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On this subject

Foncia, Gitana, Jean-Pierre Dick, MOD70, Multi One Attitude, Pascal Bidégorry, Sébastien Josse, Stève Ravussin, Virbac-Paprec

Krys Match, La Trinité-sur-Mer

The MOD parade

Text: Vincent Gillioz

Year: 2011

The wind that blows at 20 knots slightly whitens the crests of the small waves but there is hardly any fetch. The sky is low and the sun briefly appears through the clouds. The cold and grey weather is to be expected at the beginning of October in the bay of Quiberon: so far so good. Race for Water is sailing at 20 knots towards the start line. François Morvan calls out the remaining seconds to the starting signal as the winchers Bernard Labro, Jacques Guichard, Yvan Ravussin and Pascal Bidégorry grind like crazy on the two winches at the centre of the cockpit. The boat picks up speed and flies a hull as it moves upwind. The mainsail and the solent jib are hauled in tight. The three guests cling to the trampoline, like cats on curtains in a precarious and uncomfortable position.

Stève Ravussin, well seated in his bucket seat, shouts at the crew: “haul in!!!” His bloodshot eyes give him an aggressive look that clashes with his customary casual manner. Veolia races upwind beating the committee boat, which doesn’t seem to bother the skipper from Vaud. The bows of Gitana XI, Sebastien Josse’s maxi trimaran, are only a length away from the MOD70 number 1’ cross beams. Michel Desjoyaux’s Foncia, slightly behind, is downwind halfway down the line. Five, four, three, two, one! Go! Veolia crossed the line too soon and moves over to give way to the other competitors. Tension is as high as can be, especially since a helicopter is flying 15m over the zone, really close to the boats that are now making more than 50 kph. The noise of the sheet screeching on the winches and the screaming on board combined with that of the engine is deafening and contributes to raising the stress.

Close contact at 32 knots

We get to the Dog-Leg buoy within seconds and realize as we pass it that the best is yet to come. The movement of the boat is mind-blowing, we wonder if everything is just going to explode or if the boat is about to capsize. All the weight of the gigantic rig is on the downwind bow and the gennaker has just been unfurled. We accelerate some more and stabilize at about 32 knots. Stève steers his machine as he would a fighter plane, hardly noticing Gitana XI’s float above his head. As we reach the lay-line, the skipper summons the guests back into the cockpit before jibing. We run to shelter. The winchers give all they’ve got and we understand why the crew was warming up before the start.

Michel desjoyeaux - Foncia © Yvan Zedda

Roland Jourdain - Veolia © Yvan Zedda

Sébastien Josse - Gitana XI © Yvan Zedda

Stève Ravussin - Race for Water © Yvan Zedda

Sidney Gavigney - Oman Sail © Mark Lloyd

Yann Guichard - Sprindrift Racing © Pierre Khim-Tit

The experience lasts about 30 mn. Race for the Water, who had been leading the two rounds of the course, concedes to Gitana XI on the last reach. “She’s longer and more powerful. I don’t feel defeated, it’s a show race, and Josse isn’t yet on his monotype”, said Stève Ravussin, just as he crossed the finish line.

What no other sport can offer

A rib brings three other guests on board and takes the preceding group back to a spectator boat that can hold 50 people, in the start zone. Smiling from ear to ear, we reach the yacht feeling like teenagers coming back from a funfair’s roller coaster, proud to have survived the experience. The strength of the MOD70 concept has just been demonstrated. Journalists, VIPs and Krys staff, –the 2012-2013 transatlantic races sponsor-, have just experienced something that no other sport could have given them. The audacious bet made three years ago by Marco Simeoni, Franck David and Stève Ravussin has been won, and this meeting has become a landmark in the history of ocean racing multihulls.

Room for improvement

However, all is not perfect in the world of MODs, and skippers briskly discuss and negotiate during the morning briefing. The race format – which is still in its test phase- is far from having unanimous backing and needs to be refined. Rules also seem to be subject to debate, but we shan’t get to know anymore. Each participant is trying to find the limits of what can or cannot be done, and so many grey areas remain. Alongside the sporting project, Anne-Cécile Turner, who is in charge of the Multi One Attitude foundation, announced a new partnership with UNESCO. Marco Simeoni also announced that the seventh boat had been purchased. We learnt a few weeks later that French skipper Jean-Pierre Dick -with his faithful sponsor Virbac-Paprec –has decided to throw himself in the MOD70 adventure. The Anglo-Saxons are still very absent from the series which really remains a “Franco-French” racing multihull event. Nevertheless, there is still time to find new purchasers, as the number 7 won’t be launched until June 2012.

The Krys Match really met the competitors’ and the sponsors’ expectations. They are now awaiting the European tour programme.