Yann Guichard and The Spindrift Racing Crew celebrate inagural win on the MOD70 Championship (Photo by Lloyd Images)
Yann Guichard and Léo Lucet appreciate the results all the more because a year and a half ago, the Spindrift racing project was a sporting, technical and logistical idea jotted down on a blank sheet of paper. The boat is solid and reliable, the technical team is competent and expert, and the pure talent of the heavyweight sailing team are the ingredients of certain success. The sleek black and white trimaran showed its mettle throughout the different exercises, from the transatlantic race to the long coastal races, through speed runs and inshore courses. Léo Lucet, executive director of Spindrift racing and Yann Guichard are more than satisfied with this resoundingly successful entry into a class that they sincerely hope will develop and grow internationally.
Victors of two of the five legs, two City Race victories, Speed Match victories and bonus points at the departure of each leg, as well as a New York-Brest transatlantic crossing that was achieved in a record time… the whole team on sea and land can be complimented on a remarkable job. “The human aspect of the project is amazing,” states Yann Guichard. “It was a collective adventure, gathering together competencies on the water and logistical talent on land, and it all worked according to the high standards I set. No individual egos or guest stars in this group. I have built a story with people who are engaged and committed to the project, who share my drive and motivation and way of working.”
The program for this first MOD70 season was ambitious, with the Krys Ocean Race and the European tour, made to measure for the international potential of a new class of boats that must seduce a host of new partners. “This format is fantastic,” claims Léo Lucet. “It’s an exceptional international communications tool which worked wonderfully in New York and at every European tour city stopover. VIPs and journalists alike were able to sail with us, and the general public, a stone’s throw away from the boats, really enjoyed the show. The objective, which we reached, was to make the discipline spectacular to demonstrate the excellent visibility it offers to sponsors and partners.”
“It was a real sporting pleasure,” adds Guichard. “Exhausting, demanding – exactly what we, sailors, want.” Guichard, Lucet and the whole sailing team on the black and white catamaran, Pascal Bidégorry, Yann Eliès, Erwan Tabarly, Jacques Guichard, Sébastien Marsset, Jean-Baptiste Levaillant, Devan Le Bihan, Thierry Douillard, Kévin Escoffier, Christophe André, Frédéric Brousse, Nicolas Charbonnier as well as the team on land, Philippe Echassoux, Tim Carrie, Florent Le Gal, Nicolas Débordès and Astrid van den Hove rose to the 2012 challenge.
With its solid team, proven knowhow and indisputable talent on the water, Spindrift racing has climbed the charts in record time. The most immediate next challenge for the young company is to find a partner for MOD70 Nr 05, in order to share strong and motivating values. “Given our results, our media successes and the public’s enthusiasm for this new class, we hope to succeed in this too,” comments an optimistic Guichard.
The five trimarans all finished the races brilliantly, with no more serious incidents than the usual encounters with unidentified floating objects. This year Spindrift racing will have sailed some 15,000 miles, with an astounding mean speed of 28 knots last summer. No small feat and quite a reference in terms of dependability.
“We still aim to progress further”, concludes Guichard, “in all areas – sports, technical, human. We are optimistically and impatiently looking forward to 2013.”
