She was the first to choose this option. By moving away from the island of Groix to seek the wind, Samantha Davies had chosen to use her knowledge of the sea. Renowned as a fine tactician, the British sailor came up against, like the other competitors in this parade, calm. Tuesday, the skipper Heart Initiatives left the best time of this little warm-up lap to Boris Herrmann (Malizia – Seaexplorer) and the returning Charlie Dalin (Macif). Whatever. The main thing was elsewhere for Sam Davies. “It was my last outing with the team before going solo. It still feels weird, but I can’t wait to leave,” confided the sailor on the way back to the port of Lorient.
The big departure by The Transat CIC will take place this Sunday at 1 p.m. from its adopted stronghold of Morbihan for a race in the North Atlantic which takes up the spirit of the English Transat. Depending on the weather conditions, the best skippers in the Imoca class could reach New York in eight days. Could Samantha Davies be one of them? She doesn’t forbid it.
“There are faster boats”
When she looks at the fleet sailing around her, the experienced skipper of Initiatives Cœur takes a lucid look. “There are boats that are better, faster. But I can have ambitions. Because I have a boat that is recent and therefore very efficient, it goes really fast. But also because I have no pressure. There are competitors who absolutely must finish or achieve a good result to be qualified for the Vendée Globe. I just have to start to qualify. So yes, I can achieve performance even if I feel that I cannot go as fast as Jerem’ for example (Jérémie Beyou, skipper of Charal).”
For a year and a half, Samantha Davies has enjoyed a pleasure that some skippers will never experience. She operates a brand new boat, which was designed for her and has never sailed except in her hands. A luxury. Coming straight from a shipyard in Hungary, his Imoca was almost entirely designed by his team, in a narrow hangar in the port of Lorient. For months, technicians and engineers worked night and day to put together one of the most beautiful boats in the fleet which will start the Vendée Globe in November. For her, it will have a taste of revenge after her abandonment in 2020.
“It’s almost borderline in terms of preparation”
By lining up for The Transat, Sam Davies aims above all to continue getting to grips with his new red monohull. “We leave early in the season so it’s almost limited in terms of preparation. I know it’s going to be difficult because these boats are powerful, very fast, but at the same time fragile. I have a lot of fun with him,” she says with her little English accent.
Behind the few favorites, the sailor hopes for “a good result” which would be for her “between 5th and 10th place”. His latest releases are in this vein. In 2023, she had a string of great performances, finishing 5th in the Transat Jacques Vabre and 6th in the Return to Base. Can she aim higher like when she finished her first Vendée Globe in 4th place in 2008? “Victory is not just about winning the race. I sail to perform but I am realistic. There are some who go faster. And I’m on the Initiatives Cœur boat so I’m sailing above all for a cause, to save children,” she recalls with her usual enthusiasm.
Children’s little favorite
Highly appreciated and respected in the world of ocean racing, Samantha Davies is also the most popular sailor with children, thousands of whom follow her exploits with their school. “I have always had a huge following from young people. It gives me great pleasure that teachers can talk about it with their students, that it allows them to travel, to follow the races. I loved school and was lucky to have a great education. If I can help get children interested in it, then I would be very touched.” On Sunday, the one who will celebrate her 50th birthday this summer will battle in the middle of a fleet of 33 Imoca. Proof of the exceptional appeal of 60-foot monohulls.