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Route du Rhum 2010
Start 31. Oktober 2010 - St.Malo
www.routedurhum-labanquepostale.com - Übersicht
Route du Rhum 2010
Gitana 11 fourth into Pointe-à-Pitre
Finishing early evening local time in Pointe-à-Pitre, greeted and cheered on
by an impressive crowd massed around the Place de la Victoire, Yann Guichard
took fourth place in this ninth Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale by
traversing the Atlantic in 11d 11h 56’ 38’’.
Exhausted by the repeated
storms and an end to the race which he himself described as difficult, the
skipper of Gitana 11 reindexed clear-headed and incisive right the way to the
end, despite the highly uncooperative weather conditions.
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Phillip Monnet/Boite a Piza
Foto:© Antoine Beysens
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The final stage involving the circumnavigation of Guadeloupe was reminiscent
of half of Yann Guichard’s passage across the Atlantic, with both sections
completely disrupted by zones of calms. Indeed it took more than six hours
to make the finish line from the Basse-Terre mark, some thirty miles or so
away… However, he had barely set foot in Pointe-à-Pitre to accept the warm
welcome provided by the local people of Guadeloupe, as night fell, before
the skipper of Gitana 11 reviewed his first solo transatlantic race.
What is your initial assessment of your first solo transatlantic?
“I really enjoyed myself, even though it was especially tough on the water.
If I had to set out again today, I’d be very happy to do so. Naturally I
feel a slight sense of incompletion as I don’t feel like I made any big
mistakes. This is especially true when you finish so far behind the top
three, even though I was always in the thick of the action until the midway
mark… In fact, the further behind you were, the more miles you lost, which
also seems to be the case for the other categories. The calms, which have
settled over the West Indies for the long term, drastically changed the face
of the race. At one point, Francis was even on the way to getting ahead of
Franck Cammas. I learnt a lot about myself during this transatlantic and
particularly about pushing back my limits, getting to know myself better in
fact!”
Can you identify the weather conditions which characterised this ninth
edition of the Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale?
“Conditions at the moment of the start were fairly classic, behind a front
with a strong NW’ly air flow in the Bay of Biscay, which transformed into a
Portuguese tradewind after the passage of Cape Finisterre. On the other
hand, level with the Azores, the situation became rather atypical since
there were no longer any tradewinds at all over the southern course, but
there were zones of squalls and calms to be traversed. That’s not very
common, especially given that the storms were very active for four days! It
was really difficult, impossible even, to predict anything with certainty
after the Azores.”
You covered over 800 extra miles in relation to the direct course, but above
all within a 200 mile radius, the weather conditions were radically
different…
“There were a lot of local phenomena, but there are always some tricky
passages in oceanic races. This time it was after the Azores, where I got
stuck in the zones of calm: after that there was no way of coming back… I
still find this stoppage very hard to swallow, because according to the grib
files, it wasn’t forecast to be that light at all! It’s all the more galling
given that I was ahead of Francis Joyon at the time.”
Was it down to bad luck?
“No, but it’s certain that victory always involves an element of luck. I
have the most extreme trimaran of the fleet in terms of its responsiveness,
but she lacked length in relation to the sea conditions we experienced.”
How do you deal with such long zones of squalls?
“You hardly sleep at all! In the daytime, you manage to apprehend them all
the same, but given that there wasn’t a moon, at night it becomes
impossible. When the wind switches from 5 to 35 knots in the space of a few
minutes, that requires you to be on deck at all times and to be really
responsive. This is especially true with Gitana 11, which had conserved her
60 foot Orma handling in contrast to the other large trimarans, which were
more stable and hence able to withstand these wind variations with a greater
degree of safety. I had to sail with only a little sail area aloft at night
between the squalls to avoid the risk of capsizing.”
How do you handle yourself when one competitor is making a clean break from
the first day?
“I was confident about the next stage because logically, there should be
less wind at the end of the course. However, I knew from the outset and
especially after the first night, that it would be virtually impossible to
catch Franck Cammas. His boat was really powering along: as long as he
didn’t have any problems, victory was guaranteed. But there was still second
place…”
And these past three days where you weren’t spared by the weather?
“They were the worst of my sporting career to date! Even when I finished
fourth in the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, I quickly came to terms with
it. Here though I think it’ll take a bit longer. You complete the race
virtually in delivery mode as there are no longer any competitive stakes to
fulfil: you suffer without being able to do a single thing about it.”
Gitana 11 was a boat which was well adapted to these atypical weather
conditions?
“Of course! If the passage through the front had gone as smoothly for us as
it did for Francis, we’d have been vying for second place. You had to be on
top of things, but the boat was very much in on the action, even though you
don’t have the same race as your rivals. I hardly slept at all for four
nights during the first six days and I was in a drysuit the whole time… In
any case I couldn’t rest for chunks of more than quarter of an hour.”
Some good memories all the same?
“Loads! Prior to the front in the middle of the Atlantic for example, I
really came back into the race, even snatching second place. This race
really appealed to me because the challenge was intriguing. To battle
against great sailors on boats with a different potential was great. Each
one had their pros and cons, which made it a very open challenge and gave us
a race coloured by considerable jockeying for position. It was also great to
have Sylvain Mondon from Météo France and Billy Besson with me on shore. Not
one edition of the Route du Rhum has been the same: that’s the beauty of
this great race! I’m very happy to have brought this fine boat that is
Gitana 11 from one side of the Atlantic, especially as she is still in
superb condition. Now I know what it’s like to race across the Atlantic
single-handed, I’d really like to have another go! And if tonight they asked
me to sign up for the next edition, I’d say yes straightaway!”
Ranking for the Ultimate Category on 12th November at 1500 GMT
1- Groupama 3 finished on Tuesday 9th November at 15h26’ GMT (9d 3h 14’
47’’)
2- Idec finished on Wednesday 10th November at 01h52’ GMT (9d 13h 50’ 48’’)
3- Sodebo finished on Wednesday 10th November at 15h25’ GMT (10d 3h 13’
11’’)
4- Gitana 11 finished on Thursday 11th November at 23h58’ GMT (11d 11h 56’
38”)
5- La Boîte à Pizza 619.2 miles from the finish
6- Saint-Malo 2015 some 884 miles from the finish
7- Défi Cancale some 920 miles from the finish
Retirement - Côte d'Or II
Retirement Oman Air Majan
Gitana, in the wake of a passion
Over the past 130 years or so, “Gitana” has immediately conjured up images
of a line of boats which convey the passion of a family who have always been
driven by a taste for excellence. The Rothschilds are carrying on a
tradition based on social etiquette and innovation, performance and beauty;
a story where each generation has left its own unique mark.
En 2000, Baron Benjamin de Rothschild steered the Gitana saga towards
multihulls and the creation of the Gitana Team, a high-tech offshore racing
stable dedicated to the passion for making good speed across the water and
the hatching of talent. Since then, Gitana IX, like so many chapters in a
constantly changing story, Gitana X, Gitana 11, 12, 13, Gitana Eighty as
well as Gitana Extreme, have traced ever longer wakes across all the seas of
the globe. From the unremitting teamwork a host of unforgettable human
adventures and resounding wins have been accomplished. An historic multihull
protagonist on a global scale, Benjamin de Rothschild has transformed a
family passion into a school of excellence.
The Gitana Team’s yachts sport the colours of the Edmond de Rothschild
Group.
Find all the latest news about the Gitana Team and
follow Gitana 11’s Route du Rhum at www.gitana-team.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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