Spindrift Racing in Newport (photo by George Bekris)
General classification Multi One Championship 2012
1 – Spindrift racing EUR (Yann Guichard, FRA)
2 – FONCIA, FRA, (Michel Desjoyeaux, FRA)
3 – Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, FRA (Sébastien Josse, FRA)
4 – Race For Water, SUI (Stève Ravussin, SUI)
5 – Musandam, Oman Sail OMA (Sidney Gavignet FRA)
Rank Krys Ocean Race 2012
1- Spindrift racing (Yann Guichard)
2- Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse)
3- FONCIA (Michel Desjoyeaux)
4- Musandam, Oman Sail (Sidney Gavignet) a
5- Race For Water (Steve Ravussin)
Rank MOD70 European Tour 2012
1- FONCIA avec 284 points
2- Spindrift racing avec 282 points
3- Race For Water avec 244 points
4- Musandam-Oman Sail avec 242 points
5- Groupe Edmond de Rothschild avec 228 points
MOD70 2012 Speed Trials in NYC (Photo by George Bekris)
 Sidney Gavignet and Musandam Crew Celebrate 3 Wins (Photo by Ricardo Pinto / S.A.MOD70) |
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| Musandam-Oman Sail, skippered by Sidney Gavignet with his international crew became the third different team to win City Race series in successive stops of the MOD70 European Tour when they triumphed in the sixth race in Cascais, Portugal. | |||
| Musandam-Oman Sail won three of the six races sailed over three days, almost all in light breeze, which proved somewhat contrary to Cascais reputation for reliable strong winds. Smarting after losing second place to FONCIA in the final half mile to the finish of the offshore stage from Dun Laoghaire at dawn in very light airs early on Wednesday morning, Gavignet and his crew realised then they had a small deficit in speed to Michel Desjoyeaux’s crew. They made changes accordingly and, aligned to steady starting and some strong tactics from Jean Francois Cuzon, have remained very consistent, complementing their three wins with two thirds and a fifth to win ahead of Yann Guichard’s Spindrift racing.
Musandam-Oman Sail collect 12 precious points in the chase for the MOD70 European Tour while second place for Spindrift racing ensures they increase their overall lead in the general classification. Race 5 Spindrift racing and FONCIA chose to stay closer to the Cascais shore where they found some localised acceleration of the wind and were able to round the top mark in first and second. With the breeze fading and developing big holes, although the MOD70′s moved with impressive efficiency in the light winds, Race Direction chose to halt the race after one round of the triangle course. This time the triangle course was upwind-downwind as opposed to the downwind-upwind format of yesterday and Friday. Race 6 Three boats were called over the start line early, FONCIA, Race for Water and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild. Musandam-Oman Sail emerged from with the lead and were able to stay ahead around the two lap course. Race for Water restarted smartly and made a smart good recovery at the top end of the first windward leg. In the end they were able to push Musandam-Oman Sail hard at the finish line. Results after six City Races MOD70 European Tour Standings. After two offshore stages and three City Race series. Sidney Gavignet, FRA skipper Musandam-Oman Sail (OMA): “ We are happy, we won three races from six which is pretty good. It is great, just great. What is good is that we just work on making progress and we did not need to make big progress, but to just keeping making progress step by step all the time wherever you start from and we started pretty low. We lost crew on the first race in Kiel. We broke the daggerboard in Dublin, so we were starting from quite low, and had some problems. But we kept working. We kept the positive spirit and little by little we get more cards to play the game with. What we learned here, if we had those two cards on the way in, we would have been second from Dublin. One is easy we could not pass the battens across in the light winds and the other is speed with the gennaker. So for sure we are making progress and growing in confidence and that affects the others who lose in confidence, we need to keep progressing. General Results Latest Audios Latest Videos Latest Photos For media: all content (video, photo and audio bites) are available for download in the press area: |
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Oman Sail and Foncia MOD 70s (Photo by Barry James Wilson)
Winds averaging 15 knots, with some stronger gusts, provided ideal conditions for competitors at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week and for a record-breaking circuit of the Isle of Wight.
The start for the SB20 (formerly SB3) class was in relatively light winds, but the fleet encountered big gusts and lulls only a few hundred metres to the west. After the start it was the overall leader, Jerry Hill’s sportsboatworld.com, and Mark Devereux’s Tobias that emerged from the pack first, with the boats closest to shore Boysterous of Wembley and Paul Wood’s Ausis One also looking well placed.
Hill, a length ahead of the fleet, was the first to sail into the stronger pressure, accelerating a useful few lengths clear. However, it was Colin Simonds’ Doolalli, sailing with a family crew, that played the gusts and lulls to perfection. Four minutes after the start he was in a commanding position, a nose ahead and two or three lengths to windward of Hill.
