It has been a remarkable week for Irish sailing, with our clubs last weekend managing to get in the complete programme of Autumn League racing despite being close in on the tail end of Storm Babet. Meanwhile, Eve McMahon confirmed her Gold in the ILCA 6 U21 Worlds in Morocco. And on the other side of the world, the Irish Ruffian 23 Class won the Golden Jubilee International Inter-Port Series in Hong Kong.

As well, every sailing enthusiast’s thoughts will have been returning now and again to dedicated solo star Tom Dolan’s potentially stressful time in Greystones, as he patiently waits for the volatile weather to develop enough of a regular pattern of the right kind to make a Figaro 3 Round Ireland Record challenge a viable proposition.

GORDON MAGUIRE’S CLASS WIN IN MIDDLE SEA

But meanwhile in Malta, the presence on board of Gordon Maguire as tactician can only have been helpful on Max Klink’s all-conquering Botin 52 Caro in winning Class 2 in the difficult Rolex Middle Sea Race, another gong to add to her collection, which already includes the overall win in the Fastnet Race 2023.

We’ll reflect on that in due course this morning, but tomorrow (Sunday’s) start of the 30th Anniversary Transat Jacques Vabre is top of the bill, with Greystones offshore star Pamela Lee at the heart of it co-skippering in the highly-competitive two-handed Class 40.

Remember that number 154 – we hope to see and hear a lot more of it in the days and weeks ahead

While many of the offshore racing majors in which the French have made themselves specialists start from the ports with a holiday flavour on or near the Atlantic coast, one of the biggest, the Transat JacquesVabre - which is now raced to Martinique via a turn at the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa - was first sailed in 1993 as a solo event. And it started far eastward along La Manche, at the rather workaday port of Le Havre in Normandy, which was important for the sponsor’s leading position in the coffee trade.

SAILING’S SPECTATOR APPEAL FOR THE FRENCH

With the very Autumnal starting time, this start location has often meant that the toughest part of the race has simply been being getting clear of what the rest of us know as the English Channel, as it funnels in the seasonal westerly gales. Yet if anything, the prospect of instant challenge and possible – indeed probable – mayhem in the first stage was undoubtedly - in its early days - one of the event’s slightly ghoulish attractions, and crowds of many thousands from all over France flocked to the coast at Le Havre in the manner of a people unaccustomed to the sea as an everyday part of their life.

A workaday port transformed – one of the docks at Le Havre in TJV Week

In other words, so many people in France think of the sea as something so odd and mysterious that they cherish any visit to it, particularly when there’s a potential spectacle and a crash or two involved. But in Ireland by contrast, everyone lives at or within easy distance of the sea, and maritime disasters are almost a historical familiarity.

BRAY AIR SHOW OUR BEST COASTAL CROWD-PULLER

Thus anything which will draw them in crowds to the coast here has to be very special indeed, and the great irony is that the best spectator-attended coastal event in Ireland is the Bray Air Show.

In France by contrast, it was reckoned that a gale-plagued start to an early Transat Jacques Vabre attracted more than half a million visitors from the very deepest rural depths of France to the unfamiliar clifftop viewing points near Le Havre.

A few days after the racers had battered their way westward, the word came back from some village in the middle of nowhere that two of its citizens – making their first ever seaside visit, and unaccustomed to sea-coast hazards – had failed to return. Sadly, their bodies were eventually found at the foot of the cliffs.

DEMANDS OF IN-PORT RACE VILLAGE

Despite that, Irish interest gradually grew over the years, and in 2019 Ireland’s first female co-skipper in the TJV, Joan Mulloy of Westport, raced with the distinctly vintage Imoca 4MyPlanet.

Nowadays, with the fleet obliged to be in port in the Race Village for a week beforehand, public interest has become much more savvy and the top sailors have a large and extremely well-informed fan base to which they have to be readily available, informative and maybe even friendly.

With the start of a very daunting sailing challenge coming ever closer, it’s wouldn’t be every skipper’s preferred way of spending the count-down, and so the superstars can ration their appearances. But the fact is that the keen fans for this year’s TJV have been going into the village in Le Havre seeking a sense of involvement and a share of stardust ever since it opened in the rain on Monday, and by this morning it will be jammed just as the sailors might hope to have a moment of peace to themselves.

LE HAVRE’S SAILING GREATNESS EXPRESSED THROUGH JOLIE BRISE

For those of us with a broader view of offshore racing history, Le Havre is equally important as the birthplace in 1913 of the sailing pilot cutter Jolie Brise.

By 1917, the acceleration of maritime technology thanks to World War I meant that every port’s superb sailing pilot boats were being rapidly replaced by steam or diesel-powered motor-craft. But back in 1913, although the leading cutter-building Albert Paumelle Yard in Le Havre were already aware of the developing change, they reckoned the sailing designs of 33-year-old Alexander Paris had reached such a peak of perfection that his best creation could still be profitable in this increasingly demanding pilotage trade.

The 1913-built 56ft Pilot Cutter Jolie Brise, long-lived symbol of Le Havre’s maritime heritage

Thus the 56ft Jolie Brise was born. Yet while she was indeed the ultimate expression of the type, by 1917 she’d been displacd by steamboats, and reduced to the humble role of a fishing boat with only limited success, such that by the early 1920s her very future was in doubt.

