Fun and sharing aboard Team AMAALA after Leg 1 of The Ocean Race Europe
by Aurélia Mouraud 15 Aug 17:08 BST
Team AMAALA take 5th place in Leg 1 of the Ocean Race Europe in Portsmouth © Vincent Curutchet / The Ocean Race Europe
The Swiss Offshore Team crew, 5th in Portsmouth, had a great first leg and are building up maximum confidence for the rest of the race.
They arrived at night with stars in their eyes. Bright smiles lit up the faces of the Team AMAALA crew, after finishing 5th in the first leg of The Ocean Race Europe, in just over four days of racing. It's been an incredible, unforgettable race," says skipper Alan Roura. The first 6-8 hours of racing were without doubt my finest moments ever spent on a racing boat. We'll remember it for the rest of our lives...". From Kiel to Portsmouth, the young team led by Alan and Simon Koster accumulated a maximum of experience, progressing edge by edge, maneuver by maneuver, watch by watch, giving up nothing, until they moored their IMOCA to the pontoon of the English city, a mecca for British sailing. In the overall ranking, Team AMAALA Racing is also in fifth place with 3 points.
Good for morale
Even though the two boats behind in the rankings were forced to retire after a collision just after the start, all that's gained is gained for Team AMAALA, which experienced a first week of The Ocean Race Europe of crazy intensity. Whether in the days leading up to the start, during the speed runs, or during the many, many meetings with the media and the marvellous public in Kiel, curious, knowledgeable and very numerous.
For Alan, a finisher at heart, this first confrontation with better-equipped opponents (newer, significantly faster boats) got off to a flying start, and in the end, in the best possible way. One man's misfortune is another man's major explanation. For all those who, like the young sailors of Team AMAALA, are discovering these high-tension races and the importance of knowing how to preserve the integrity of the boat and its occupants, this chaotic and superb start on the reaching leg will remain engraved in the memories. Less than two minutes into the race, the clash between Allagrande Mapei and Holcim-PRB reminded everyone that the IMOCA boats are on a very fine line, and that finishing a race is never a trivial matter.
Collective progress
But beyond this first lesson, which left its mark on every member of the team, Team AMAALA made collective progress during the first few days of the race. With relatively few training outings ahead of The Ocean Race Europe, this first leg enabled us to validate several crucial points. There's nothing but positive to take from this first leg," says Alan. We're exactly where we wanted to be before setting off. Everything we had put in place in terms of the way we operate on board has been validated and understood by everyone. I was quite impressed by the confidence of the two "novices", Lucie and Felix. Whether it was Simon or myself, we had the same feeling about their ability to understand very quickly how these boats work, and how powerful they are. Better still, they don't hesitate to suggest new things, a slightly different way of doing things.
A smooth adaptation
Thrown into the deep end from the outset, the young guard had no time to procrastinate. For Lucie de Gennes, an Olympic sailor, this leg between Kiel and Portsmouth marked her first nights at sea, racing. A first all-nighter," she laughs. It got us right into the swing of things! We were so excited after that crazy start that no one wanted to go to sleep and we pulled on the boat all night. After that, we had to get some rest, because we knew that the rest of the leg was going to be pretty demanding, with a lot of maneuvering, sail changes and adjustments. From day one, we found our rhythm and our place on board. Everyone was able to bring the best of their knowledge to the table, we got on really well and had a lot of fun on board."
Rookies in rotation
Even the frustration of watching the others gradually slip away didn't dampen Team AMAALA's enthusiasm. There's always room for improvement, but for a first, we're doing really well, I think," says Alan. From a human point of view, it's been great. We really found each other, and there wasn't a single word said above the other. And in terms of performance, if we analyze the boat's data, we must be at 105% of our potential. We've sailed cleanly, rather well, and that's what we're looking for: performance internally, by being efficient and finishing better than when we started."
From Kiel to Kotor, then, that's the aim: to build power and progress as a team that wants to be in it for the long haul. And all this with the men and women of the crew on board. From Portsmouth to Cartagena, with a fly-by in Porto, Felix Oberle and Lucie de Gennes will make way for Jessica Berthoud (23) and Guillaume Rol (27), who have never raced in an IMOCA before: "They're probably the ones I've sailed with the most during training and the delivery trip," says Alan. And I'm sure they'll fit in just as well as the others, and bring just as much to the table." This will start with a clean start on Sunday at 4.55pm.
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