With the wind increasing during the day, the class enjoyed some super-fast downwind legs, planing at speeds into the mid to upper teens. With Simonds having been forced to retire, on the long final run to the finish, the contest at the front of the fleet was between sportsboatworld.com and Space Docker, the second-placed boat overall.
The lead changed several times as the pair gybed downwind, staying as close to the shore as possible to escape the strongest of the adverse tide and delighting spectators on the Green. At the finish they were only nine seconds apart, with Sportsboatworld.com taking the winning cannon, nine seconds ahead. It was to be another eight minutes before the next boat, Dave and Zorana Bull’s Australian entry Jester 3, finished.
Record breaking
The Artemis Challenge at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week started heading west from the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) line, with two IMOCA 60 monohulls and two giant MOD70 one-design trimarans racing anti-clockwise around the Isle of Wight.
Cowes Barry James Wilson
Michel Desjoyeaux’s Foncia and Mike Golding’s Gamesa were side by side at the gun, with both boats in the other team, Artemis Ocean Racing and Oman Sail, four to five lengths behind. The two IMOCA 60s had reefed mainsails, looking very under powered in the lee of the hill behind the RYS, but well heeled as they emerged into clearer wind and the stronger gusts.
Foncia at Cowes 2012 (Photo by Barry James Wilson)
Just before 1220 the giant rig of Foncia appeared from behind the headland at East Cowes and came storming past the RYS, flying two hulls, on the completion of her circuit of the Isle of Wight. Oman Sail was about one-third of a mile behind and finished 88 seconds later. Despite having to tack several times on the first leg to the Needles, both were more than 10 minutes inside the record time set by Playstation 11 years ago. Foncia’s new record stands at 2 hours, 21 minutes, 25 seconds.
Oman Sail at Cowes 2012 (Photo by Barry James Wilson )
Playing it safe
By the time of the later White Group starts, the ebb tide was running fast, with many competitors struggling to stay the correct side of the line. Tom Holbrook, Ed Glanville and Angus Mayhew’s Mermaid Naomi was one such casualty, but Chris Cotterell and Will Caws’ Adastra approached from behind with speed to make the best start at outer end of the line. However, it was the boats inshore Anthony Eaton’s Dragonfly and Kate Broxham’s Miranda that came out ahead, with Dragonfly to windward and with more speed building a big early lead.
Eaton retained this at the finish, but by the tightest of margins? three further boats finished within the following 36 seconds. Next was Terry and Matthew Kavanagh’s Scuttle, just one second ahead of Charles Glanville’s Rosemary. A few lengths later John Edwards’ Zara crossed the line to take fourth.
The next start was for the Victory class, with everyone staying well back from the line and almost every boat still pointing away from the first mark with only 20 seconds to go. Delphine Freeman and Andrew Terry’s Minx appeared to be best placed at the gun, but again it was the boats closest inshore Mark Dennington’s Ziva and Graham Stone’s Unity ? that came to the fore a few minutes after the start.
Unity sailed low and fast to come out just ahead of the main pack, while Ziva stayed high, building a considerable windward advantage. At the finish she was five and a half minutes ahead of Geoff and Sarah Dixon, Maxine Reeves and Hugh Winter’s Zelia, giving Dennington an unbroken run of first places this week. Kim and Sally Taylor’s Zest finished third, only six seconds behind Zelia.
A big win
The 83-strong XOD fleet started on a longer line than the other classes, with a bias that favoured the offshore end a little more strongly than the fixed line used for earlier classes. As with the Victorys, every skipper took a very conservative approach to the start with one minute to go all but a handful of boats were still pointing away from the line, with many as much as 200-300 metres away. When the line was called all clear at the start, a cheer went up on the RYS platform.
Jeremy Lear, John Tremlett, Richard Bullock and Richard Jord’s Lass started mid-line on starboard, tacking offshore onto port at the start, two and a half lengths astern of Alastair and Jackie Ashford and Richard Neall’s Foxglove, but ahead and to windward of Ado Jardine’s Lucrezia. Jardine’s brother Stuart’s Lone Star also looked good further inshore, while closest to shore were the two boats leading the fleet after the first four races: Steve & Peter Lawrence and Paddy Smart’s Catherine and Andy Shaw’s Phoenix, the latter a little to windward but two lengths further back.
