Extreme 40 Series 2010 in Almeria

Tagesvideo Tuesday 12th October – 2000 hours Edmond de Rothschild Group, second in the Extreme Sailing Series 2010 The equation was a clear one even before the Grand Prix of Almeria kicked off: second in the overall ranking behind the Omani crew, Yann Guichard and his three crew would have to finish ahead of Paul Campbell-James’ men in order to etch their names on the Extreme Sailing Series cup. However, after dominating the first two days of Spanish races, the crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group gradually lost ground to their index rival to come within a handful of points of victory. Second in the Andalusian event, the men of Gitana Team finish second in the 2010 championship, thus repeating their 2009 performance with just a few points difference… Windy with the advantage switching to The Wave Muscat… the final day of this Grand Prix of Almeria, which concluded this year’s Extreme Sailing Series, is rather reminiscent of the 2010 season itself. On his return to shore, the Gitana Team skipper’s assessment of their second place was coloured by great lucidity and fair-play: “This year the aim was to win, but we were beaten by a team that were stronger than us. The Wave sailed very well. They took risks and it worked: bravo to them! Victory would have been fantastic but I’m very satisfied with my team’s season nonetheless. We won two of the five Grand Prixs contested and we only slipped off the podium in Trapani. That’s an excellent result, which testifies to how seriously hard everyone that has been part of this project has worked all year. I’m naturally thinking about my crew, Pierre Pennec, Hervé Cunnigham, Thierry Fouchier, Yves Detrey and Nicolas Heintz, but also Marie Dixneuf and Cyril Ducrot, who have meticulously and enthusiastically prepared the boat all season” admitted Yann Guichard before turning his attention to the future: “The level of competition on the circuit this year is really interesting and it’s clearly higher than last year. If we set off from the same basis again, the 2011 season promises to be thrilling. It would be fantastic to return and vie for victory again.” It is worth remembering that prior to contesting this fifth and final event of the season, four boats were still in contention to take the 2010 title. As such, though it lost in the duel against Paul Campbell-James’ men, Yann Guichard’s crew did manage to contain its two other rivals by some distance: “Four days ago, there were still four of us in contention for the same throne. We’ve stumbled in front of the top step of the podium, but we’ve battled hard and we’ve left a good number of teams in our wake. We’ve finished second but we sailed correctly and that’s the most important thing in sport… we have nothing to be ashamed about in our result, far from it!” On crossing the finish of the last race of the day, Yann Guichard admitted having had a thought or two about Gitana 11 and the Route du Rhum, the start of which has never been so close: “The Extreme Sailing Series season draws to a close this evening so I’ll now be able to devote my time fully to the Route du Rhum and the solo crossing awaiting me in a fortnight’s time. That’s why I’m returning to Brittany this evening, with some solo sails scheduled aboard Gitana over the coming days, before taking the boat to Saint Malo for the start.”

© Th.Martinez/ Sea&Co/ OC Events