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Press release No.4
Sunday 17 April – 1600 hours
Extreme Sailing Series 2011
Qingdao Grand Prix (China) – Act 2
Edmond de Rothschild Group finishes third and continues to head the
championship
The Qingdao Grand Prix, the second of the season, has drawn to a close this
afternoon after five days of intense racing where the eleven competing crews
were able to test their potential in the full range of sailing conditions.
Once again the suspense lingered until the last race of the last day! Leader
of the championship, following their victory at the end of February in Oman,
the performance by the catamaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild
was much awaited in this Chinese event. And despite what can at least be
described as a difficult start to the Grand Prix – 7th at the end of the
first race of the day – Pierre Pennec and his three crew knew just what it
took to turn things around and take 3rd place in Qingdao after the last race
in the competition. Edmond de Rothschild Group finished behind the Italians
on Luna Rossa, the outright winner here in Qingdao, and the New Zealanders
skippered by Dean Barker. This result has enabled the men from Gitana Team
to hold onto the provisional lead of the championship.
The Extreme Sailing Series is unquestionably a school of patience and
self-control. Fourth yesterday evening, Pierre Pennec and his men owed it to
themselves to have an excellent day to assure their position and try to make
it into the top three if possible. It was with this mindset that they took
the start of the first race. Unfortunately the theory didn’t exactly play
out in the beginning: “we never gave up during this event, even though we
lost a lot of points after the first race contested today. In fact we got
off to a really good start on port tack ahead of the fleet and were assured
of finishing second in the race behind Artemis. However, at the end of the
first tack, I got greedy and sought to hunt down pole position by putting in
a turn exactly on the layline, which meant that I took an increased risk. We
messed up our turn and copped a penalty. Our ninth place in that race really
knocked the morale. On a personal level I convinced myself at that point
that Grand Prix racing was a nightmare, but we refocused and steadied
ourselves so we could move on” explained Pierre Pennec on his return to
shore.
In the image of this Qingdao Grand Prix, the last day of racing started very
badly for Edmond de Rothschild Group, but the most important thing is that
it finished well. With three fourth places and two second places this
Sunday, the crew led by Pierre Pennec concluded the day with a fantastic
victory. A first place, which on crossing the finish line enabled them to
score their second podium place of 2011 by pipping Red Bull and Alinghi to
the post. Relieved with this outcome, the sailor from La Rochelle looked
back at the highs and lows of this event: “I was having a bad week, but that
happens sometimes. I didn’t feel like I was in phase over the last four days
but today I felt a lot more at ease on the race zone. Out of the seven races
run we always got good starts. Such consistency had been lacking up till
then. We were quick, whether it was upwind or downwind, thanks to the
perfect manœuvres performed by my crew. I’m really happy that we managed to
snatch 3rd place in the Grand Prix. However, I’m not completely satisfied
with this result because we have the potential to win and my three crew
deserve it. I consider them to be the best of the bunch.”
Always speaking highly of his crew, Pierre Pennec has this to add: “It’s
part and parcel of the race concept in the Extreme Sailing Series to make
mistakes because all the ingredients are gathered together for that. I’m
lucky to be heading such an excellent crew. We’re a very united group and
the discussions are very open, which is one of our strengths. Aboard, even
in critical situations, everyone stays calms and constructive. I’d even go
so far as to say that we managed to up our game as the pressure mounted. We
knew exactly how and when to use our trump card, which is a sure sign of the
potential of Edmond de Rothschild Group’s crew.”
This hard won-third place proved very important for the championship
ranking, where victory reindexs the index objective for Edmond de Rothschild
Group. This evening, Pierre Pennec, Hervé Cunningham Thierry Fouchier and
Christophe Espagnon, are still leading with a total of twenty points. Behind
them, Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa are tied on eighteen points,
whilst Red Bull, fourth, is lying in ambush with seventeen points: “I’m
really happy that we’re leading in the overall ranking after two Grands Prix
against such a great line-up. For the next stage I will have to continue to
make progress at the helm and especially in the start phases, where I have
to find the right compromise between the risk taking and the quality of the
start,” concluded the skipper of Edmond de Rothschild Group.
The crew has its say
Christophe Espagnon, indexsail trimmer
“We achieved our aim of a podium place! We had a tough start to this last
day but we finished it on a high by winning the last race of the Grand Prix,
which was the most important one in terms of points. That pretty much sums
up the Extreme Sailing Series. Despite our ninth place at the start of the
day, we were keen to do well. As such we reindexed highly concentrated and
everyone did their little bit towards the group’s motivation so we could
hunt down this third place tonight. As regards the sailing conditions, there
was some breeze expected but ultimately conditions were light. However,
there was quite a chop and a considerable current which isn’t always very
easy to anticipate. Today we may have taken fewer risks than on previous
days during the start phases, but above all we did a good debriefing after
each race, pointing out what problems needed to be erased without waffling.