After a couple of minutes, Foxglove emerged at the head of the fleet, but gradually fell back, with the advantage passing to Lass. There were many sharp gusts at this stage, with boats only a few lengths apart alternately heeling sharply and depowering in gusts at the same time as their neighbours were standing upright in a lull.
The inshore boats that had the benefit of relatively flat water, even though they were in a weaker tidal stream, again did well. Paul Kelsey’s Anitra was the first of the leaders to tack on to starboard, off Egypt Point, passing astern of Lass and Phoenix, but forcing Catherine into an expensive short tack inshore. Lass was able to continue to extend her lead, keeping out of the many close tussles between the boats in her wake, finishing more than three and a half minutes clear of the rest of the fleet. Fraser Graham and Tim Copsey’s Astralita just secured second place, three seconds ahead of Willy McNeill and Ted Tredrea’s Lara.
Catherine finished twenty seconds later to take fourth, a sufficiently good result to retain her place at the top of the leaderboard, three points ahead of Lass. With only four points separating the top three boats in this big fleet, the final two days of the regatta promises the most exciting racing to be found in any fleet.
Early winners
Black Group yachts starting off the RYS headed to the east, with many boats hoisting spinnakers. Pavlova lll was first to go for the spinnaker at the start of the Sigma 38 class, with a very smooth hoist. However, Kevin Sussmilch’s Mefisto came out well and went on to win today’s race by a margin of more than four minutes over Pavlova lll.
Having now notched up three firsts and three second places, Sussmilch wins the class overall with a day to spare. Similarly, a fourth place today for Chris and Vanessa Choules With Alacrity was enough to secure second place overall, with total of 19 points. However, there?s still a tight battle for third place overall, with six boats in contention and separated by only a handful of points once the discard is applied.
Two other Black Group classes now have both first and second places sewn up. In the Contessa 32, where Ray Rouse’s Blanco has a total of eight points and Eldred Himsworth’s Drumbeat 11. A fifth win for Jonathan Calascione and Jonny Goodwin’s J/109 Harlequin puts them in an unassailable position at the head of the class?s overall standings, while a fifth place for Christopher Sharples and Richard Acland’s Jolene ll was sufficient to secure second overall. However, half a dozen boats are still in contention for third.
In IRC Class 0 a first place today for Peter Cunningham’s TP52 Powerplay his fourth of the week seals his overall victory. In the normally very competitive First 40.7 fleet, Calvin Reed’s Elandra won a sixth successive race, to win the class with a day to spare. There is, however, still intense competition for second and third places overall.
In IRC Class 3 Bernard Olesinski’s X-40 Xinska won her fifth race of the week to secure class victory with a day spare, while a third place did the same for Grant Gordon’s J/97 Fever Glenfiddich in IRC Class 5.
Today was also the regatta’s Ladies Day, with the trophy this year awarded to Annie O’Sullivan of Girls for Sail in recognition of her selfless contribution to women in sailing.
