27.05.2010
Edmond de Rothschild Group leads the way
This Thursday afternoon, the 2010 Extreme Sailing Series began in Sète,
France. Eight teams competed in today’s three races, which took place in
some medium Mediterranean conditions, which proved particularly unstable
both in terms of direction and strength. At the end of this first day of
racing, the crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group have put up a fine
performance, right at the thick of the action at the front of the fleet.
Yann Guichard and his three crew are top of the provisional ranking tonight,
ahead of Mitch Booth and Franck Cammas, respectively 2nd and 3rd.
There was no observation round for the men of Gitana Team. Instead they made
the most of the three races run this afternoon to power through to the top
spot on the provisional podium in Sète. A victory in the opening race and
pole position in the ranking is clearly something Yann Guichard was able to
appreciate, though he knows only too well that this is just the first day:
“Today’s results are very positive. Of course it’s always nice to be in the
lead, but what I am especially pleased with is how my crew behaved. In the
second race, I got off to an average start and our decision to choose the
catlage09.htmlmiddle of the race zone didn’t bear fruit. We got to the end of the first
tack right at the back of the fleet. However, nobody onboard gave up the
fight and we battled hard to make up two places. It’s a mindset I greatly
appreciate. I’m confident about the future as these first races demonstrate
that we’ve made good progress, especially as regards the communication
onboard to make the manśuvres even more fluid.”
Nicolas Heintz, who had a ‘baptism of fire’ today aboard the Extreme 40
Edmond de Rothschild Group, gave us his initial impressions: “It’s really
fantastic to be in the thick of the action! I still need to develop a few
automatic reflexes to perform better, but overall it’s been a conclusive
introduction. I really enjoyed being on the water and I’m proud to be part
of this crew”. As an aside, the new recruit in the Gitana Team is very
familiar with the waters here in Sète having competed in his first
Match-Racing competitions here.
On a complicated race zone, characterised by some particularly unstable
conditions, the four sailors on Edmond de Rothschild Group didn’t have an
easy time of it, with the wind really grating the nerves of all the crews:
“It’s a hazardous race zone and one that isn’t always easy to read. As such
we constantly had to adapt to the wind shifts and other direction changes to
reindex in the running! This spices things up but it’s also testing for the
crew” explained the Gitana skipper before continuing: “This year the level
of the competitors is much of a muchness and from the outset we’ve been able
to see that there’s going to be some close contact racing on the water.”
Proof if need be that we’re in for some fantastic racing over the coming
days…
Tomorrow, Friday, the racing will continue and the first session will set
off from near the Saint-Louis jetty shortly after 1330 hrs.
Provisional ranking for the Grand Prix of Sète on 27th May (after 3 races)
1. Edmond de Rothschild Group (Yann Guichard) – 18 points
2. The Ocean Racing Club (Mitch Booth) - 16 points
3. Groupama 40 (Franck Cammas) - 15 points
4. The Wave, Muscat (Paul Campbell-James) - 15 points
5. Red Bull Extrême Sailing (Roman Hagara)- 14 points
6. Oman Sail Masirah (Loïck Peyron) - 13 points
7. Ecover Sailing Team (Mike Golding) - 9 points
8. Team GAC Pindar (Nick Moloney) - 6 points
The crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group
Yann Guichard - Skipper, helmsman
Pierre Pennec – indexsail trimmer
Hervé Cunningham – headsail trimmer
Nicolas Heintz – Bowman
Groupama
Committed to sailing for the past twelve years alongside Franck Cammas,
holder of the Jules Verne Trophy and now preparing for the next edition of
the Volvo Ocean Race, Groupama is also closely following his participation
in the Extreme 40 circuit for the second year running. The first event of
the 2010 season, the Sète stage, began today for the eight competing crews.
Three races were scheduled off the Saint Louis jetty, which marks the
entrance to the fishing port of Sète. Coloured by glorious sunshine and a
fine, if not always steady breeze, the Olympic champions and ocean racing
specialists like Hagara, Guichard, Booth, Cammas and Peyron had an absolute
ball on what were slightly longer courses than usual.
With three different race winners, in the form of Guichard, Booth and
Cammas, it’s clear that the level of the competitors is very uniform and
that every mistake has to be paid for in cash. As far as this little game
was concerned, the crew of Groupama 40 lost out big time on the first race,
dropping from second to sixth through an unfavourable wind shift of 60°:
“That’s the nature of the beast sometimes. There was nothing we could do
sadly, because you had to be behind to make the most of it” explained the
tactician on Groupama 40, Tanguy Cariou. However, in the little game of ‘who
loses wins’, Loïck Peyron suddenly found himself bumped up to within a boat
length of victory, despite previously being back in fifth position at the
previous mark, quite a long way behind the leader, Gitana.
During the next two races, the wind still wasn’t proving very regular, but
was probably easier to predict. Forced to rack their brains, the tacticians
nevertheless opted for opposite sides of the race zone with varying degrees
of success, as was the case for Gitana who finished last in Race 2 after
winning the first. More prudent, Groupama 40 favoured a course down the
middle of the race zone, which proved pretty successful: “We got off to some
good starts and sailed rather well. However, it’s only the first day with
three races contested and over twenty more to race. As such we’re going to
reindex concentrated and will take each race as it comes” concluded Tanguy
Cariou.
Winner of the third and final race of the day, the crew of Groupama 40 were
certainly satisfied with their performance, but they’re also very much aware
that with the short courses which are on tomorrow’s programme, the overall
ranking will change very quickly.
Third overall behind Guichard and Booth, Franck Cammas and his three crew
are right in the action, with the weather forecasts suggesting a slightly
less steady wind on Friday for the six to eight races scheduled from 1330
hours.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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