That paid off and I’m delighted about it.”
Hervé Cunningham, bowman
“The conditions encountered here in Qingdao were really complicated as they
were so changeable. This type of weather is hard to deal with, especially
for our helmsman Pierre Pennec who has to control the speed of the boat, as
well as anticipate the strategies of our adversaries and observe the
variations in the weather. This Qingdao Grand Prix dished out the full range
of conditions over the past five days and it wasn’t an easy event. The wind
oscillated between 0 and 25 knots and we sailed on flat seas as well as
choppy seas. We were a bit off the pace on the first few days but we never
stopped believing that we could make a comeback. In Extreme Sailing, the
watchword is to give it your all because a single point can make all the
difference and cost us a place or earn us a place. A lot of people had given
up on us before this last day… our third place may appear to be the
consolation prize but we’ve actually had the best day of the fleet. We knew
when to play the opportunist! This Grand Prix has confirmed that our crew is
very strong mentally. Even in the worst situations, we battle on.”
Thierry Fouchier, headsail trimmer
“We ended a lot better than we began, fortunately! The really positive point
of this Grand Prix was our speed across the water. I think we’re among the
fastest four boats of the fleet and that often really helps. We’ve learnt a
lot about our crew here and that can only be positive for the next stage.
When things don’t go well aboard, we tell it how it is and, as far as I’m
concerned, that’s the best way to make progress. Pierre doesn’t have an easy
role, especially in conditions such as these, but he’s getting better and
better at it. It’s not easy but he’s finding his bearings day by day. Before
the last race, we were still fourth but we were tied on points with Alinghi
which was third at the time. At that point we decided to sail our own race
and do it as best we could. Pierre got off to a fantastic start and we won
the race!”
Cyril Dardashti, team manager
“We’ll have to start getting used to the tension of the Extreme Sailing
Series races, because everything can hang in the balance right up to the
end, and this last race of the Qingdao Grand Prix was incredible. I’m
naturally very happy with Edmond de Rothschild Group’s third place but I’m
also very proud of our crew. They were given a rough ride but they knew what
to do to turn that around and above all they never gave up. Marie and Cyril,
who prepare the boat, obviously have something to do with this result
because, despite the very windy conditions on the third day of racing, the
crew had no equipment issues to report.”
Ranking for the Qingdao Grand Prix on 17 April (after twenty-eight races)
1. Luna Rossa (ITA) – 227 points
2. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZ) – 222 points
3. Edmond de Rothschild Group (FRA) – 214 points
4. Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT) – 200 points
5. Alinghi (SUI) – 198 points
6. Artemis Racing (SWE) – 174 points
7. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) – 150 points
8. Team Extreme (EUR) – 141 points
9. Oman Air (OMA) – 137 points
10. Niceforyou (ITA) – 122 points
11. Team GAC Pindar (GBR) – 64 points
Ranking for the Extreme Sailing Series 2011 after the Qingdao Grand Prix
1. Edmond de Rothschild Group (FRA) – 20 points
2. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZ) – 18 points
3. Luna Rossa (ITA) – 18 points
4. Red Bull Extreme Sailing (AUT) – 17 points
5. Artemis Racing (SWE) – 16 points
6. Alinghi (SUI) – 13 points
7. The Wave, Muscat (OMA) – 10 points
8. Team Extreme (EUR) – 7 points
9. Oman Air (OMA) – 7 points
10. Niceforyou (ITA) – 4 points
11. Team GAC Pindar (GBR) – 2 point
The crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group
Pierre Pennec - Helmsman, skipper
Christophe Espagnon – indexsail trimmer, tactics
Thierry Fouchier – headsail trimmer
Hervé Cunningham - Bowman
The Extreme Edmond de Rothschild Group supports the Joves Navegants
foundation
The family of Baron Benjamin de Rothschild has always had a passion for
nautical activities, a commitment embodied today by the Gitana Team. As such
the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations have quite naturally been sensitive to
the mission of Joves Navegants and touched by the profound collective
commitment to helping these young people in precarious situations.
Inspired by the methods of British Sailing associations, which help young
people in difficulty, some enthusiastic sailors who have settled in Palma,
Mallorca, decided to create Joves Navegants. Aware of the complicated
situation for certain youngsters on the island in serious economic and
family difficulties, they have chosen to share their passion. The foundation
organises several types of trips out to sea on the yacht, Galaxie. These
days out involve journeys of discovery, awareness campaigns for sustainable
development, participation in races and training aids to enable certain
youngsters to envisage sailing as a professional career.
The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation will be supporting Joves Navegants in
the organisation of trips out to sea during the summer, enabling the
necessary technical improvements to be made on the Galaxie and making it
possible for a team to take part in the “Ruta de la Sal” race in April.
For further information:
www.jovesnavegants.org
www.ebdrf.com
Discover all the latest news from the Gitana Team at
www.gitana-team.com
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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