Report by Rupert Holmes
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Spindrift Wins KRYS by (Th. Martinez /Sea & Co/ MOD 70)
| Yann Guichard and his crew of five crossed the finish line on Thursday July 12 at 12hrs 08m 37s UTC (14hrs 08m 37s) to take overall victory in the inaugural KRYS OCEAN RACE transatlantic race in an elapsed time four days 21 hours 08 minutes 37s, an average of 25.03 kts on this 2950 miles race course. |
| In this first ocean race for the new MOD70 one design multihull class, Spindrift racing finished about an hour and a half ahead of Sébastien Josse’s Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and FONCIA, who were about a quarter of an hour behind second, after a great race across the Atlantic from New York to Brest in winds which is rarely dropped below twenty knots …This is the first great ocean racing victory for Yann Guichard. At 38, this former Olympic Tornado catamaran sailor, who finished fourth in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, has amassed considerable multihull experience offshore with Marc Guillemot, Bruno Peyron and Franck Cammas, racing solo across the Atlantic in 2010, but also on the Swiss lakes in the D35 and M-2 multihulls. He has also raced inshore as helm in the America’s Cup World Series and the Extreme 40 series. Launched in January this year, Spindrift racing is MOD70 hull number 5, and has been taken on by his crew, which includes Pascal Bidégorry, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, Jacques Guichard, Leo Lucet and Kevin Escoffier. Bidégorry, Escoffier and Le Vaillant are among those who set the existing outright Atlantic record in 2009. Spindrift racing sailed an actual 3284 miles on the water at an average of 28.04 knots. |
 Spindrift Bow by George Bekris |
| For the leaders of the KRYS OCEAN RACE the frontal system that they have ridden since Saturday night continues to prove the gift, which keeps on giving. |
| Before leaving New York, initial predictions suggested that the five MOD70’s would benefit for at least three to four days, but as the leaders now contemplate negotiating the north east side of the Azores high pressure system, it now seems likely they will have every chance of curving progressively towards Ireland, the Scillies gate and then to the finish line in Brest with hardly any reduction in speed.Sébastien Col, tactician and helm from FONCIA, even suggested today that the most favourable weather files had them reaching the finish with no gybes.With the S-SW’ly winds still hitting over 30kts this afternoon, their fourth since leaving Manhattan, the speeds of the three leading MOD70’s continue to be impressive. Spindrift racing have clocked up another day of more than 700 miles on the mid afternoon rankings, holding their average speed just under 30kts.So far Spindrift racing’s remarkable 711.9 miles sailed over 24 hours, set Monday, is the highest run yet.Yann Guichard and his team, which has lead since Sunday night, still managed to increase their margin on the chasing duo today. With around 1300 miles to sail to the finish, Spindrift racing was holding an advance of 50 miles this afternoon ahead of Seb Josse and crew on Groupe Edmond de Rothschild with FONCIA 13 miles behind them in third.Foncia’s Sébastien Col told the live radio call today that their best option should present itself as they pass over the Azores high pressure system. Depending on its evolution as the more southerly boat of the leading trio, FONCIA may find a better, reaching angle sooner whilst their two opponents may find themselves slowed, on a more downwind, open angle.
But patience has, to some extent, been part of the FONCIA strategy, Col acknowledging on today’s radio vacation with KRYS OCEAN RACE HQ in Brest, that both Spindrift racing and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild have continued with better wind strength and angle. Col said: “ We are slightly slower than them and just have to try to sail the boat as fast as we can. With this little disadvantage we try to cross the high pressure not too far behind these two guys, and then try to catch places after.” The mood remains stoic, mostly upbeat on fourth placed Musandam-Oman Sail. They have adapted well to their compromised predicament, managing to replace their damaged port foil with the starboard one, a delicate manoeuvre in 25-30kts of wind which required all the strength of three crew plus one helping the lift on a halyard. Though they had tried to sail without a foil, they had found the boat liable to nosediving. But in their new configuration they were making a decent 26 knots average this afternoon, but were some 122 miles behind FONCIA. The leading boats are expected Friday, spearing right into the first day of the massive Tonneres de Brest maritime festival. The 20th anniversary international gathering of mariners and craft of all shapes and sizes is expected to attract somewhere around 800,000 visitors to Brest’s seven kilometres of waterfront festivities and runs 13th to 19th July. Quotes: Sébastien Col, FONCIA, tactician, trimmer, helm: “Today FONCIA is sailing just above Spindrift and Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, our target is the waypoint to the north of the high pressure which we will reach in approximately 24 hours. We are sailing a little slower than Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and Spindrift because we are a bit more south than them and have a little bit less wind and they have a better angle and so that means we are slightly slower than them so just have to try to sail the boat as fast as we can. With this little disadvantage we try to cross the high pressure not too far behind these two guys, and then will try to catch places after. We are targeting only one gybe to approach the Scilly Islands. One of the best routages we have actually shows that we have no gybes, and so that even suggests it will be very fast for the end of the race.” Ryan Breymaier, No 1, Musandam-Oman Sail: “We are going well at the moment – pretty much full speed. When the foil failed, we had to take it out because there was a lot of turbulence and drag and the boat was very slow – about 22 knots – though when it came out completely, the bow dug in a lot so we had to reduce sail. We didn’t feel comfortable trying to change the foil from one side to the other during the night but now we have the foil from the starboard side on the port side, which makes things normal again. The guys are getting tired as it weighs 100kgs and takes three crew plus one on the halyard every time we change it over, but hopefully we will only have to do it twice more during the race.” Latest photos: Latest videos: Latest audio files: |
The KRYS Ocean Race Start (Photo by Lloyd Images)
The Omanis on board Oman’s flagship, the Multi One Design 70, Musandam-Oman Sail made history today when they crossed the Krys Ocean Race start line in New York to race across the Atlantic to Brest, France.
