PACA- First 40 Australia

Philippe Mengual

PACA is a Bénéteau First 40 launched in 2009. A few months only after its delivery to Sydney, it competed in her first Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, finishing 29th overall, on 73 boats.

The name stands, as our French readers would have guessed, for Provence Alpes Côte d’Azure, a region of the south of France where the owner originates from.

The boat equipped by nke is optimised for offshore races and, despite many improvements for performance, has a good IRC rating.

The Crew

A boat wouldn’t go far without it’s crew though, and PACA will be happily (and skilfully!) sailed by a crew of 10 during this year’s Sydney Hobart. PACA’s crew members are coming from different offshore racing and cruising experiences. And various corners of the world too: the crew boasts five different nationalities.

We find among them two of nke Australian distributor: Philip Péché, Sailforce and Robert Sturch, Vicsail.

PALMARES 2010

1^st : Rolex Sydney Hobart -IRC3