Update
As was always expected, the drone footage being taken from off the crewed Imocas during The Ocean Race shows the frontrunners at least pressing harder and with more flight time than their Vendée Globe predecessors – that is from what was seen in the limited footage captured during the last singlehanded race. Ultim and Volvo champion Charles Caudrelier is confident that the 600nm mark for a 24-hour run in an Imoca will be broken in this race – PRB Holcim came close early on leg 3 with this new class record of 595.2nm
if they are just starting out their fresh opinions without preconceptions or prejudice are truly very interesting. SH: In San Francisco, Bermuda and Auckland there were no waves, are you training a lot with waves thinking about the conditions in Barcelona? FB: I think the theme of the waves is going to be very important. We all know that Barcelona will have this different element. It’s not very common, but when we do have waves in Cagliari we take maximum opportunity to train. In training for the other editions of the AC when there were waves we didn’t sail! It was a condition that wouldn’t exist in those Cup venues. Now it is the opposite, you have to take advantage of the days with waves. Regarding the intensity of the wind, we also know that anything
can happen in Barcelona, so we also sail in strong wind conditions – sometimes even very strong. We must not rule out any possibility regarding the conditions and we must prepare for everything. As well as the sailing of the boat in rougher conditions, everything
that surrounds a training session changes. The monitoring of the tenders and their observations are more complicated. Driving so fast without flying and jumping waves is not easy, it is a challenge for them as well as us. SH: There is a year and a half left before the start of the competition. Are you now better or worse prepared than 18 months out from the Auckland regatta? FB: Honestly, it’s hard to say. The truth is that now we all have the experience of the previous edition. All but the new Swiss and French teams. You can’t make a comparison, but it is true that our LEQ12 40ft prototype is very important to us. In the last edition we only had a small 20ft prototype and the scale was completely different with the big boat. I think that we are a solid team, with a good group, and that we are working well. SH:Speaking of your LEQ12 prototype, what is its real use as a test bed for the future AC75? FB:We can test foils, rudders, sails and so on, while on the old big boat if we test one of these new parts it costs us in terms of the number of new components allowed for the raceboat. At the moment it makes no sense to do that, and I doubt it will change. That’s why
18 SEAHORSE
it’s better to sail our 40 and be free to try new ideas. As for the navigation, it is not the same as sailing with the big boat due to the huge difference in size, but alternating one and the other seems to me a very good practice. SH: The possibility of cyclors changes quite a few things. Have you rehearsed it yet? FB:Our old boat has no system for cyclists so they train in the gym. We still haven’t 100 per cent decided whether our grinders will work with their arms or legs. We are evaluating this option, we want to be sure of the choice and not have second thoughts. It is evident that with the legs you can get more watts of power. But the differences in power vary depending on the type of effort required, with a maximum of 20 per cent additional power. Against that, the position of the cyclists can be less than ideal.
When the stability is not good and the boat moves a lot the jolts harm their output. You have to study it, try it and decide, as everything has pros and cons. Let no one think that the improvement is extra- ordinary, double or triple the watts generated. But the sum of different small improvements, that is where the big gains come from. SH: Future plans…? FB: Our plans depend a lot on the dates that are decided for the preliminary regattas with the AC40s. At the moment we only know about some possible options for regattas in Barcelona, Italy and France – there is talk, but there is still nothing confirmed!! We are assessing when to move to Barcelona, we will do it with enough time to get used to everything… but we still do not know if it will be two, five or 10 months in advance. The date when the new raceboat will be ready is also critical for the relocation of the team. There are many variables, but the first is the dates of the early regattas. SH: Do you plan to sail at the end of the summer in Barcelona? FB:Yes, it’s one of the things we’re seriously considering. We could do it with the AC40 or maybe with the old big boat. Personally, I would really like to be able to do it in the same period as the 2024 competition, to get to know the Barcelona course and start getting used to it. It seems to me that it is very likely that we will do so. SH: Is weight the most important change to the AC75 rule? FB: Yes, of course, as well as the larger size of the foils. Saving
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121
