Tuesday 20 March – 0830 UTC
Multi One Championship 2012
Training as a threesome around the bay of Quiberon
Having returned from Agadir at the end of February, after an intensive month
and a half of training on Moroccan waters, Sébastien Josse and his crew on
the MOD Edmond de Rothschild Group are back on the campaign trail this
Monday. Indeed, throughout the week, the crew of the trimaran fitted out by
Baron Benjamin de Rothschild, is joining up with the one-designs Foncia and
Spindrift Racing in the bay of Quiberon, so as to continue its preparations
and finally see how it measures up against its future adversaries.
For the MOD 70, Edmond de Rothschild Group, winter training in the balmy
Moroccan climate has culminated in nearly 4,000 miles sailed and over 70
hours of inshore races. In order to respect the balance offered by the Multi
One Championship, the sailors from Gitana Team have been alternating between
sessions offshore and around the bay. For the offshore aspect, Sébastien and
his men have been able to familiarise themselves with the six-crew
configuration during the return delivery trip (1,200 miles each way), as
well as during the two training sessions in the area surrounding the
Canaries. In addition to the miles they’ve racked up, they’ve also been able
to get the hang of the watch systems during the past twelve nights at sea.
The round-the-cans races, which will be on the cards for the City Races on
the European Tour, have not been forgotten either, with over three weeks
devoted to the exercise, under the leadership of Tanguy Leglatin.
“This training session was something we needed as we had to get some
practical preparation under our belts so we could make up our deficit due to
the later delivery date for the boat. This was a speeded-up learning process
because the long days we spent sailing there helped us make double the
progress,” admitted Sébastien Josse at once. “The MOD 70s are still big
boats for six or eight crew, depending on the configuration of the races. As
such this trimaran calls for a great deal of coordination in order to drive
the boat to its full potential and that’s exactly what we worked on in
Agadir. The choice of location for this winter training, far from our port
of registry in Lorient, was dictated by a desire to find the optimum, mild
conditions for sailing during this period of the year. And we weren’t really
disappointed as we encountered all the different conditions we were after,
from light airs to storm winds… That enabled us to reach the majority of the
objectives we’d set ourselves. Perhaps the only drawback was the fact that
we only had a short period doing battle with another MOD as Véolia had to
leave early.”
The lack of adversaries which Edmond de Rothschild Group unfortunately
suffered during the weeks spent in Morocco, is something that Sébastien
Josse and his crew will be able to rectify over the coming days. Indeed,
during the scheduled training with the crews of Spindrift Racing and Foncia,
the men of Gitana Team will be able to pit themselves against one another,
judge their level and thus target the work they have left to accomplish
before the first of the season’s major race meets.
Though the experience gained during the training session in Morocco echoed
technique in its purest sense, in this six-week ‘immersion’ period it was
also the skipper’s intention that it would consolidate the group which will
accompany him in the various races over the course of 2012. The human
objective has been reached as Sébastien Josse explains: “In Agadir, I was
really struck by everyone’s availability, whether it be the sailors or the
members of the shore crew: they’re people who are motivated and happy to
give 200% to this project. We had some long, intense working days, but
everyone gave their all. This group suits me to a T and I’m eager to get to
the start lines alongside my crew.” The odds are that these group dynamics,
created by the men of Gitana Team, will be a considerable asset in the races
which await Sébastien Josse and his crew.
The racing season will officially kick-off with the Tour de Belle-Ile on 28
April 2012 and the one-design in the colours of Edmond de Rothschild Group
will be attempting to improve on the time set last year by… Gitana 11.
In the meantime, the MOD No.4 will head back to her technical base in
Lorient for a few weeks so as the team can carry out a thorough check of the
rig, the hydraulics, as well as the deck hardware.
The 2012 programme for the MOD Edmond de Rothschild Group
- Tour de Belle-Ile: 28 April
- Grand Prix de Douarnenez Guyader: From 3 to 6 May
- ArMen Race: From 18 to 21 May
- Trophée SNSM: from 1 to 3 June
- Krys Ocean Race (Crewed transatlantic race): start on 7 July from
New York – estimated arrival in Brest on 14 July
- European Tour (Crewed tour of Europe): start in Kiel (Germany) on
2 September
Discover all the latest news about Gitana Team at www.gitana-team.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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