THE SAVING OF JOLIE BRISE

But miraculously she was snapped up in 1923 and restored as a rugged yacht by George Martin, who was one of those promoting the idea of the Fastnet Race. And when the first Fastnet was sailed in 1925 with a fleet of seven including Harry Donegan’s Gull from Cork, Jolie Brise took line honours and the overall win to begin spreading her reputation – which has increased over years of offshore success - of being the greatest seagoing gaff cutter ever built.

Harry Donegan’s Gull from Cork was one of the boats making history with Jolie Brise in the first Fastnet Race in 1925. Having led at one stage, she was third at the finish. Photo RCYC

Today, she is well preserved and actively used by Dauntsey’s School in England in their sea training programme, looking better than ever in her 110th anniversary year. And she’s very much in mind to be the Star of the Show at the Centenary Fastnet race in 2025, with her every handsom line a reminder to us that Le Havre is a sacred place for those who appreciate the remoter depths of offshore racing history.

PRE-RACE TENSION IN LE HAVRE

But today in Le Havre, thinking of Jolie Brise would only be an escapist move for the crews in the final stages of mental preparation, as there’s a lot at stake and they’re relying on a break in the weather and fast progress southwards once they’ve got west of France, as some forecasts are suggesting there might be a depression with central pressure as low as 950 to the west of Ireland by the middle of next week.

The three courses to be sailed by different classes in the 90-plus fleet in the TJV 2023. Getting out of the English Channel may well be the greatest challenge of all

The 16th edition tomorrow (Sunday) of the Transat Jacques Vabre will bring 95 boats divided into four classes to the start line off Le Havre. In addition to the 44 Class40s (Pamela Lee & Tiphanie Ragenau’s class), there are five Ultim trimarans, six Ocean Fiftys and 40 Imoca60s. Among the skippers, 77 are rookies and 18 are women. For the Class40s – the largest category – the route consists of 4,600 miles of navigation along the great circle, with that obligatory passage in the Cape Verde archipelago, keeping the island of Sal on the starboard side.

Each class has a diversified southbound route: the Ultims will sail for 7,500 miles, the Ocean Fiftys for 5,800, and the Imocas for 5,400. The goal is to coordinate the arrival between the different classes, scheduled from November 12 in Martinique. There are 14 nationalities represented, and Italy accounts for the lion’s share from outside France, with as many as six sailors, including five in Class40 and one in the Imoca class.

LEE’S MULTIPLE ATLANTIC CROSSING

Pamela Lee started her sailing as a child with her father, the renowned Norman Lee who has played a key role in the development of sailing in Greystones. Her enthusiasm and enjoyment in the sport is such that despite being a law graduate of Trinity College in Dublin, sailing at the top level is now her life at age 35. And though she and Catherine Hunt established an impressive new two-handed Round Ireland record with the Beneteau Figaro 3 Maigenta in October 2020 to add to a victory in the sailing Tour of Italy, it is the deep-sea long distance challenges which most appeals to her, and she at least ten Atlantic crossings in a variety of high performance boats to her credit.

Pamela Lee’s father Norman, one of the leading developers of Greystones sailing. Photo: W M Nixon

She was selected for this race as a standout candidate in the Cap Pour Elles initiative to encourage and empower women in ocean racing, and the CPE’s “Godmother”, France’s celebrity International Football Referee Stephanie Frappart, has been active in her personal interest and active support of the campaign

Pamela Lee (right) in Le Havre on the Class40 with co-skipper Tiphanie Ragenau and France’s celebrity first female International Football Referee Stephanie Rappart in Le Havre. Photo: Team Cap Pour Elles

TRAINING TOGETHER FOR SIX MONTHS

Lee and Ragenau have now been busy training together for six months, yet as regular readers of Afloat.ie will be well aware, she has also found the time to get the support of Brittany Ferries as lead sponsor, something which - from an Irish-French perspective - looks to be a very neat fit.

But this (Saturday) morning, with just 26 hours to the start, we’re into peak pressure. Back in the day when we used to bring our own boat to the line for the start of the Round Ireland Line, the goldfish-bowl feeling in the natural ampitheatre of the start area off Wickow Harbour became so demanding that I used to wish that the race would start at night, with the boats being sent off individually at one minute intervals.

Record-breaking sailing – Pamela Lee on track with the Figar 3 for the Round Ireland Two-Handed record in 2020

Yet the Round Ireland start is a relaxed affair compared to the hugely-publicised start of the Transat Jacque Vabre off Le Havre. But at least it does have the effect that the challenge of battering your way down channel to turn south out to the west of Ouessant (or Ushant if you prefer) comes as something of a relief. We wish them well.

MAGUIRE MAGIC

When Max Klink’s sparkling new Botin 52 Caro first appeared among the TP52s at Hamilton Island Race Week in northeast Australia in August 2022, it was the cat among the pigeons. Built in New Zealand by a team led wizard boat creator Mark Downey (who used to race whenever he could with friend and client Roy Dickson of Howth in Cracklin’ Rosie and Rosie), Caro was rightly seen as a threat to the established, and she succeeded in giving the Australian TP52 class a knockout punch from which it is still reeling, as she raised performance to an entirely new level.

