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Stéphane Guilbaud : Team manager
The shore team that has formed around Franck Cammas had never broached the specific topic of a crewed round the world on a monohull. However, it amassed a wealth of experience in Orma multihulls and Imoca monohulls on similar courses like the Jules Verne Trophy and the Vendée Globe. As such, the Volvo Ocean Race format was a big draw for getting the whole team working on a subject yet to be discovered. Furthermore, the idea revolved around a long term vision since the Volvo Ocean Race project is set to continue through into 2015. As such the decision to take on this new challenge was made very early on , as the previous edition was coming to an end, so as to make up the deficit on those teams already familiar with the event and to design the most accomplished boat of the fleet. As newcomers, the members of Groupama sailing team took the simple route by purchasing the previous winner Ericsson 4 to get in some training and understand the specific features of these ultra-powerful machines. Added to that, the team associated itself with the skills of the Franco-Argentinean architect, Juan Kouyoumdjian.
Their approach has also involved an entourage of specialists from the Volvo Ocean Race in every sector of the game : design, construction, rules, logistics, maintenance and repairs, with Luc Gellusseau, Ben Wright, Hervé Le Quilliec and Pierre Tissier... The decision by Franck Cammas and Stéphane Guilbaud to put together Groupama sailing team, which comprises fifty people, was based on the men's ability to work in synergy for nearly two years, combining versatile activities and nautical cultures. On starting out from a clean slate, the team has focused its energies on the pursuit of performance by looking at everything in detail using the leitmotif: understanding before deciding. By beginning the process at the end of 2009, the sailors were able to rack up over 10,000 miles of on-the-water experience, the shore crew were able to perform a proper `full action' trial during a transfer to Lanzarote and the builders were able to take nearly ten months to build a new prototype... Then, in early May 2011, the project began to take shape with Groupama 4's first sea trials.
