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2010/07/31-15h16
A hazardous Solent...
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| Extreme Sailing Series 2010 |
| At 1000 GMT the starting gun reverberated off the Royal Squadron. Firing on all cylinders, the nine Extreme 40s on the circuit
got off to a brisk start... Groupama 40 was a little over-eager to get going and found herself called back to the start along
with Véolia and Ocean Racing.
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 Cammas, Cariou, Briand and Espagnon didn't allow themselves to be ruffled however. Still highly concentrated after their penalty
turn, the crew of Groupama 40 headed towards the beach and its rocks so as to free themselves of the unfavourable current,
enabling them to make a great comeback. At the first course mark situated off Egypt Point, they were once again teasing their
way along with the leading pack, controlled by Edmond de Rothschild Group, Red Bull and Ecover.
At that point there was
a further setback... Taking too much of a gamble, Groupama 40 hit a pile of rocks. The consequences were immediate and with
their foot coming off the accelerator briefly the leaders made the most of the opportunity to make good their escape!
Never
giving up the dream team hunted down the wind on the opposite back and rounded the No.12 Champagne Mumm mark, at the midway
point, in fourth position. They managed to hold onto that ranking until the finish at Royal Thames, not far from the entrance
to the river leading to Southampton.
The first race in this English event was won by Mike Golding (Ecover), the
local of the stage, with Loïck Peyron (Oman Sail) and Yann Guichard (Edmond de Rotschild Group) hot on his heels.
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A bit onAt the fleet's pontoons in East Cowes, the finish spectacle was something else: the stream of daggerboards and rudders was
incessant. During the few hours respite between the single morning race and those scheduled for this afternoon, the various
shore crews have got some work ahead of them. On Groupama 40, Michel Letty will be busying himself on a daggerboard whilst
Yoann Bibbeau does a bit of work on the rudder.
The next race will start at 1500 GMT
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