A scary sight - for the opposition. Caro developing full power in a four-sail reach in a lot of wind

Among those bested was Gordon Maguire at the helm of the previously all-conquering Ichi Ban owned by Matt Allen. So with Ichi Ban taking leave of absence after the Hamilton Island Experience, it was only a matter of time before Maguire appeared on the roster of hyper-talent aboard Caro.

The first really public manifestation of this dream team came in Valette in Malta a week ago, when he sailed out to do the Rolex Middle Sea Race as tactician aboard Caro, knowing that it would be a resumption of the battle against American Chris Sheehan’s TP 52 Warrior Won aboard which Don Street of Glandore’s grandson Dylan Vogel is a regular crewman.

Warrior Won put up a gallant fight in a decidedly rough and varied 609-mile race, and at the west end of Sicily and heading south for Lampedusa, she was two miles ahead. But it was almost painful to watch the way each tracker fix showed that Caro was remorselessly closing the gap, and by the finish she had won Class 2 from Warrior Won by three-and-a-half from Warrior Won on CT, as Warrior had slipped back to fourth.

It was a race for the biggest and the smallest boats, as the Wally 93 Bulitt – with Jamie McWilliam on the crew – won by just 24 seconds overall from the Sun Fast 3300 Red Ruby, which is good news for the Kinsale Sun Fast 3300 Cinnamon Girl team of Cian McCarthy & Sam Hunt, heading to Sydney for a Sun Fast 3300 campaign in the Hobart Race.

The Sun Fast 3300 Red Ruby (Justin & Christine Wolfe) was pipped at the post for the overall win in the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2023. Photo: Paul Wyeth

Meanwhile the two other boats of Irish and Irish Sea interest – Conor Doyle’s xP50 Freya from Kinsale and the Hall family’s J/125 Jacknife from Pwllheli – seemed to be glued together on the time sheets throughout the race, as Jackknife finished fourth in IRC 4 some 37 minutes ahead of Freya in fifth.

First in Class 4 was the Podesta family’s souped-up First 45 Elusive II, originally brought to the Mediterranean by the late John Sisk, and no stranger to silverware in offshore racing ever since, including a Middle Sea overall win.

But all that is now in the record books. This weekend, world sailing’s attention is swinging toward Le Havre.

It isn’t always a rough start – the Transat Jacques Vabre 2021 got going in very manageable conditions

Irish offshore racer Pamela Lee is gearing up to take on the challenge of the Transat Jacques Vabre double-handed race to Martinique, just two years after her first experience sailing a Class40. Lee will join French co-skipper Tiphanie Rageneau in the 44-strong Class40 fleet for the 4,500-nautical-mile race, thanks to the race's Cap Pour Elles initiative. This programme fast-tracks the skills of women in ocean racing, inspiring and empowering more women and girls to become involved in the sport.

Lee was selected for the race after being identified as a standout candidate, with ten Transatlantic passages already under her belt. She is now setting her sights on racing a Class 40 solo on the 2026 Route du Rhum Destination Guadeloupe. The Cap Pour Elles initiative provides a chartered, competitive Class40 to the selected duo to race, supported by a coaching and mentoring programme, and some initial funding to compete in early training events. However, the chosen pair needs to find a big proportion of the remaining budget, which has proven to be one of the biggest challenges.

Lee, a 35-year-old law graduate from Greystones south of Dublin, said, "This feels very much like the first step on the objective Route du Rhum 2026 and beyond. But right now, I just really want to deliver for the sponsors on this. I want to make sure they want to do it again, and that means, one, getting the boat to the finish safely, and two, doing some great comms, delivering all I can."

Lee and Rageneau have formed a strong partnership after six months of training together. They complement each other's skills, with Lee bringing more offshore experience and Rageneau excelling in match racing. While their budget is relatively modest compared with the top Class40 teams, their project's nature and their own popularity mean they have strong support from the sailing community and friends.

Class 40 Engie - DFDS - Brittany Ferries, skipper Pamela Lee Photo: Team Cap pour Elles

Lee is determined to deliver a complete package, not just on the racecourse but also for their sponsors. "At home, there is good interest now, especially after the sponsorship was announced. There was a lot more interest, especially as I am the first Irish female skipper to compete," she added.

Today, Lee and Rageneau officially 'baptized' their boat at the Ponton d'Honor at the heart of the huge race village. Lee said, "Before that, I had only done the Figaro stuff, and so that was my first big start experience two years ago. So, yes, it's a pinch myself moment."

Lee had initially set her sights on representing Ireland in the proposed 2024 Olympic offshore double-handed event, which was scuttled before it gained enough traction with the IOC. However, helping prep in the Figaro one-design class in France gave her a real taste for the French ocean racing scene. She prepped a season for Brit Alan Roberts, who races in the IMOCA with Clarisse Crémer, and since then, she has worked tirelessly to get a toe on the ladder. Dream to reality in two hard years, Ireland's Pamela Lee ready for the Transat Jacques Vabre challenge

It was only two years ago that Irish offshore racer Pam Lee really had her first experience sailing a Class40 when she helped deliver a friend’s boat to Le Havre for the 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre. But next Sunday, largely thanks to the race’s Cap Pour Elles initiative, she will take her place alongside French female co-skipper Tiphanie Rageneau in the 44 strong Class40 fleet to take on the 4500 nautical miles double-handed race to Martinique.

