Nine solo yachtsman due to take part in the Vendée Globe got together at the French sailing training centre in Port La Forêt in Brittany for a course between the 17th and 19th September. Armel le Cléac´h (Brit Air), Sébastien Josse (BT), Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore), Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia), Yann Eliès (Generali), Samantha Davies (Roxy), Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) and Jean le Cam (VM Matériaux) all attended.
For three days, the skippers carried out manoeuvres and dealt with starts on coastal runs. The nine hours of sailing each day allowed each sailor to do their utmost in order to evaluate their preparation and their ability to stick with it. Christian Le Pape, the Head of the French Sailing centre in Port La-Forêt gave us his view of the results with just a few weeks to go before the start.
Christian Le Pape: "We did a lot of work, as the weather was kind to us and the atmosphere was good. The exchange of information between the racers was more subtle and not as naïve as you might expect. They come here to get some more information, but in return they are prepared to play the game and talk things through." While at the end of the course, the technological analysis came too late to correct anything that could be improved on board the boats, the skippers are now able to be better prepared: "We take a look together at videos and photos taken during the training sessions and judge the speeds and trajectories. It´s not easy to give advice, because each skipper has been committed to his or her project for several months, but each team can draw conclusions and look at ways to improve their sailing techniques," explained Christian Le Pape.
The next session is due to take place from 30th September to 2nd October and should enable the skippers to get used to a variety of conditions: sailing under automatic pilot, various sail and rig configurations, as we draw near to the Vendée Globe, as well as taking in reefs and shaking them out.
Christian Le Pape: "We hope the weather will offer some more exciting conditions, so they can try out manoeuvres in rough weather. Setting up these training sessions out on the water involves a lot of work." The date has been noted by the ten skippers - Tuesday 30th September from 8h30 in the morning for three days, a final opportunity to battle it out and observe each other...
Christian Le Pape: "We did a lot of work, as the weather was kind to us and the atmosphere was good. The exchange of information between the racers was more subtle and not as naïve as you might expect. They come here to get some more information, but in return they are prepared to play the game and talk things through." While at the end of the course, the technological analysis came too late to correct anything that could be improved on board the boats, the skippers are now able to be better prepared: "We take a look together at videos and photos taken during the training sessions and judge the speeds and trajectories. It´s not easy to give advice, because each skipper has been committed to his or her project for several months, but each team can draw conclusions and look at ways to improve their sailing techniques," explained Christian Le Pape.
The next session is due to take place from 30th September to 2nd October and should enable the skippers to get used to a variety of conditions: sailing under automatic pilot, various sail and rig configurations, as we draw near to the Vendée Globe, as well as taking in reefs and shaking them out.
Christian Le Pape: "We hope the weather will offer some more exciting conditions, so they can try out manoeuvres in rough weather. Setting up these training sessions out on the water involves a lot of work." The date has been noted by the ten skippers - Tuesday 30th September from 8h30 in the morning for three days, a final opportunity to battle it out and observe each other...
