Four races, four wins: the JPK 1050 ‘PERSAIVERT’, skippered by Alex Ozon in a double-handed crew with Jean-Pierre Kelbert and then Meven Flao, has achieved an incredible clean sweep at the Spi Ouest France 2026! All this against top-level competition, including the “Lann Ael 3” prototype and the Pogo RC “Aruba”. Further confirmation of the incredible talent of our magician Jacques Valer!
In the crewed category, Yann Gapais’s JPK 1050 “Lazy Boy” took third place on the IRC1 podium after the six races held over the weekend (and it was another Valer design, the Milon 41, that claimed victory in this class…).
Well done also to the other JPK yachts that put in fine performances in the other classes: the JPK 1010 “Anael” in 7th place in OSIRIS C, the JPK 1080 “Timeline” and JPK 1030 “Hurlevent” in 5th and 9th place respectively in IRC double-handed.
Now over to the stories from the crew aboard “PERSAIVERT” below, starting with JP Kelbert!
Round 1 — Friday 3 April
With 10 days to go before the race, I’ve decided to take part in the Spi Ouest France with PERSAIVERT, the JPK 1050 I’ll be using in the next Cap Martinique. I’d originally planned to give the boat a rest, but the urge to defend our 2025 title proved too strong!
I ring Alex Ozon, who is also due to compete in the Cap Martinique on the Léon of the yard, to suggest we tackle this 2026 Spi Ouest France together. Done deal – Alex is keen, and it’s a nice story because we’ve been battling it out on the water for years but have never sailed together. I think it’s brilliant and so does he, so we’re both happy!
Friday 3 April, the wind is well established at around 20 knots from the south-west with a good chop and glorious sunshine.
We haven’t quite found our feet yet and, too busy watching what the POGO RC was doing, we return to the line late and cross it more than a minute behind! I’m at the helm so it’s my fault, but what was Alex doing? We’re already giving each other a hard time on board, laughing about it!
The first leg is at 70° to the wind and the 30 boats in the class are sailing above the course. We decide to slip through and 30 minutes later we’ve caught up with the whole fleet, except for Lann Ael, which is also very fast and got off to a good start. The Pogo, which also got off to a poor start, has moved up through the fleet, and clearly the three scow-type boats are naturally ahead, but with high ratings that need to be saved.
The next leg, after La Vieille, is a power leg at 130° to the wind, so right on the limit in gusts of 23–25 knots for the large A2 spinnaker. Lann Ael is on an A3, Aruba and the Pogo on an A2 like us. Things are moving fast and the gap is growing with the rest of the fleet. We arrive right on top of each other at the leeward mark to strike the spinnaker together.
Good close-hauled run, the boat’s going fast and we catch up with Lann Ael and pass the Pogo before making the second blunder of the day by gybing too far, ending up 20° off the close-hauled course, in a wind that’s shifted a few degrees to starboard… Stupid, because we’d been talking about it with Alex 10 minutes earlier, saying we mustn’t get caught on the edge of the frame!
Alex messes with me, I mess with him, but we push the boat on to cross the finish line less than a minute behind our competitors, so the rating is easily saved. Lann Ael and Aruba have higher ratings, as one is larger and the other has more sail area. The ‘lower-rated’ boats are further back, as the unfettered and wind-driven downwind legs are very favourable to this new type of boat, but McKee’s SF 3300 Red Ruby finishes 3rd on corrected time, with the JPK 1080 Time Line and JPK 1030 Hurlevent in 5th and 6th places.
Round 2 — Saturday 4 April
The second inshore race took place on Saturday, in winds of 18–22 knots and glorious sunshine.
The first leg is a long reach that takes us to Les Galères at the south-eastern tip of Belle-Île after passing Les Béniguet. The spectacle between the rocks is magnificent and we realise how lucky we are to be there.