It is some years since Lee, a 35-year-old law graduate from Greystones south of Dublin, set her sights on competing in the pinnacle French events on solo on short-handed ocean racing, but being selected to by the race to sail with her 30-year-old French counterpart Ragenau – a vet – has given her an excellent initial stepping stone on the pathway to her next goal, racing a Class 40 solo on the 2026 Route du Rhum Destination Guadeloupe.

The race’s Cap pour Elles initiative is designed to fast track the skills of women in ocean racing whilst at the same time inspiring and empowering more women and girls to become involved and to advance in the sport. Lee’s attributes, skills and ocean miles stood out – this will be her tenth Transatlantic passage but her first race across the Atlantic.

Cap pour Elles provides a chartered, competitive Class40 to the selected duo to race, supported by a coaching and mentoring programme, and some initial funding to compete in early training events. But the chosen pair need to find a big proportion of the remaining budget. That has proven one of the biggest challenges. Indeed it was only six weeks or so ago a that they finalised the support of ENGIE and DFDS and Brittany Ferries.

And so today (Monday) was a big day as the duo officially ‘baptised’ their boat at the Ponton d’Honor at the heart of the huge race village. “I did not even come here as a preparateur last time, I was very much on the outside. I had never even been to a big race start before. Before that I had only done the Figaro stuff and so that was my first big start experience two years ago.” She recalls, “ So this feels amazing. And it was here that I was introduced me to Antoine Carpentier (who won the 2021 race) and that set me on this pathway as I did the delivery back from the TJV (on Carpentier’s winning Redman) and that was my first real real experience on a Class40. I was already set on doing a Class40 programme and being here in 2023 really locked it in. So, yes, it’s a pinch myself moment.”

Historically Lee had initially set her sights on representing Ireland in the proposed 2024 Olympic offshore double handed event which was scuttled before it gained enough traction with the IOC. Helping prep in the Figaro one design class in France gave her a real taste for the French ocean racing scene – she prepped a season for Brit Alan Roberts who races in the IMOCA with Clarisse Crémer – and since then has worked tirelessly to get a toe on the ladder.

She is determined to make sure they deliver a complete package, not just on the race course but for their sponsors, “This feels very much like the first step on the objective Route du Rhum 2026 and beyond. But right now I just really want to deliver for the sponsors on this. I want to make sure they want to do it again and that means 1, getting the boat to the finish safely and 2, doing some great comms, delivering all I can. At home there is good interest now especially efter the sponsorship was announced there was a lot more interest, especially as I am the first Irish female skipper (ed note Joanne Mulloy has done it as a co-skipper with Alexia Barrier) to compete.”

And after six months together they have formed a strong partnership, “Our skills are complementary, yes. I have more experience offshore and she has been in match racing but Tiph is super intelligent and really works hard. She likes the tactical side of racing and that allows me to do the big picture, ocean racing kind of stuff.”

And while their budget is relatively modest compared with the top Class40 teams the nature of their project and their own popularity means they have strong support from the sailing community and friends, she enthuses, “There is such a good feeling around the project everyone wants to help out, we have a lot of friends who are helping too. And we have a lot of really nice technical partners, like Bollé and Musto for example”.

The duo have sought out the help of female French ace Karine Fauconnier – who won the race in 2007 in the Multi 50 and has also served as a race winning weather router – to advise pre-race on weather strategy. On the water their main focus is on sailing cleanly and not making silly mistakes, Lee maintains. “The aim is to sail with the pack and sail fast and don’t make silly mistakes. It is the mistakes that cost you. We can sail fast enough I think but the mistakes mount up, you get stressed, you get tired. And the start is so important, keeping the stress as low as possible. We have tricky navigation. We have current, we have the boats, we have shipping, so the first few days are about sailing the boat safely, sailing nicely and sailing smart.”

She concludes, “One of the things I love most about ocean racing is being on the start line with some of the most experienced sailors and racing on equal terms, racing against your heroes. So being here now in the same race as Sam Davies, who has been a hero of mine for years, Justine Mettraux who has done great things in ocean racing recently and Isabelle Joshcke who I followed on the Vendée Globe on the one hand is a reminder of how far I have come but also it makes what they have done seem a little more attainable. But also I kind of hope that maybe there are some girls out there who see what we are doing and it makes it all seem a little more attainable. That is so important.”

Irish offshore sailor Pamela Lee and French co-skipper Tiphaine Ragueneau, who together won the ‘Cap pour Elles’ program which gives a female duo the chance to race the Transat Jacques Vabre as their first Transatlantic race, have landed the support of a major partner ENGIE. It follows an earlier sponsorship announcement of the ferry firm DFDS/Britanny Ferries. 

