Relaunched a few weeks ago after her new keel was fitted, Kito de Pavant’s monohull Groupe Bel has been back out to sea for a series of training sessions to allow the skipper to prepare for the double handed transatlantic race this autumn. He was able to regain his confidence in the red and white monohull aboard which he will take part in the next Vendée Globe.
Having clocked up no fewer than twenty days of training since the start of July, Kito de Pavant now feels much more assured about his ability to sail his boat. “We had a lot of work to do,” he explained at the end of this month of training alongside Yann Régniau, his fellow crewman for the Transat. There were some lively sailing sessions, which the skipper deservedly enjoyed and he is now ready to tackle the 2011 race programme, with in particular the double-handed sprint to Costa Rica coming up in November. Kito de Pavant: “We went out practically every day, in a wide range of weather conditions, which turned quite rough towards the end. In particular, we did a trip from Port Camargue to Minorca and back with DCNS 1000, the monohull sailed by Marc Thiercelin and Luc Alphand. Then, last week after a photo session in some rough weather, (see photo) down off the island of Porquerolles, we sailed right down to Sardinia.”
A brand new keel
At the top of the job list for the summer, Groupe Bel’s new keel needed to be checked out. “We didn’t dare put too much pressure on it on the first few days, but gradually our confidence in this brand new keel was restored, especially when Groupe Bel headed back up from the Balearics sailing upwind in 40-knots of wind and in some violent thunderstorms.”
