PRESS RELEASE OF THE Oct. 29 07
The assistants working hard backstage to get the boats ready
They witness the technological progress and keep alive memories of the boats. The preparation phase is a vital element in the boat’s performance. We take a look here at some of these stressed, all-rounders with five days to go before the start.
They are often referred to as backstage workers, and yet they are the only ones that can be seen around the Paul Vatine basin, where the Transat Jacques Vabre fleet is taking a rest before the big day on Saturday for the monohulls and Sunday for the multihulls.
In a way, we could group them together in families: the pros, the semi-pros and the amateurs, often friends of the skipper or close relations. There are the professionals appointed by the fleet owners. Like the Big Four on Groupama II. Franck Cammas’s team was partly replaced less than two years ago, but it all works like clockwork aboard the Lorient based boat. On Brossard, the red and white trimaran is being sailed by the duo of Yvan Bourgnon- Jacques Vincent, but it was decided to make a change from the usual routine. Jacques Vincent, the co-skipper, spoke about a real revolution: «It is true that our boats have been sailing for years with the same highly skilled teams. So why change things? Brossard wanted to give some youngsters a chance to try their hand in this job. I think we all started out a bit like that, because one day a sponsor gave an opportunity to someone, who only had his enthusiasm to offer,» explained the yachtsman, who worked for a long time with Thomas Coville. Jacques Vincent is not taken in: «I know that our support team is miles behind Banque Populaire II and Gitana 11. What pleased Yvan was knowing that this lack could be compensated for by the hard work of the lads and their desire to learn.»
There is a very different situation concerning the fifty-foot trimaran with the father and son Langevin aboard (Négocéane). Roger with his greying sideburns is a regular at the Transat Jacques Vabre: «I continue in the old fashioned way and do it all myself! It’s also a question of the budget… », he said shrugging his shoulders.
As far as the 60-foot monohulls are concerned, we can only see some tiny differences. The rule appears to a team of four. That is the case on board Safran, Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier’s steel grey boat: «There are only four of us and we each have a clearly defined role,» said one of the support team. There are the same number of people working on Gitana Eighty ( L. Peyron- J-B Le Vaillant) according to Ludovic Aglaor: «There are four working on the boat. It will only be after this first transatlantic dash that we shall know whether to broaden the team in the future or not.»
Finally with the Class 40 boats, there are some amazingly keen figures. On board «Nous Entreprenons», we can find the brother-in-law of the skipper, Jacques Fournier, who has « come along to help out.» André Jeantet, the co-skipper alongside Jacques Fournier, is a yacht builder.
The 40-foot Pindar (Jo Royle-Alexia Barrier) is able to take advantage of a support team that is likely to make everyone else jealous: «In fact, since the 60-foot boat dismasted, the whole Pindar team has been working with us. Indeed there are six people working full time on the boat,» smiled Alexia.
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