After a mediocre start (5 seconds behind, and a bit worried about damaging the boat with just 15 days to go before the transatlantic race), we quickly made up ground to catch up with Lann Ael and pull slightly ahead of Aruba. The J120 Hey Jude is fast too, and this group of four crossed the Galère in 2–3 minutes.
With an average wind of 18 knots, which is dropping off a bit, we’re gliding nicely along Belle-Île before jibing. When the wind drops, the Pogo goes fast with its huge spinnaker and large mainsail. This year, Sam Manuard and Erwan Le Mené have taken the gamble of maximising the boat’s sail area to plane earlier. It works well between 12 and 16 knots, but the rating is still much higher than ours, and in many conditions the benefit isn’t obvious.
After a long VMG leg, a short leg at 120° in the Teignouse is causing us problems! Under A2 and 18 knots we’ll be too close to the wind! Change spinnaker for 2 miles? Not worth it. Sail under genoa? A bit dull! Right, we decide to sail as high as we can, then strike the spinnaker two-thirds of the way through the leg and finish under jib. We stick to the plan… but it really gets the heart rate up!
Quick strike, folding the spinnaker and hoisting it again a few minutes later. Lann Ael, with Didier Gaudoux and Erwan Tabarly, play it safe under jib; Aruba does exactly the same as us, and in the end the boats find themselves with the same gaps before the final downwind leg. In the dying wind, the Pogo logically overtakes us, but at the leeward mark the boats are close enough together for a final leg at 100° which we’ll have to sail under Code 0.
Lann Ael pulls off a fine maneuver, and so do we (lowering the A2, gybing at the mark, unfurling the Code 0, lowering the genoa), whilst Aruba furls too early with the spinnaker ending up caught in the shrouds, genoa inside out… In the end, they lose a lot of ground and finish 5th in the race, whilst we win on corrected time, finishing 2 minutes behind Lann Ael after a 12-knot leg under Code 0.
A JPK 1010 takes 2nd place on corrected time, but we’ve once again saved our rating; it’s off to a good start and looks a lot like last year’s result!
On Sunday, I’m not available, and Meven, who works at JPK and is currently preparing for his Mini Transat, will take over and be Alex’s crewmate. No doubt about it, it’ll go well. I can also see why the devilish Alex is always out in front: he sails the hell out of it, the guy!
Round 3 — Sunday 5 April
I stood in for Jean-Pierre on Sunday and Monday, following two fantastic days that had seen PERSAIVERT take the lead in the overall standings. We needed to build on that momentum, this time with Alex and his boundless enthusiasm helming the boat!
On Sunday, a good English-style start under Code 0 sent us towards La Teignouse, before we hoisted the large spinnaker to sail past Hoëdic. The Pogo caught up with us and Lann Ael was flying under spinnaker in 8–10 knots of wind.
A neat manoeuvre upwind, off the tip of Houat, allowed us to catch up with the MN35 on corrected time and finish this 5 hour 45 minute coastal race strongly.
Race results: PERSAIVERT first, Lann Ael second, and Aruba third. Those two were never far behind, though!
Round 4 — Monday 6 April
Monday, the final day, still leading overall.
A cautious start (we didn’t want to wreck the boss’s boat two weeks before the start of the CAP MARTINIQUE!) but well positioned on the right-hand side of the course.
We rounded the windward mark in second place, followed by two downwind legs in 14–16 knots under spinnaker A2: pure pleasure!
After a short race (15 nm), first place overall was secured with a fourth race win.
A real pleasure to sail the JPK 1050, with its fun yet lively character, after a great battle at the front of the fleet with our direct rivals! Another magnificent edition of the SPI OUEST-FRANCE 2026, concluding in glorious sunshine…
Well done to JP, Alex and Meven for this superb performance; well done to all the crews; and, of course, well done to our composites, assembly and fitting-out teams who build these superb boats!
See you in a few days’ time for the start of the Cap Martinique, where we’ll be pulling out all the stops (and this time, JP and Alex will each be on their own boat).
The full results of the Spi Ouest France can be found by clicking here.
