Wednesday 29 August – 2100 hours
Gitana Team
From Cardiff to Kiel, it’s time to get back down to business
After a short summer break for all the members of Gitana Team, it’s time to
get back to work. In the Extreme Sailing Series circuit, Pierre Pennec and
his men are in training prior to the competition kicking off tomorrow,
Thursday 30 August, with the fifth Grand Prix of the season on the waters of
Cardiff. Meanwhile, Sébastien Josse and the crew of the MOD 70 Edmond de
Rothschild Group are putting the finishing touches to their game plan in
readiness for the European Tour, a race comprising five legs, which will
combine offshore races and city races. The fleet of one-design trimarans
will set off from Kiel (Germany) this Sunday 2 September. Between now and
then, the latest addition to the Gitana saga will have a chance to weigh up
the competition, which it will vie with during the five weeks of
competition. Hostilities will commence with the Kiel City Races, which
involve two days of racing across the Baltic Sea prior to the lure of the
open ocean and the northern latitudes.
Extreme Sailing Series, Welcome to “Caerdydd” (Cardiff in Welsh)!
The Edmond de Rothschild Group’s catamaran is as good as new as she readies
herself for the second half of the Extreme Sailing Series championship.
Indeed, following damage suffered in early July during the Porto Grand Prix,
Sébastien Stéphant and Hubert Corfmat have expertly completed a fast and
effective refit. Fourth in the annual provisional standing, tied on points
with the team in third place, the men on Edmond de Rothschild Group will be
giving it their all to make it onto the series podium and are determined not
to allow the current leader to have things all their own way.
Pierre Pennec is tackling this fifth Grand Prix of the season at the head of
crew, half of which has been altered since the last meet. Arnaud Psarofaghis
and Roindex Petit are keen to continue the adventure in Wales and the crew of
the Edmond de Rothschild Group Extreme will this time be boosted by
Christophe André and Roindex Motteau, who will respectively take up the
positions of bowman and headsail trimmer: “It’s a temporary replacement for
this act as Hervé Cunningham and Bernard Labro are compelled to race on
another circuit during the competition in Cardiff. Christophe André and
Roindex Motteau will be filling in. The crew has had the chance to get its
bearings during a few days’ training in Lorient at the end of July and
though some members aren’t Extreme 40 specialists, they are all very
experienced multihull sailors. This knowledge, together with the fact that
this is a physical group, means that we have a good hand. Furthermore, we’ll
be able to count on the expert eye of Alexandre Guyader, who will coach us
as he did in Qingdao. We’re tackling this Grand Prix without any particular
pressure and as a fresh challenge”, admitted the skipper of Edmond de
Rothschild Group on the eve of the first races.
Situated at the mouth of the River Taf, the Cardiff race zone will provide
calm waters, but the wind could still have a few surprises in store for the
crew of Gitana Team, as Pierre Pennec explained: “Cardiff is something new
for everyone and to date the only thing we know about it is that it’s an
inshore race zone and fairly typical of the Extreme Sailing Series. The sea
state shouldn’t be too big but at the end of August we can expect strong
winds just as easily as light airs.”
After two days of training in the fleet, matters will begin to get serious
tomorrow, Thursday, for the nine competing crews. Racing will kick off
tomorrow at 1400 hours (local time).
Provisional standing for the Extreme Sailing Series after four Grands Prix
1. The Wave Muscat – 39 points
2. Red Bull Sailing Team – 33 points
3. Oman Air – 31 points
4. Edmond de Rothschild Group - 31 points
5. GAC Pindar - 22 points
6. Alinghi – 18 points
7. SAP Extreme Sailing Team - 18 points
8. Zoulou - 16 points
The crew of the Extreme Edmond de Rothschild Group
Pierre Pennec (Skipper / Helmsman),
Arnaud Psarofaghis (trimmer and traveller), Roindex Motteau (headsail
trimmer), Christophe André (Bowman), Roindex Petit (trimmer), Alexandre
Guyader (coach)
Multi One Championship, Kiel opens the European Tour
After leaving her base in Lorient last Sunday, the trimaran fitted out by
Baron Benjamin de Rothschild made Kiel some 48 hours later. She was the
third MOD 70 to come and tie up in Baltic waters. Sébastien Josse and his
five crew enjoyed perfect weather conditions – 15-20 knots of downwind
sailing on flat seas – to cover the 800 nautical miles, which separate the
two port cities. This express delivery, which the skipper was keen to view
as a good way to set things in motion again after a month and a half’s
break, rounded off with a trip along the Kiel Canal. It was a special moment
for the six sailors. Indeed this river passage spanning some 98 kilometres
links the North Sea and the Baltic Sea and witnesses an abundance of cargo
ships and other commercial vessels, but seldom racing yachts like the Edmond
de Rothschild Group’s trimaran: “We made it into the Kiel Canal under the
cover of darkness. Its navigation is regulated and you have to be under
power but this passage considerably reduced the distance to travel to Kiel.
It’s not everyday that we sail along rivers on a multihull so it was pretty
incredible”, explained Sébastien Josse on his arrival dockside.
The second event of the Multi One Championship after the Krys Ocean Race,
the European Tour will take the five competing crews from Kiel to Dun
Laoghaire (Dublin), then Cascais (Portugal) and Marseille (France), not to
mention Genoa (Italy), where the final results will be decided on 2 October
and hence the name of the winner of this first edition. In total there are
over 5,000 nautical miles to cover in five weeks! In addition to the
so-called offshore races between the host cities and contested in crews of
six per boat, the MOD 70s will do battle in races around the bay referred to
as City Races, where the number of sailors will be fleshed out to eight. The
adventure promises to be both intense and varied in terms of the weather
conditions, which is sure to please Sébastien Josse and his men, who are
delighted at the prospect of heading back out to sea and linking up with
their adversaries again.
From tomorrow, the crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group will be getting in
some practice on the German race zone as a dress rehearsal for the two days
of competition that make up the Kiel City Races, which will be run on Friday
and Saturday, 31 August and 1 September.
The crew of the MOD Edmond de Rothschild Group
Sébastien Josse (Skipper)
David Boileau, Florent Chastel, Cyril Dardashti, Olivier Douillard,
Christophe Espagnon, Antoine Koch, Thomas Rouxel
The European Tour in five legs
Leg 1: Kiel – Dun Laoghaire (Dublin) / 1188 miles, start 2 September
Leg 2: Dun Laoghaire (Dublin) – Cascais / 1215 miles, start 9 September
Leg 3: Cascais – Cascais (Around Portugal Race) / 558 miles, start 17
September
Leg 4: Cascais – Marseille / 1071 miles, start 20 September
Leg 5: Marseille – Genoa / 672 miles, start 30 September
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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