Mohsin Al Busadi (Photo by George Bekris)
The 70ft trimaran was first off the dock this morning and emotions were running high: “I am ready and very, very proud!” said Mohsin Al Busaidi, who was the first Arab to sail around the world. “It’s the first time an Omani boat with Omani crew has raced across the Atlantic and I am proud that Fahad and I are representing our country onboard and hope that in the future we will have more and more Omanis sailing with us.”
Major General (Retired) Albert Whitley, Oman Sail executive director, was in New York to watch the start in Manhattan: “It’s a remarkable day for Oman, a great day for the crew and a great day for the youngsters of Oman looking at this. The Omanis on board are transforming themselves from being extremely competent seamen to being offshore racers. We are in a fleet of five evenly matched boats and are competing against some of the best in the world – what could be better?” He added: “We have three priorities: to get the crew safely to Brest, to get the boat safely to Brest and to do as well as we can. I am very proud of them.”
Sidney Gavignet, Albert Whitley, Mohsin Al Busaidi and Fahad Al Hasni (Photo by George Bekris)
French skipper Sidney Gavignet’s multinational crew includes the fastest man around the world Brian Thompson (GBR), who is 2nd in command and will also be the media man onboard: “This is a very challenging fleet to race against, we will be focussing on getting across safely and sailing well, we’ll be trying to get a good result in Brest,” he said.
Brian Thompson (Photo by George Bekris)
There were no points on offer in the prologue race and New York Speed Match this week, but the 3,342 nm transatlantic race offers the first chance for the five crews on board their high speed trimarans to race for points and steal a march on opponents ahead of the rest of the MOD70 programme.
“It’s quite special to be skippering Musandam-Oman Sail on its first Atlantic race, the fleet is tough, the competition will be high, but I am proud to be leading the team on board in what is the Omani’s first major offshore race and our first proper adventure together,” said Sidney Gavignet (FRA), skipper.
Ryan Breymaier by George Bekris
As the only American in the fleet, Ryan Breymaier from Maryland said: “It’s pretty exciting for me to have the opportunity to represent my country on board such a multinational boat as this one with French, British and Omani sailors. The weather is looking good for the crossing, which should get us over pretty quickly which is always a good thing! Starting a boat race under the skyscrapers of Manhattan is pretty impressive.”
The five-strong MOD70 fleet crossed the start line positioned beneath the Statue of Liberty shortly after 1100.
Musandam-Oman Sail MOD 70 race crew
- Sidney Gavignet (FRA)
- Mohsin Al Busaidi (OMA)
- Fahad Al Hasni (OMA)
- Brian Thompson (GBR)
- Jeff Cuzon (FRA)
- Ryan Breymaier (USA) (stand-in for Loik Gallon (FRA), who is injured)
Omani Team by George Bekris
Spindrift Bow by George Bekris
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Oman Sail and Newport Bridge prior to the Prologue Start (Photo by George Bekris)
There may be no Multi One Championship points at stake for the MOD70’s when they bid farewell to Newport RI late this Monday afternoon and head to New York, but all of the five skippers confirmed this morning that that the memorable experience of arriving in to New York under sail would be made sweetest by leading across the finish line tomorrow.
