Sunday 17th May 2009 – 1930 hrs
Extreme 40’ Circuit
Victory for Gitana Extreme: Yann Guichard’s men pack a punch!
Venice has smiled on the crew of Gitana Extreme – LCF Rotshchild Group!
After seventeen races, most of which were contested in a light breeze, Yann
Guichard and his three crew – Pierre Pennec, Hervé Cunningham and Christophe
Lassègue – have won the first event of the 2009 iShares Cup circuit in
style. They stood out ahead of the crews of James Spithill and Loïck Peyron;
a victory which bodes well for the rest of the events.
Right from the initial training races on Thursday, Yann Guichard’s men
showed their rivals that they were a force to be reckoned with. During the
three days of racing, contested just a stone’s throw from the famous “Piazza
San Marco”, the crew of Gitana Extreme continued to race at the front of the
fleet and this consistency today enabled them to take a deserved first
place.
The first meeting, the first participation and the first victory: the
equation may appear simple but the men aboard the one-design, equipped by
Baron Bejamin de Rothschild, had to hunt down the first success amongst some
high class competition. Indeed, this latest performance has seen them more
than stand their ground in front of some well known and recognised helmsmen,
including James Spithill, who is none other than the future helmsman from
the US challenge for the America’s Cup, and Loïck Peyron. On his return to
shore, the skipper of Gitana Extreme couldn’t conceal his satisfaction:
“It’s great! We were keen to be in Venice and race so as we could find out
what level we’re at. This initial victory is a real joy for the whole crew,
as well as for the members of Gitana Team who have carefully prepared the
boat since its arrival in La Trinité-sur-Mer at the start of March.” He also
assessed his crew’s assets, which set them apart from their rivals on the
Venetian race zone: “Our success has a lot to do with our very good starts.
This initial ranking very often guides the next stage in the match and the
crew showed total symbiosis during these phases. After that you know what
they say: speed breeds intelligence and vice versa, and when you cross the
line in the lead it’s always more comfortable!”
The youth of the crew and their recent association – they began sailing
together less than three months ago – could have meant that a few races were
set aside for observation but this didn’t prove necessary. In fact, in his
statement, Yann Guichard wanted to salute the team work and the excellent
atmosphere reigning aboard the Gitana Extreme: “I’ve talked about it a great
deal over the past three days but the cohesion of the crew was essential in
our victory. The pressure on me is huge as they are the kinds of races where
there is permanent contact and it’s also highly physical for my three crew
as the stream of manœuvres is incessant. I am very happy to be sailing with
these three sailors”.
The next meet for the ten Extreme 40’s competing in the 2009 circuit will
take place in the south of France. Hyères will play host to the second event
of the season from 3rd to 5th July 2009. For this race, the crew of Gitana
Extreme – LCF Rothschild Group will be considerably modified as Hervé
Cunningham, registered to participate in another race, will be temporarily
replaced. Questioned about this upcoming meet, Yann Guichard reindexed lucid:
“We’re not starting from scratch as this victory has given us a lot of
confidence, but Hyères will be another race, with another race zone where I
think we’ll benefit from a steadier breeze.”
Crew of Gitana Extreme - LCF Rothschild Group
Yann Guichard (skipper-helmsman)
Pierre Pennec (indexsail traveller trimmer, tactics), Christophe Lassegue
(headsail trimmer, control of manœuvres) and Hervé Cunningham (headsail
trimmer, control of manœuvres)
Ranking on the first day (after races)
1/ Gitana Extreme- LCF Rothschild Group (Yann GUICHARD) – 140 points
2/ BMW Oracle Racing (James Spithill) – 120 points
3/ Oman Sail Renaissance (Loïck Peyron) – 113 points
4/ Oman Sail Masirah (Pete Cumming) – 111 points
5/ Groupama 40 (Gildas Philippe) – 102 points
6/ BT (Nick Moloney) – 97 points
7/ Luna (Erik Maris) – 88 points
8/ Holmatro (Carolijn Brouwer) – 84 points
9/ iShares – Shirley Robertson – 84 points
10/ Ecover – Mike Golding – 48 points
Find all the latest news about Gitana Team at
www.gitana-team.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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