On Sunday, June 30, the Transat Québec Saint-Malo will start from the beautiful Quebec City, and more precisely from the St. Lawrence River – one of the world’s largest and most fascinating navigable rivers.
An epic regatta, which it really is many regattas together, as explained by Alberto Bona: “We will sail over 300 miles along the St. Lawrence River, and the first 150 will be really difficult due to conflicting currents, little depth and being so many boats in a relatively narrow space, ready to fight with the currents and also to anchor, if necessary, in order to counteract the flow of the river in case of little wind”.
The second part of the navigation along the St. Lawrence will then take the boats to sail with the carrying current up to the mouth. Alberto explained it further: “We will begin a sort of coastal race in the Newfoundland area, before reaching the actual ocean”.
And there, in the Atlantic, there are great expectations: “This regatta is famous for its downwind courses within a beautiful and fast sailing, with high pressure. If the weather is as forecast, this part will be very exciting: it’s what makes it famous among skippers”, commented Bona.
The fourth section of the almost 2,900 miles to be covered is the landing in Europe: “The approach to the English Channel”,analysed Alberto, “could happen from the North, and in this case it could be more complicated, but we are optimistic and we hope to draw a nice straight trajectory. In any case, we have already seen in previous regattas how this phase is complex and risky. We must remain extremely focused, because there is the risk that, due to the currents, the results achieved will be called into question”.
The start of the 10th edition of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo is very close and the affection and anticipation of the local population is palpable. “Quebec City is not exactly a sailing city”,concluded Alberto, “but we were warmly welcomed and you can feel that there is much anticipation for this regatta”.