It is the first time that all five MOD70’s will line up in anger against each other and the crews will be supplemented by a number of media guests who have front row seats for this first initial skirmish.
Race For Water and Foncia at Newport Pologue Race Start (Photo by George Bekris)
The start on Narrangansett Bay off Newport is at 1700 hrs (local) where the fleet make a short, two leg opening gambit before leaving on the short, most direct of the three course options.
Course A takes them out to a turn SW at Block Island, then the course runs parallel to Long Island to a finish line just shy of the Verrazano Narrows bridge. That makes a course distance of around 150 miles. After the boats finish they will regroup and make a sail past the Statue of Liberty and up to the North Cove Marina.
Foncia and Spindrift at Prologue Start (Photo by Goerge Bekris)
The first boats should reach the finish line between 1000 hrs and 1100 hrs local time (1500 to 1600 hrs GMT) Tuesday morning. Though it is something of a delivery trip, a dress rehearsal which serves the purpose of getting the fleet to the start city for the KRYS OCEAN RACE, all of the teams will be pushing hard to be there first.
“We will be in full race mode.” FONCIA’s skipper Michel Desjoyeaux said this morning. “Though it is not a part of the classification for us all, it will be one more training race for us. And we want to show that we are in a good racing shape for the boat and for the crew. I think we will have medium winds and a light finish. I have never ever arrived in New York by sail and so it will be nice to sail past the Statue de la Liberté and I am looking forwards to that”
Oman Sail Crew (Photo by George Bekris).
Desjoyeaux and his Foncia crew will be joined by CNN MainSail’s presenter, double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson for the passage to New York. Among the other media guests who will enjoy the unique race are Sailing World’s Stuart Streuli on Musandam-Oman Sail, Sail magazine’s Adam Cort on Race for Water, Chris Museler from the New York Times and Jeniece Pettit from Bloomberg News on Groupe Edmond de Rothschild.
Quotes
Sidney Gavignet, skipper, MOD 70 Musandam-Oman Sail; “There will be a full moon which is always great, it is nice to have some light. Everything is easier. Otherwise for us it is useful after a week of non sailing just to get all the team into racing mode again. It maybe does not count but we take it very, very seriously as a set up for the race. So we will be out early. We are very happy. And for our Omani’s it will be fantastic to arrive in New York for their first time ever, by sea. I arrived many years ago on La Poste from Puerto Rico and it is a magical memory.”
Oman Sail at start of the KRYS Prologue Race (Photo by George Bekris)
Sébastien Josse, skipper, MOD 70 Groupe Edmond de Rothschild: “What is important is next Saturday, but it is good to leave here and do some offshore sailing with our team. If we are there first that is great for us, but if we are last it is no big deal.”
Stève Ravussin, skipper of MOD70 Race For Water: “A prologue is a prologue but everyone will be going for it. It will be a short course but it is useful before the start of a Transat! This trial run will allow us aboard Race For Water to get just a little more experience and refine the work cohesion on board because we have not sailed so much together. But we are happy to be going racing and see the dividend for all of our hard work.”
Spindrift at Prologue Start by George Bekris
Leo Lucet, crew of MOD70 Spindrift racing: “For our young team which is racing Spindrift, the KRYS OCEAN RACE is really a trial run at all levels. The MOD70 Spindrift racing is a brand new boat, Yann has put the crew together from scratch and we have had some training and the delivery passage here to the United States. This will be a first race for our team. So we go with great humility but we are cool about it.”
www.krys-oceanrace.com
Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Photo by George Bekris)
2nd July 2012: Prologue Start – Newport
3rd July 2012: Prologue Arrival – New York
5th July 2012: New York Speed Match
Mid-July 2012: Launch of MOD
PAPREC-VIRBAC 70
7th July 2012
KRYS OCEAN RACE
OFFICIAL START, N.Y.C
Spindrift by Rose Island Lighthouse (Photo by George Bekris)
