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2009/07/02-20h05
Groupama 40 in Hyères
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| iShares Cup 2009 and Groupama 40 |
| Today was a training day for the second stage of the iShares Cup in Hyères; with two coastal courses on the menu, followed
by a short race just off the port's jetties. Suffice to say that the spectacle of 12 metre catamarans sailing beam to beam
was a fabulous one, particularly when they're helmed by renowned champions such as James Spithill, Loïck Peyron, Yann Guichard,
Mike Golding and of course Franck Cammas.
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Though the two coastal courses were beautifully won by Eric Maris and his crew on Luna Rossa, it is worth mentioning the great
consistency of the winner of the first stage of the iShares Cup TPM, Gitana Extreme. Decidedly very quick, the Tornado champion
has visibly relocated the automatic reflexes gained during numerous Olympic preparations carried out over recent years.
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As for Groupama 40, the day was far from gloomy. Incisive during the starting procedures, tactically prudent as they
favoured the middle ground, Franck Cammas and his crew have been highly consistent and always made it into the top four today.
Will this be enough to stand out and earn themselves a podium place?
"The general level is high. More than
the performance though it's the cohesion of the crew, the quality of the manoeuvres and a touch of opportunism which will
make the difference. It's up to us to be in the action, to make as few errors as possible and be able to make the most of
those mistakes the others make. We have a fine crew for that with Tanguy Cariou on tactics, Fred Le Maistre on the bow and
Thierry Fouchier trimming the headsails. We get on well and we're highly motivated" analyses Franck Cammas, who concludes
by asking for news of the crew on Groupama 3 who have just reached New York: "I monitored their crossing and did their
routing for the first two thirds of the delivery. They've sailed well. Crossing the Atlantic in that direction in seven days
is a fine performance".
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