We had exceptional race conditions at the 2018 Translémanique en Solitaire, which basically is a Bol d’Or single-handed.

107 boats were on the starting line, a panel of very nice boats, like Psaros 40 and 33, Luthi, JPK 998, Toucan, Melges 32 and of course the herd of Grand Surprise and Surprise. Unfortunately there was only one Esse 850 among them.

The wind was very strong: from 10 kts on the line, quickly increasing to 20-25 kts and in the end even 30+ knots! For the last 5 miles jibes were prohibited. The race went extremely well for SUI 076 (top speed around 20 knts). The Esse 850 was finishing 5th overall and 1st in TCF2 Class in less than 10 hours, only 10mn more then the reference time of SAS SUI 126 during the Bol d’Or 2014.

I have to say that the boat even solo is easy to manage and requires only minor adjustments. Why not being several Esse 850 next year? It's a lot of fun and a good opportunity to destroy your old sets of sails :-)
– David Pertuiset

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