Thursday 26 April – 0830 UTC
Multi One Championship 2012 - KRYS OCEAN RACE 2012
The hour has struck for the initial confrontations
Despite the very windy conditions which are currently being dished up on the
tip of Brittany, the most recent of the Gitana fleet, the 70-feet one-design
trimaran Edmond de Rothschild Group, was relaunched on Tuesday afternoon.
Sébastien Josse and the members of Gitana Team made the most of a brief
period of calm to get her back into salt water in record time. After a refit
of just a matter of weeks, the bulk of which was devoted to the indextenance
and checking over of the sensitive sections of the boat, the multihull
fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild is ready to attack the 2012
sailing season. Indeed the coming year is going to be an eventful one,
though the key meetings will unquestionably be the Krys Ocean Race in July,
and the European Tour in September.
For Sébastien Josse’s crew, the countdown to the first official event of the
Multi One Championship has begun. The skipper of Edmond de Rothschild Group
and his men, will compete in four pre-season events during the two months
that precede the Krys Ocean Race. The aim is naturally to weigh up the
benefits of their winter training session in Morocco, as well as continue
with their preparation with a view to the inaugural transatlantic race of
2012: “Aside from a few training sessions with several other boats, we’re
still lacking references. As such the whole team is keenly awaiting the
initial confrontations in race mode. This winter, during our work sessions
in Agadir, we focused on technique, fluidity in the manœuvres and onboard
communication. In short, we got a handle on all the reflex actions which
have to become automatic when we’re out on the water. The phase we’re now
entering, involving four pre-season races, is a more psychological phase
where we’ll be able to gauge how the crew copes when there are stakes at
play. We’ll be in competition mode, up against rivals who have the same
technical qualities as us on paper, where the human element will be what
makes the difference”, explains Sébastien Josse.
The Tour de Belle-Ile for starters
It’s with the Tour de Belle-Ile that the one-design Edmond de Rothschild
Group will kick off her competition season. This annual race, which this
year celebrates its fifth anniversary, gathers together small and large
boats on the same course, thus enabling professionals and amateurs alike to
rub shoulders on a shared start line. For the 502 boats registered[1], the
starting gun will sound out across the Baie de Quiberon on Saturday 28
April, shortly after 1000 hours local time. The fleet, as original as it is
disparate, will have to complete a 44-mile course taking them around the
island of Belle-Île, an island which has to be left to port. Particularly
interested by the fact that the race will be playing host to two other
70-feet one-designs (Foncia and Spindrift Racing), it’s very likely that
Sébastien Josse will also be keeping a wary eye on the time. Indeed the
record to beat - 2 hours and 42 minutes – is none other than the one set
last year by Gitana 11.
Grand Prix Guyader, ArMen Race and SNSM Trophy before heading offshore
The skipper of Edmond de Rothschild Group and his crew will be taking a few
days break – given the Mayday holiday – before setting sail for nearby
Douarnenez, where the Grand Prix Guyader will run from 3 to 6 May. On the
programme are two days of long coastal courses followed by a weekend
coloured by speed runs. The dual format of this meeting will enable the
Gitana Team to validate the adjustments they’ve made, especially during the
long legs where they’ll be up against Michel Desjoyeaux’ crew. In mid May,
after another training session at the designated centre in Port-la-Forêt,
Gitana XV will be back in the Baie de Quiberon to take part in the ArMen
Race, which involves a big 300-mile looped circuit from La Trinité-sur-Mer
with the course marks of Sein and Île d’Yeu to the West. During this event,
Sébastien Josse will be welcoming Pierre Pennec aboard. The skipper of the
Extreme 40 Edmond de Rothschild Group will thus take up the ‘offshore’
format again, with a view to his participation in a leg of the European
Tour: “I’m very happy to have been invited along by Sébastien and I’m sure
I’ll really enjoy getting back aboard a large oceanic trimaran. They’re such
fabulous machines… These few miles offshore will also enable me to combine
physical preparation and my passion, so I’m keen to get going!” admitted
Pierre Pennec last week in Qingdao. Finally, as is the case each year, the
Gitana Team will also be in Saint Nazaire to support the SNSM (equivalent of
the RNLI in the UK). The start of the eighth edition of the record for the
benefit of the lifeboat men and women, will take place on Sunday 3 June.
Sébastien Josse and his men have a busy pre-season programme ahead of them
then. However, this schedule, concocted by the skipper himself, will enable
them to rack up some precious miles and have greater confidence in their
abilities when they set off on the Krys Ocean Race (start on 7 July 2010 in
New York). In the meantime, and from this afternoon, Edmond de Rothschild
Group will be joining two of her future rivals (Foncia and Oman Sail) in the
context of a two-day training session organised by the Pole Finistère Course
au Large (Offshore racing hub) in Port-la-Forêt. The warm-up promises to be
pretty boisterous with a wind of between 25 and 30 knots this Thursday.
The dates for the 2012 programme
- Tour de Belle-Ile: 28 April
- Grand Prix de Douarnenez Guyader: From 3 to 6 May
- ArMen Race: From 18 to 21 May
- SNSM Trophy: From 1 to 3 June
- Krys Ocean Race (Crewed transatlantic race): start on 7 July from
New York – estimated finish in Brest on 14 July
- European Tour (Crewed configuration): start from Kiel (Germany) on
2 September
*[1] With 502 entries, the Tour de Belle-Ile is enjoying a record
participation, thus confirming its status as the number one sailing event in
France, which it secured last year.
Find all the latest news about Gitana Team at www.gitana-team.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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