Lee (34 years old) and her French counterpart Tiphaine Ragueneau (30 years old), won the opportunity back in March and have been training, racing and preparing ever since. Even though they won the use of a competitive Class40 boat and are fully supported by the initiative, they were still lacking the final funding package to make sure they could compete.But now they will be able to race under the name of their boat: “ENGIE DFDS BRITTANY FERRIES”

The French industrial and energy group, ENGIE, will support Lee and Ragueneau, as they seek to complete the race from Le Havre to Martinique, as well as supporting the Cap pour Elles programme to increase female participation and empower women in sailing.“I am happy that ENGIE is supporting these two talented and determined young women in their transatlantic dream. All of our employees will be so proud to see the ENGIE colours flown by Pamela and Tiphaine in this legendary race. We wish them the very best of good luck!” says Claire Waysand, Deputy Managing Director of ENGIE and Vice-President of the ENGIE Foundation.

The duo have the support of two prestigious godmothers: international football referee Stéphanie Frappart and British sailor Sam Davies. The next key moment for the project will be the christening of the boat, ENGIE DFDS BRITTANY FERRIES, on Monday, October 23 at 2 p.m. in the Paul Vatine basin in Le Havre.

Pamela Lee is now in the final stages of preparing herself, her team and her boat for the marathon race predicted to take 20 days from Le Havre, France and arrives in Martinique

Pamela Lee said “ENGIE’s support is particularly valuable. It allows us to approach our final preparation calmly and carefully. We know that ENGIE is very involved in diversity and feminization and we are proud to carry the colors of this company on our sails. For our part, thanks to their support, we can focus on achieving a sports performance as well as taking care of reliability and the technical aspects. We have been working for several weeks to sail in as many conditions as possible to be ready for the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre.”

“Offshore sailing is a mechanical sport, and it is an intellectual sport. More than using physical abilities and power, you can use your head to get the boat to work for you.”

That piece of advice could, it seems to me, be applied to several aspects of sailing today.

“If you’re relying on brute force to get a boat to do what you want, then you’re not doing it right…”

That piece of advice would be worth remembering by some Skippers I’ve known!

It was given to me by Greystones offshore sailor, Pamela Lee, when I interviewed her for the October edition of my Podcast, Maritime Ireland, when I compared the strength of women with men in offshore sailing. We were discussing tactics for the Transat Jacques Vabre, which she’ll be sailing from October 29 with French co-skipper Tiphaine Ragueneau, as Afloat reports here.

Irish offshore sailor Pamela Lee has secured €40k in sponsorship from Ireland-France ferry operator DFDS/Brittany Ferries for her Class40 project as she prepares to set sail for the Transat Jacques Vabre transatlantic sailing race in October

“If you’re thinking about what you’re doing, if you understand what you’re doing, if you understand how to use a boat properly, you can manoeuvre the boat to work for you. If you’re using brute force against the boat, you’re not going to win,” the 34-year-old Wicklow sailor, now resident in France to pursue her international sailing career, told me. “It’s really about thinking cleverly.”

That’s advice I’m going to apply to myself!

Listen to the interview with Pamela here, when I raised the comparison of male and female sailing power. Pamela is very focused on getting more women into sailing.

World-record-holding Irish off-shore sailor, Pamela Lee, was in Cork Harbour recently, ahead of her next Transatlantic adventure, the 30th annual ‘Transat Jacques Vabre’ race, taking place from October 29th.

Pamela was attending the annual France-Ireland Chamber event, hosted by Brittany Ferries on board its flagship cruiseferry Pont-Aven, on a routine recent call to Ringaskiddy, Cork Harbour. (See first winter service on the Roscoff route) which Afloat adds will see Armorique’s mid-week crossings end for this season, as the cruise-ferry takes over the flagship’s weekend sailings extended from next month.

As guest of honour, Pamela was welcomed by Brittany Ferries president Jean-Marc Roué and chief executive Christophe Mathieu, as well as members of respective chambers on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Brittany Ferries used the occasion to confirm its sponsorship of Pamela and her sailing partner, French native Tiphaine Ragueneau. The company joins another Ireland-France ferry operator, DFDS as Afloat previously reported along with French energy provider Engie as joint-sponsors of the Franco-Irish, all-female crew

The Transat Jacques Vabre race is a major event on the international sailing calendar and retraces the historic coffee route from Le Havre in France to Fort-de-France Bay in the Caribbean. More than 60 craft will take part this year.

Pamela and Tiphaine will be one of just three all-female competitive teams.

At the event, Christophe Mathieu, CEO of Brittany Ferries stated, “As proud connectors of Ireland and France and strong supporters of the seafaring community globally we didn’t hesitate when approached to sponsor Pamela and Tiphaine on their forthcoming challenge. They are both incredibly determined and passionate about sailing, as well as increasing female participation in professional and amateur sport and offshore sailing. This dynamic duo represent the very best of partnership, endeavour and respect for seafarers and the seafaring community. That’s why we are so proud to sponsor them as they embark on this very impressive journey.”

In March this year, the Irish-French duo won the Cap pour Elles selection to take part in the Transat Jacques Vabre race, ahead of nine other pairs of young women. Cap pour Elles is an initiative designed as an opportunity to support up-and-coming female talent giving them the best chance to compete in this famous Transatlantic race.

