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2008/07/09 - 21h51
GROUPAMA heading the Formula 18 World Championships
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| F18 Worlds - from 5th to 11th July in Nigrán (Pontevedra) - Spain |
| In Nigran, Spain, the crew of Cammas-Lagarrigue haven't lost any time getting up to the level of the specialists in the sports
catamaran that is the Formula 18. Up against the best in the world, the Groupama duo is even at the top of the leaderboard
after the first six races.
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By winning three of the six races, the two men are demonstrating the appropriateness of their association: "For want
of good grounding in the boat, he brings along his sense of racing spirit, his combativeness as well as the organization of
an incredibly well honed team. Thanks to team Groupama, we can concentrate on the racing and nothing else. That enables us
to race at 100%" analyses Jérémie, who is pretty happy with the results they've amassed over the past three days.
Busy
derigging the sports catamaran, Franck too is all smiles: "We've sailed well and it was particularly nice today as there
was some wind. Both out on the wire, balancing on a single float ahead of the whole fleet, is an excellent feeling. We've
been making good progress since the start of the championship. However, the hardest is yet to come as tomorrow is the start
of the finals. The top 40 from each pool will be up against each other. In addition to that, we should have more wind. We're
going to have to battle hard".
There's no pretence about this battle cry as, although the crew of Groupama
are at the head of the provisional general ranking, the world's best aren't far behind. Dutch, English, Australian, Spanish
and even French, there are a number of crews keen to snatch the first place from the newcomer to the series.
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Present at the departure and return of the boat, Thierry Madec is keeping a close eye on things to ensure the gear is working
well. Every evening he rinses down the hulls, tracks and blocks before inspecting the rudders and daggerboards. Every morning
he polishes the hulls to enable the boat to slip along as best it can. Clearly happy with the results, he is no less concentrated.
Indeed
we're only at the midway point in the championship. And it's only at the end of the last race that we'll know who the world
champion is...
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