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Team Foncia

Michel Desjoyeaux goes for a multihull season

Thursday 28 April 2011Redaction SSS [Source RP]

All the versions of this article: [English] [français]

Before taking off for Switzerland, Michel Desjoyeaux and his teammates were in Paris for a press conference to present Team Foncia’s 2011 season. Make way for sport, crewed competition and all that is multihull related. In fact 2011 combines several floats and platforms. Indeed this new sailing season will involve the Décision 35 as well as the MOD70.

Prior to delivery of the 3rd one-design trimaran, measuring 21.20 metres (MOD 70) and scheduled for the end of the summer, the man who has bagged the largest medal hoard in solo sailing will take back the helm of FONCIA (D35). At that point he will join the Lake Geneva circuit, where the top specialists will be racing on 10.81 metre catamarans carrying a big sail area.

The date of 5 May has been set for the start of the first event of the Vulcain Trophy (ex Challenge Julius Baer). The clear aim is to be in the running for the top spots in what is a particularly high level championship*. As such Michel Desjoyeaux has surrounded himself by virtuosos from the domains of sports catamarans, Olympic sailing and contact racing. For this 6th season, Franck Citeau, Xavier Revil and Alban Rossollin will be there to flesh out the team, which last year already boasted (alongside the skipper Alain Gautier ) Jean-Christophe Mourniac and Antoine Gautier replaced by Antoine Carraz on the circuit’s two French stages.

These six high-flying crew will work on crew cohesion at the heart of the competition during a total of seven meetings, the last two of which will take place in the Mediterranean. A very good preparation aboard a one-design multihull then, before they switch across to the cockpit of the MOD 70 where they will pit themselves against other international teams on an oceanic programme.

Michel Desjoyeaux: "The idea wasn’t to bring together a line-up of cowboys, but rather a bunch of people who enjoy working together, whilst being competent in their position. The crew really has to aim for perfection in a championship such as this where the secret to success remains a consistent performance. For this 2011 season, I’ve gathered together competitors who already have a solid grounding in this very typical sailboat. All, or nearly all of them are specialists in the sports catamaran and Olympic sailing. Some also have a background in ocean sailing with a view to competing in the MOD 70, which will be made up of the same hard core of people. There really are some synergies and bridges to be put in place between these two craft, both on a competitive level and in relation to the more technical and logistical elements."

- Info presse Team Foncia / www.teamfoncia.com
- Plus d’info sur le circuit D35 : www.vulcaintrophy.com


NDR SSS : will he be the skipper of the giant Banque Populaire (the company Banque Populaire owns Foncia) ? We are still waiting for the answer...

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