 52min 05s
Delta to previous: 02h 53min 12s
On the theoretical course: 3,497.42 nm / 14.64 kts
Really sailed 4,360.92 nm / 18.25 kts