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17.06.2009 Back to news
Groupe Bel the star of Saint-Tropez : viva La Giraglia !
 | © Carlo Borlenghi - Rolex |
Kito de Pavant and his crew - whose hard core is identical to that of the European Pro Tour (circuit IMOCA) in September – rejoice in the finesse of the maneuvers, tactics and pure sailing skills required competing against yachts, where elegance is equaled by performance. On Wednesday, competitors are racing in the “regata longa”, a 243 mile long race run between Saint-Tropez, the Île de La Fourmigue (between l'Île du Levant and Le Lavandou), the rock of La Giraglia at the northern tip of Corsica and the Italian port of Genoa.
“When you train on your own, you maneuver in your own time, with no stress. Here, Groupe Bel lines up on the start with 200 boats. Rounding the marks is tense, you have to be on the ball on the approaches, and tweak the sails all the time, working men and machine hard all the time. Great training !”This 57th run of the La Giraglia is a first for the Mediterranean skipper who is loving every minute of it – and it shows. “She causes quite a stir on the pontoons and out on the course. Groupe Bel attracts the cameras. We are proud to show the boat we adore and which we put so much effort into all year round.”
On Thursday, Groupe Bel will be joined by Marc Thiercelin and Christopher Pratt on DNCS for the start of the big race, she has been the only IMOCA 60-footer battling it out on the coastal races over the past three days. We are light years away from the Vendée Globe. On La Giraglia, we are in the realms of handicap racing like everywhere else. Initial rankings are drawn up on a real time basis and then readjusted or “compensated” to take account of the characteristics of each boat, or what is called her “rating”. Groupe Bel is clearly not at an advantage in this domain because of her ballasts, swing keel and rotating rig. It would take more than that to prevent her from playing an active role in her class, although she does not give any cause for concern to the STP 65, the new thoroughbreds from the Rolex circuit. “The STP 65 are magnificent yachts, graceful, highly optimized and designed for this type of regatta. Spectacularly at ease upwind. To understand what I mean, Groupe Bel is designed for racing long solo runs downwind on the high seas. In the big race tomorrow, we'll be five on board which is a pretty large crew for our boats, whereas there will be twenty or so on board the STP 65 like Luna Rossa, Container and Ran. I love this sort of event, a mix ‘n’ match of yachts, all of whom share the same passion for racing, the sea and fine machines. Sheer pleasure ! »
The starting shot of the long race in this 57th run of the Giraglia Rolex Cup will be setting out at 13h00 on Wednesday 17th June. Weather reports are still for light air with a 5-10 knot easterly flow getting stronger later on.
On board Groupe Bel:
Kito de Pavant, skipper
Gwen Gbick, racing manager
Hervé Giorsetti, technical manager
Brice de emergency, boat captain
Yann Regniau, sailsman (North Sails)
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