Yard work at 35° C in the shade!

They are sanding, polishing, dismantling and reassembling! The 10 worker ants of the Bel Team are busying themselves about their boat day and night. On schedule these last few days was a proper careening to ensure the boat surfs perfectly, followed by a stroke of paint to restore the sheen to Groupe Bel's hull. A general inspection of the mast has been completed, while the rudders and centerboard are in the expert hands of the technical team. "Everyone is in a wonderful mood, focused on the jobs to be done to the boat and giving their very all!  The aim is get Groupe Bel back to sea by mid-June, so we are working non-stop to fulfill the contract. The entire running and standing rigging is being overhauled as well as a section of the deck gear. As for the keel, it is still in Italy. We should receive it in the second week of June", says Gwen Gbick, Bel team's sports manager. This motivation is equal to each member's desire to get her back to the ocean to sail again and all the time. In the meanwhile, the team is busily working under a tent at the foot of the Port Camargue harbormaster's office, "we are trying to ventilate as much as possible, but the temperature is above 30°C in the yard. I take my hat off to the whole team" says Gwen.

All the while, things are also busy in the West of France, at North Sails in Vannes, where Kito left Groupe Bel's entire set of sails with Yann Régniaud, her sailmaker, last week, for an overhaul, and since last Thursday, a new code 0 and a gennaker are being decorated at La Trinité sur Mer where they will welcome a brand new "Cow".  This is a long painstaking job, since it is hand-painted with a rolle that the lady will take shape.

So there's plenty to be done down in Port Camargue, but Kito will probably take time this weekend to go and say hello to his old friends the Figaro racers, who will  be lining up for the start of the Generali Solo in Marseille, a race, of which he still holds the title. You can be sure that he will have one or two words of good advice to give to the young racers of the Mediterranean Training Centre in La Grande Motte, of which he is a member.