La Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale http://www.routedurhum.com
PRESS RELEASE of 11/15/2010
Third place
Marc Guillemot took third place in this ninth edition of the Route du
Rhum-La Banque Postale thanks to a daring option in the final stretch around
the island of Guadeloupe. The skipper of Safran was very pleased about the
outcome after two weeks of particularly demanding sailing…
Marc Guillemot has taken third place on the podium of IMOCA monohulls. This
was a result that was far from being a done deal 24 hours ago, as there were
three contenders for this place. But thanks to his option off to the west
taken a couple of days ago, Safran was able to finish with the wind on the
beam, while her rivals had the wind from astern in very light conditions.
Well done, Bilou !
“None of the boats are slower than the other. Bilou had a magnificent race
from the start. It’s not really a question of who designed the boat, as a
solo race is first of all a race between men. And looking at this aspect,
Roland Jourdain has shown his full talent: well done! His race went without
a single hitch. Looking at it from the outside, we can say he made wise
choices. All of us made some mistakes, me too under spinnaker: Bilou managed
to set the pace and was a deserving winner. As for Armel, he has always been
incisive, as we saw in the Solitaire du Figaro in the summer. I’m pleased to
be on the podium with two sailors of that calibre. So I’d just like to
congratulate them as they were the best,” declared Marc Guillemot before he
crossed the finishing line.
The will to win
I had some technical problems, nothing that important, but it does take time
and effort. I imagine I wasn’t the only one in that situation, but let’s not
forget that we’re all on our own out there… I attacked too much under
spinnaker and that caused me problems. After that, you have to keep your
cool. As everything starts to fall apart, when you lose it. I managed to
keep pushing hard to the final stretch and I’m pleased to have made it back
to the front and end up on the podium... I know I wasn’t the best, but I
never give up in such situations and this result is down to that
determination. I’m proud and happy for all those, who have supported me. The
energy I found to keep pushing comes from all those, who have been with me
in the preparation of Safran and those who have encouraged me. I’m pleased
with third place, even if I was aiming higher. We still have a lot of things
to do together.”
Ending up on the podium
Marc Guillemot completes this ninth Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale in third
place after 14 days 12 hours 28 minutes and 2 seconds of racing at an
average speed of 10.15 knots, and finished 19 hours behind the winner.
“I really enjoyed this race. I could never have imagined when sailing solo
that I would be able to keep up the spinnaker in winds between 28 and 36
knots! Really enjoyable. Even if it did lead to me getting knocked down
twice. It was stressful, but incredible fun. I am extremely satisfied to
have been able to compete in this race and to have fought hard to the finish
for this place on the podium.”
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