Monday 19th April 2010
Vendée - St. Petersburg
An event at the heart of the 2010 France - Russia Year
Einführung zu St.Petersburg
In the end there will be nine crews lining up at the start of the first edition of the Vendée - Saint-Petersburg, as the former Crêpes Whaou ! 2 will also be taking part. Nine crews in all taking part in this completely new sporting event, a symbol of the desire of the 2010 France - Russia Year to go much further than simply developing a friendly relationship between the two nations.
The goals of this 2010 France - Russia Year are to restore and build on the historic links between Russia and France, and to set up cultural, scientific, economic and sports projects together. Among the stand out initiatives, there is the Holy Russia Exhibition at the Louvre in Paris, the celebration of Russian and French literature at the Etonnants Voyageurs festival and the launch of the Soyuz spacecraft, the result of a joint collaboration between scientists in the two countries.
The Vendée - St. Petersburg fits perfectly into this context, as the brand new route for the race not only links for the first time the French department, which is so proud of its maritime heritage, with Russia's largest port, but it will also offer an opportunity to engage in wider discussions. Looking beyond the race aspects, the Vendée - St. Petersburg will also be an occasion to expose various facets of the cultural and social life of both ports. A Russian village in Saint-Gilles Croix-de-Vie, an exhibition on Vendée at the foot of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. The race will offer an opportunity to establish promising economic partnerships, as several dozen business leaders from Vendée will be accompanying the organisers to Russia.
A new crew and a change of name
After a promising Transat Jacques Vabre, where they finished in second place, LoïcFéquet and VictorienErussard found themselves on the quayside for the Vendée - St. Petersburg. Things worked out perfectly with their fellow citizen from St. Malo, as Bertrand Chambert-Loir, head of sponsoring for Crêpes Whaou, decided to offer the two young sailors the possibility of taking over Franck-Yves Escoffier's former boat. They will be accompanied by Mathieu Souben, one of the rising stars of multihull racing. This means that the firm will have two trimarans in their livery in this race.
The crew of Gamin has found a new set of partners. The boat will be called "La merrévèlenossens", carrying a message that the partners wish to spread concerning the protection of the oceans. Gamin is in fact none other than Franck-Yves Escoffier's first trimaran. So, three of the boats lining up at the start will have been at one time or another sailed by the sailor from St. Malo. We can well imagine that Franck-Yves will have some good advice to give on the pontoons in Saint-Gilles Croix-de-Vie.
- Number taking part: 9 crews, FY Escoffier, Y Le Blévec, E Le Roux, H Cléris, A Caseneuve, L Roucayrol, P Laperche, E Hochédé, L Féquet.
- Crewed race for three, with the possibility of changing crew in Saint-Petersburg.
- Start on 16th May 2010 from Saint Gilles Croix-de-Vie: finish expected in Saint-Petersburg around 23rd-24th May 2010.
- Start from Saint-Petersburg on 31st May 2010: finish expected in Saint Gilles Croix-de-Vie around 6th - 7th June 2010.
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