A native of Greystones in county Wicklow, Pamela broke three world records as she sailed around Ireland in under four days in 2020.

For more information on Pamela Lee, please visit her website here.

Irish offshore sailor Pamela Lee has secured €40k in sponsorship from Ireland-France ferry operator DFDS/Brittany Ferries for her Class40 project as she prepares to set sail for the Transat Jacques Vabre transatlantic sailing race in October.

Lee will skipper one of only three all-women teams taking part in the race, alongside Tiphaine Ragueneau.

Pamela, 34, from Greystones Harbour in County Wicklow, Ireland, and Tiphaine, 30, from the Finistère region of France, start racing on 29 October 2023.

The Transat Jacques Vabre race is one of the most prestigious events on the international sailing calendar, with 100 boats participating. Its route from the French seaside resort of Le Havre to Fort-de-France Bay in the Caribbean traces a historic coffee trading route. The race is named after Jacques Vabre, the French ground coffee brand, and was created in 1993. 

Crews prepare to depart for the 40 Malouine race in Saint-Malo on 23 September as they continue preparations for the Transat Jacques Vabre race in October

Pamela is an experienced sailor who has crossed the Atlantic ten times in her career.  As regular Afloat readers know, she established a Round Ireland world speed sailing record with the UK's Cat Hunt in 2020.

Tiphaine works as a full-time vet in France and has been a competitive sailor for ten years, competing at World Championship Level since 2017.

Looking forward to the start of the Transat race, Tiphaine said: “We know the race will be very intense, and with this course, we feel like we’re really stepping up a level, but we can’t wait to get started.”

Lee, who recently won the Cap Pour Elles project, has also gained support from sailing gear manufacturer, Musto. 

Twenty-four hours into the CIC Normandy Channel Race and Irish Offshore sailor Pamela Lee co-skippering the Class 40 yacht '154' is lying 23rd in the fleet.

The 1000-miler that started on Sunday sees Lee embark on a new journey with French co-skipper Tiphanie Ragueneau.

As Afloat reported previously, less than three months after being selected for the "Cap sur Elles" initiative - which provides support for a pair of young female sailors to take part in the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre double-handed race to Martinique – Lee and her French counterpart Ragueneau are now racing in their first big racing challenge together.

The route of the 2023 CIC Normandy Channel Race

The pair's objective is the Transat Jacques Vabre starting in October, and so the Normandy Channel is both a qualifier and an opportunity for the female crew push themselves against an extremely high-level and experienced fleet.

The course is exciting, technical and complicated, sending the fleet across the channel from France to the UK, inside the Isle of Wight and then around Tuskar Rock and the Fastnet Rock in Ireland, before returning to France.

Tracker here

Less than three months after being selected for the "Cap sur Elles" initiative - which provides support for a pair of young female sailors to take part in the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre double-handed race to Martinique – Ireland’s Pam Lee and her French counterpart Tiphane Ragueneau are preparing for their first big racing challenge together, the CIC Normandy Channel Race which takes place in early June.

The Irish-French duo have just done a warm-up training race on their Class40 Cape Pour Elles, the 310 nautical miles ArMen Race USHIP, in which they finished 14th, just outside the top 10 in a very competitive Class40 fleet. As a learning experience, the race afforded them confidence in their boat, partnership, and abilities. Next is the CIC Normandy Channel Race – one of the most highly contested, challenging events on the Class40 calendar – starting on June 4th. The duo are competing in a red-hot fleet of 36 Class40s racing over a 1000-mile course out of the Channel, which has turning marks at The Fastnet and Tuskar Rock as well as the Isle of Wight.

Stepping stone

It will be an important stepping stone for Ragueneau, 30, and Lee, 34, a native of Greystones south of Dublin. Selection to the Cap Pour Elles project was made in March, and the duo have been working hard since, looking for additional funding to secure their full budget for the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre, preparing the boat and training together as much as Ragueneau has been available as she works full time as a vet.

“We achieved 100 per cent of our objectives on the ArMen Race USHIP. “enthused Lee this week, “We went out on our first real Class40 race together, aiming to use it as a great training opportunity to learn together in a full competition mode, where we are both pushing hard all the time.”

Lee recalled, “From that point of view, we are happy to have achieved that. Along the way, we are happy with our performance in that we were just behind some good duos and many of the boats ahead of us were fully crewed. We were fast enough early on and could hold our own with the front pack. But for example, it was our first time with the spinnaker up in more than 20kts of breeze. We did have a couple of setbacks which cost us time, but we learned from them. We had a port-starboard with a boat which was not in our class which cost us a bit of time, and wrapped the spinnaker in a gybe in the dark, but we dealt with it together and did well under that pressure. We kind of lost touch with the leading group then but, again, held our own.”

Looking ahead to the CIC Normandy Channel Race, Lee says: “It is all very early in our programme right now, and we see it in two halves. The first half until the end of the Channel Race is about learning to do things well, having a boat which is well enough prepared to ensure we finish races and can do what we want to do and are not compromised. The second half is when we can be more focused on performance. The Channel Race is 1000 miles and is the qualifier for the Transat Jacques Vabre and so the priority is to finish with the boat and us in one piece. I am reasonably confident about the sailing and the navigation in Celtic waters, less so in the Solent, and so there is a lot to be thinking about.”

