Fantastic race for the MOD70s
by Multi One Design 16 Aug 2011 13:20 BST
14-15 August 2011
Rolex Fastnet Race start © Rick Tomlinson /
www.rick-tomlinson.com
Stève Ravussin’s MOD70 Race for Water finishes just 3.23 minutes behind Roland Jourdain’s MOD70 Veolia Environnement on Monday night at 21:10:17 (GMT) after a fantastic race in the race. 4th overall (real time) of the Rolex Fastnet Race behind the Maxi trimaran Banque Populaire (Loïck Peyron beating his own record) and Gitana 11, the 77-foot trimaran steered by Sebastien Josse (future MOD70 skipper), the MOD70 ambassador of the foundation working on water preservation, welcomed Dee Caffari onboard, first British sailor to sail in this new series!
A real match-racing regatta between the two MOD70s has been going on through the whole Rolex Fastnet Race! Tactics and concentration during more than 34 hours for the crew composed by Dee Caffari, Sebastien Audigane, Pascal Bidegorry, Jacques Guichard and Nico Pichelin. With Veolia Environnement constantly in front of their bow or just behind their back, the crew enjoyed an intense race in the race.
Despite a messy start in Cowes on Sunday, with an early passing of the line, Stève Ravussin and his crew has made an amazing race! Fastest out of the blocks were Gitana 11, the trimaran skippered by Vendee Globe and Volvo Ocean Race skipper Sebastien Josse and Roland Jourdain's MOD70 Veolia Environnement, however MOD70 Race for Water has managed to catch up very quickly on the way out of the Solent.
Dee Caffari, the first woman to have sailed single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions and the only woman to have sailed non-stop around the world three times, is thrilled with her first multihull experience: “It has been totally mind blowing! It has been sailing 110% all the time.” She adds: “And it has been so exciting to be in a competition within the race. So great. I definitely think that Great Britain should get involved in this class! It is absolutely fantastic!”
Passing the finishing line, Stève Ravussin says: “This has been an amazing race! We have been in contact with Veolia all the time. Sometimes we were ahead and sometimes they were. It has been so interesting. And we sailed full speed nonstop! At the end, the best have won. This is a true one-design class, so we have no excuse, they were just better than us!“ says Stève with a laugh. “This kind of race is really exhausting. As the course is short, you just have to be more than 100% all the time, but I like it this way!”
Marco Simeoni, Chairman of Multi One Design and co-founder of the class with Franck David and Stève Ravussin, says: “I am so excited about this result. Both boats have done a fantastic race… Less than 4 minutes between the boats at the finish line after more than 600 miles… Can you imagine the superbe spectacle we will have next year with 6 boats on the line for the Krys Ocean Race starting July 4, 2012 in New York and 7 units for the European Championship in September 2012. This is a unique one-design concept for such a large ocean trimaran and I am so much looking forward to seeing the fleet grow!”
What an ambassador for the Multi One Attitude Foundation the MOD70 Race for Water is! The foundation focusing on water preservation has chosen to use sailing as an innovative and engaging platform to raise awareness and educate public opinion. Born in the wake of the Multi One Championship, the Foundation will develop its actions in parallel with the worldwide championship starting in 2012.