|
Dragon Grand Prix Guyader 2012 - Douarnenez, 28.04.-05.Mai 2012
www.grandprixguyader.com - Übersicht
27th April 2012
A look at how training is going before Douarnenez
Description : SAFRAN270412Marc Guillemot has already carried out two major
training sessions since the Safran monohull was relaunched, and they will be
back racing again this weekend in Douarnenez. At the Guyader Grand Prix, two
top names will be joining the crew: Karine Fauconnier and Pascal Bidégorry.
The skipper of Safran looks at the what has been going on.
Safran has already clocked up more than 1200 miles in just this month of
April, or in other words the equivalent of four crossings of the Bay of
Biscay. Marc began by sailing what was effectively 500 miles of solo sailing
in the company of Pierre Bourcier, before being completely alone for 720
miles last week, when he set off from La Trinité-sur-Mer to head to a
virtual waypoint a hundred miles north-west of Ushant. This sailing was
certainly very instructive....
Marc, how do you judge these first trips on the 2012 version of Safran?
"Overall it has been very positive, as I managed to test everything I set
out to test and found a few little things to fine tune aboard the boat.
During the first trip with Pierre, we did a lot of work on the autopilots.
On the second, I was forced to shorten it slightly: I turned back a hundred
miles or so north of Ushant, because of a hum coming from the rig, which was
an unbearable sound throughout the boat. Imagine if you were inside a crazy
rock guitarist’s instrument. So I turned around and we have already examined
the phenomenon and found out how to cure it with the help of experts in
vibration frequencies. This is exactly the sort of thing these trips are
useful for."
“On schedule”
Given the low-pressure patterns, which continue to prevail over the West of
France at the moment, you must have encountered conditions similar to those
of the Vendée Globe?
"Exactly! It was also our aim to head out into some strong winds and heavy
seas: I certainly got that. It was fairly strong off Penmarc’h Point (SW tip
of Brittany with seas that were particularly choppy and with winds averaging
35 knots, sailing upwind meant the boat was really slamming. There was a lot
of strain on the rig and I was therefore able to confirm its reliability.
During these two trips, I was also able to test the instruments and also all
the sail configurations. It was really interesting. That is why I chose
those routes at those times. It allowed me to get as close as possible to
solo racing conditions. I have given myself a long checklist with things to
look at around the boat between now and June and for the moment, I’m right
on schedule."
The programme for the Douarnenez Guayder Grand Prix looks quite tough for
the IMOCA boats... Who will be in the crew on Safran and what are your
goals?
"Yes, we’ll be delivering the boat on Friday and sailing the next day and
throughout next week, except on Wednesday, which is a day off. There will be
coastal races during the first weekend and we will finish with the
traditional speed runs in the bay on the second weekend. There will be eight
of us on board: Loïc Lingois, Pascal Bidégorry, César Dohy, Sébastien
Audigane, Alexandre Marmorat, Karine Fauconnier, Vincent Busnel and me. As
at the start of all our races with Safran, the goal will be to win. But
above all, it will allow us to see how we measure up against the other IMOCA
boats like Macif, Banque Populaire and PRB. This is also bound to be very
interesting."
|
|
|