She concludes, “But, hey, this is such a cool position to be in. When we started that race, it was a real ‘pinch me’ moment; being on the start line with our own project is so cool.” Preparing for a race as prestigious as the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre, which will start on October 29, is full on. The two sailors are working hard in their business networks to promote their project and attract new sponsors. They are due to have meetings this week with Normandy entrepreneurs and businesses. Then they will deliver the boat to Caen for June 4th and the 1000-mile challenge. “There is some apprehension” says Lee’s co-skipper Rageuneau, “ We know that the race will be very intense, that we will have to avoid the traps, the tidal gates and currents and be efficient over the whole course. But we can't wait to be out there doing it.”

Next stage after the Channel Race comes at the end of August in Le Havre, where they will have a week of training with the Normandy Sailing League. From there, the time will slide away quickly before the start of the race across the Atlantic, best known as the Coffee Route.

When they come to write further histories of the Covid Pandemic and the world’s uneven emergence from it, they should call on the many experiences of long-distance sailor Pamela Lee of Greystones. She has somehow managed to keep the development of her career as a sailor at the sharp end of international offshore racing with super-fast boats on track, even with having to negotiate changing international travel restrictions every time she set out to move on from one completed project to begin another.

Her enthusiasm remains boundless, for despite a very stormy mid-winter west-east Transatlantic experience to bring home the Transat Jacques Vabre-winning Class40 Redman, she is now in the Caribbean in the final stages of preparation for next week’s RORC Caribbean 600 with the Andrea Fornaro-campaigned Class40 #130.

Her linkup with Fornaro began last August when they sailed together in the Figaro 3 Two-handed Round Italy Challenge, and won. And looking ahead to this summer, she is much involved with his new #171 Class40 Series Influence, the first of the latest VPLP design, which will do the Route de Rhum but she will then deliver to Ireland for the Wicklow Round Ireland Race in June, and will sail as crew on board - her first circuit of the Emerald Isle since her record double-hander with Cat Hunt on the Figaro 3 Maigeanta Eire in October 2020.

The fact that Influence will be coming to the “cold north” for the Round Ireland Race is by way of payback for Pam Lee doing the round Italy last summer, and she writes of this new craft:

“The new boat #171 is the first boat of the new Class40 Series designed by VPLP. It has a very exciting and revolutionary design, being the first race boat to have the mast set further back from the keel. This is designed to compensate the Scow Bow, which leads other boats to input an extensive mast rake, with most scow-bow Class40s adding well over 10 degrees aft rake.

By moving the mast aft, this should counteract some of the downwards tendencies of the Scow. This feature has led to a completely new interior structure, where rather that having a central mast support in the middle of the hull, it is completely open inside and the support is dispersed through a new framework system - this is to avoid negative shock impact back into the rig should the keel hit something, being forwards the compensation would be different......”

With the speeds the latest scow-type Class40s can reach, the phrase “should the keel hit something” acquires added meaning. Meanwhile, just to keep busy, in some time-space between the Caribbean 600 and the various logistics of getting the Class40 Influence to Ireland, Pam Lee will be crewing another Class40, #156, with a different team in the Heineken Regatta.

The new VPLP Class40 design has moved the mast significantly further aft

With the three named Atlantic storms of Arwen, Barra and Corrie already logged and leaving behind trails of varying degrees of disruption in Northwest Europe, we in Ireland don’t need to be told that the winter of 2021-2022 has been registering as hyper-active in terms of adverse weather.

But at least for those of us snug ashore, most houses in Ireland are built to successfully withstand such conditions. Then too, increasingly sophisticated weather analysis and improved methods of predicting and accurately warning of the approach and track of such storms have made it a matter of taking timely precautions and remaining indoors if at all possible.

So what must it be like to find yourself in a sailing boat far out in the open North Atlantic – albeit in its more southern portion – when such winter weather starts to develop around you, and there’s no getting away from it?

Pamela Lee of Greystones is one of Ireland’s most dedicated offshore sailors. In 2021, her most recent success had been on November 19th in Genoa, taking second overall at the finish in a fleet of ten boats in the two-handed Nastro Rosa Race round Italy race (started at Venice) for Figaro 3s. But then as winter closed in on Europe, the approach of December found her in the Caribbean, in Martinique awaiting the finish of the Transat Jacques Vabre, as she’d been giving the dream commission of bringing one of the hottest boats, the Mach 40 Redman, back home to France.

Redman in “The Happy Place”, wind well free and making many knots - but still the spray flies everywhere.

It was an opportunity not to be missed, as the Class40 has already committed to the 2022 Round Ireland Race in June, and in Martinique Redman was crowned as winner of Class40. So even though it would be mid-December, with average conditions they could hope to be back in La Trinite on France’s Biscay coast in time for everyone to be home for Christmas. But conditions weren’t to be quite normal. Pamela Lee takes up the story:

THE ATLANTIC IN WINTER

Around noon on Midwinter’s Day, Tuesday 21st of December, a slightly bedraggled crew of three French men and an Irish girl finally pulled into the Marina at Horta, Ilha do Faial, in the Azores. Although an originally unintended pit-stop on our way from Martinique to La Trinité while bringing the Class40 161 Redman back home after her victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre, we were pretty relieved to chuck the line to the very helpful - although masked-and-gloved - marina manager.

