Sunday 2 October – 1900 hours
Extreme Sailing Series 2011
Nice Grand Prix (France) – Act 7
Nice treats the French crew on Edmond de Rothschild Group to a win
The Nice Grand Prix, an event synonymous with light airs, rounded off this
evening with victory going to the crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group. Pierre
Pennec and his three crew controlled the seventh act of the Extreme Sailing
Series 2011 to perfection. Putting up a very consistent performance
throughout the first four days of the competition, the men of Gitana Team
managed to leave Terry Hutchinson’s team in their wake despite an incredible
comeback by the American in the closing races. With this second victory, the
catamaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild has snatched back the
reins of the championship, a leadership which had been left in the hands of
the New Zealand team at the end of the Boston Grand Prix. After this seventh
act, Pierre Pennec and his three crew are ahead of the Italians on Luna
Rossa, whilst Dean Barker and his Kiwis complete the provisional podium for
the 2011 circuit.
A second win! Seven months after their victory in the Oman Grand Prix, which
opened the 2011 season of the Extreme Sailing Series, Pierre Pennec, Hervé
Cunningham, Thierry Fouchier and Christophe Espagnon have treated Edmond de
Rothschild Group to another success, and on the only French leg of the
circuit to boot: “It’s really a great pleasure to win here in Nice in front
of a French crowd, which has been behind us everyday”, said a smiling Hervé
Cunningham on the podium.
Once again, the Extreme Sailing Series fleet managed to keep up the suspense
all the way to the finish. When the sixth and final race of the day was run,
the equation was a simple one: with a three point lead over Terry Hutchinson
and his men, Pierre Pennec’s crew knew that they had two possibilities: to
either finish ahead of Artemis or, at worst, just astern of the Swedish
one-design. Indeed, tradition has it that in the last race of the Grand Prix
it’s double-point scoring. However, though the basic premise is clear, the
race itself was to see considerable jockeying for position since the two
boats battling for victory on the waters of Nice switched position with
every mark rounding. Pierre Pennec reviewed this breathtaking final: “At the
start we were neck and neck with Artemis. Terry Hutchinson proved to be
overly greedy and crossed the line early. At that point the atmosphere was
great as things looked good for us, but we reindexed focused. However, pretty
quickly we ourselves became disenchanted as one boat, which wasn’t a direct
rival of ours, decided to come and hound us and caused us to lose a lot of
ground. A team at the bottom of the overall ranking that bothers a
frontrunner… it’s always a shame when that happens!
After that, on rounding the leeward mark, we deemed ourselves to have been fouled by Red Bull, but
the jury decided otherwise and we were awarded a penalty. At that point, we
were behind Artemis so the crew mustered its efforts again and drew on the
cohesion which unites us because we were really keen to reindex in with a
chance until the last moment. On the line, we had the Swedes in our sights
and we crossed the latter just ten centimetres astern of them. The last
races are always incredibly intense as the principle of the double points
means you can’t afford to make a single mistake, especially when you’re so
close in terms of points. The crew exploded with elation once we crossed the
line. This victory is a great revenge match for us and it puts us back at
the top of the annual standing… what more could you ask for?”
For Cyril Dardashti, the general manager of Gitana Team, who followed the
racing from shore, the emotion was palpable: “This last day has really set
my nerves on edge! This morning, three races were run in fresh winds of
around ten knots. In these conditions the crew was incredible, winning two
races and finishing second in the third race. However, this afternoon the
winds were erratic which made the sailing difficult. We had to be patient
until the last race of the day and the tension was unbearable. In this race,
the crew copped a penalty and at that point victory seemed to be getting
away from us. However, their mindsets were very strong and they were able to
dig deep to cross the line just behind Artemis and thus win the Grand Prix
by one point! I’m extremely proud of this crew. Pierre and his men
experienced a few moments of doubt after the Cowes Grand Prix but they
recovered in Trapani and bounced back in the finest way possible today.
They’ve regained all the confidence and calm they’ll need to tackle the last
two meetings of the 2011 championship.”
At this Nice leg, the crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group was able to rely on
the expertise of a new element to the team. Indeed, Philippe Mourniac, a
highly skilled competitor with an Olympic Tornado background, supported
Pierre Pennec and his crew as coach during the five days of competition.
This collaboration has borne fruit and this evening the four sailors were
unanimous about the importance of having this outside observer at the event.
“Philippe Mourniac has been a real bonus. He’s provided us with a vast
amount of information on a strategic level and also as regards the
communication aboard the boat. He’s a well-rounded top-level athlete who has
a huge capacity for analysis. His angle on things has been precious and he
is certainly one of the protagonists in this victory” explained Pierre
Pennec. The conclusions were just as laudatory from bowman Hervé Cunningham:
“The four of us put our heads together to find someone to give us a new
outlook and enable us to find solutions and improve on mistakes which were
becoming a recurring theme. Philippe filled his role to perfection. His
presence enabled us to make progress and he is one of the keys to our
success in this Nice Grand Prix.”
The men of Edmond de Rothschild Group will only have a few days to savour
their fantastic victory on the waters of the South of France. Indeed, in a
week’s time, they’ll be heading to Andalusia to contest the eighth act of
the 2011 season. The latter will take place in Almeria from 12 to 16 October
2011.
The crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group
Pierre Pennec - Skipper / helmsman
Christophe Espagnon – indexsail trimmer
Thierry Fouchier – headsail trimmer
Hervé Cunningham - bowman
Ranking for the Nice Grand Prix (after 29 races)
1. Edmond de Rothschild Group (FRA) - 229 points
2. Artemis Racing (SWE) - 228 points
3. Alinghi (SUI) – 215,5 points
4. Luna Rossa (ITA) – 209 points
5. Oman Air (OMA) - 185 points
6. Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT) – 179.5 points
7. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZ) - 163 points
8. Team GAC Pindar (GBR) - 160 points
9. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) - 156 points
10. Team Extreme (EUR) - 119 points
11. Niceforyou (ITA) - 118 points
Ranking for the Extreme Sailing Series 2011 after seven Grands Prix
1. Edmond de Rothschild Group (FRA) – 61 points
2. Luna Rossa (ITA) – 59 points
3. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZ) – 54 points
4. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) – 52 points
5. Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT) – 49 points
6. Artemis Racing (SWE) – 48 points
7. Alinghi (SUI) – 48 points
8. Oman Air (OMA) – 38 points
9. Team GAC Pindar (GBR) – 21 points
10. Niceforyou (ITA) – 16 points
11. Team Extreme (EUR) – 15 points
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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