The trip from the Caribbean had taken us 12 days, much longer than anticipated on a boat that should comfortably average above 12 knots boat speed. A few factors played into the delay, not least that we spent 48 hours under only the Tormentin J3, which is essentially a bright orange storm sail, while we hunkered down waiting for the three massive low pressures to pass over us, and hoping that we’d stay upright while waves smashed over the top of the hull.

Where will it all go….? Provisioning a two-man boat for a crew of four presents special challenges.

Early stages in Caribbean conditions

Unfortunately, prior to this, we had also suffered a small tear on the J1, and during the storms the same on the upper leech of the main sail, all of which contributed to a small window of wind angle and strength in which we could get anywhere near hitting our polar percentages.

This said, we still managed to squeeze in some incredible sailing and I really got a chance to witness this winning Mach 40.4 JPS Production at some of her best showings. And at some of her worst showings too, for the limits-pushing scow hull shape – to optimise waterline length and hull volume within the 40ft LOA limit – can be teeth-shattering to take to windward in a steep sea.

North Atlantic grey day, but great going….they managed 27 knots in one speed burst.

You needed to get fully under the low-headroom cockpit shelter when the spray sheeted over like a hail of bullets

SPEED OF 27 KNOTS

On the plus side, at one point we topped out our boat speed on 27 knots SOG. TJV winner Antoine Carpentier (with Spain’s Pablo Santurde Del Arco as co-skipper) claims to have achieved 29 knots in the sprint westward, so we weren’t too far off. But whether we achieved this through sailing prowess, or should rather give credit to the exceptionally large wave that we happened to be surfing down at the time, well, that’s another question……..

For as you’d expect, with the scow bow hull shape, this interesting racing machine comes to life when off the wind – as soon as you can get the Gennaker up, you are in a happy place. While still in the Caribbean, we had some incredible sailing from Martinique up to St. Marten, with almost 24 hours averaging over 20 knots SOG in those wonderful trade winds.

A gap between the storms, with a selfie for Pam as Redman makes smooth progress under autohelm

Yet even with the scow bow, it was still wet - very wet. The cockpit shelter is actually surprisingly low to minimise resistance in what is a very serious racing machine, so unless you are really tucked in underneath it you are getting a good dowsing on a regular basis. Similarly, on the helm, you are sitting abaft the cover and pretty much out in the elements. Although not really necessary in the Caribbean trade temperatures, dry smocks are a must onboard.

We had a few more wonderful runs with the Gennaker and some lovely sailing with the big Spinnaker, but as is the case with trying to get back across the Atlantic at this time of year, we were faced with a larger proportion of upwind angles to contend with. This boat, as with many, was not built for upwind, but the slamming or ‘Tappé’ as the French call it, is on another level when you try to attack the swell in any sort of unfavourable angle.

Life goes on – sail repairs and cooking under way in the cramped night-lit accommodation.

For this reason, we spent the first third of the trip heading due East, and even sometimes Sou’east before we could finally wrap around the outside of a system and gain a favourable angle Northwards, though it did feel like Morocco might be the best pitstop option for a while, and we were glad to make the Azores on Tuesday this week to let further storm systems go through before (we hope) heading on for La Trinite on Sunday (December 26th)

This was my eighth time crossing the Atlantic, as through my career so far I’ve done it in a varied number of boats in both directions. This trip was motivated purely by gaining as much experience, on the water in the Class40 as possible, and what better boat to do this on than leader of the class and the winner of the TJV?

When a negative result is a positive – COVID tests rewarded with lemon tarts

Horta at last. Who would have thought a washing line could be such a beautiful sight?

It has definitely been the most challenging of the trips so far (and we haven’t even finished yet, as I’m writing this from Horta on Christmas Eve). So even though I knew what I was signing up for, the contrast between leaving the warmth of the Caribbean and sailing towards the North Atlantic in December is dramatic and almost comical. Similarly, the intensity and speed of the weather systems that we had to navigate through was a different story and for me, it was an excellent opportunity to get back into ocean weather system analysis after two years mostly of coastal racing in France and Italy.

My role onboard is Watch Leader and second to the skipper Arnaud Aubry, so my goal of learning the boat and gaining useful miles onboard has certainly been achieved so far. Although not without its hardship including probably the biggest sea state I’ve experienced to date, not to mention sharing a bucket facility with three French guys and missing an intended Christmas at home, these feel like small prices for the bigger picture goal, and sometimes in offshore sailing, it’s good to be forced out of your comfort zone, just to remind yourself that even at the low points, you still love it – well, I certainly do anyway!

And if you have to miss Christmas at home, the deservedly legendary Peter’s Café Sport in Horta was as ever a home-from-home for Christmas Eve, even if there’s a shut-down from Christmas Day. But all being well, when that comes in we’ll be on our way.

It may not be Greystones for Christmas, but it will do very nicely…… Christmas Eve venue before the latest lockdown was the legendary Peter’s Cafe Sport in Horta.