Supported by Stephane Kandler, SOITEC and the first club™(thefirstclub.com), « Team Extreme – the first club™ » is taking part in the Extreme Sailing Series in Singapore from 9th – 11th December, together with the fleet of the famous Extreme 40 catamarans.
After a first day that was dedicated to the boat’s assembling, (they can actually be entirely put in parts and shipped in containers from an event to the next one), Team Extreme – the first club has been training today with its 9 competitors, (Emirates Team New Zealand, Alinghi, Luna Rossa, Oman Air, Red Bull Extreme Sailing, to name a few), sailing today on the race course that stands in the heart of the city: a true nautical stadium where all spectators are VIPs, and where action will take place just in front of their eyes near the « Singapore Flyer », that offers a fantastic view of the city from Singapore Barrage’s area.
Today’s training was very positive and productive for the young Team Extreme – the first club, whose enthusiasm is communicative, and that will focus this week on achieving the best possible result for its first participation in the Extreme Sailing Series circuit.
Jean-Christophe Mourniac, Helmsman: « the goal on this event is to discover a new team, to start a nice story, and to give our best while sailing, but we have to be realistic, as we get into the circuit at the end of the season when the other teams are well experienced. We will work hard as we are competitors, and we will discover the game at the same time, but giving our best whilst enjoying ourselves, as it is important. The first day has been very positive, we had good starts, and all the race simulations that we did with the rest of the group ended up with nice results, thanks to our starts, spontaneousness, boat speed, so I hope it will continue. »
Sebastien Col, Skipper, Tactician and Mainsail trimmer: « I discovered a lot of things today, a new crew, a new racing format, a new boat. It was really interesting, and quite fun, also with a lot of pleasure as the training went really well, with a good spirit. We start from very far, but with a solid basis. I think we will be able to play in this regatta in Singapore. I really enjoy it, as it’s physically demanding, we always have to be early in the manoeuvres, in order to have enough time for tactics. It’s really great, as 10 days ago I was sailing the Transat Jacques Vabre across the Atlantic, and the challenge to switch from one discipline to the other in sailing is really exciting for me, that’s really what I like. »
Christophe André, Bowman: « We did quite good training races today, where we’ve been fairly aggressive in order to allow ourselves a good start in the competition. But we have to remain humble and serene, as we are beginners on that boat, and we have a lot to learn. We’re very much looking forward to racing, after having validated our material and our way to work together on board. We know each other for a long time, as we’ve all sailed together at some point in the past. We now have to enjoy a lot, not to bother too much, and to face the difficulty to have had a short time for training with serenity. We just need to improve and get one lesson out of our work everyday. We just want to avoid big mistakes, and to try to play with the best teams while staying with the fleet. »
Franck Citeau, Genoa Trimmer: « I think that this new experience mixing capabilities is really great. Sailing with people who are match racing specialists, and that bring us a bit more rigor than what we are used to on small catamarans, is tremendously interesting. The mix between Jean-Christophe and I on one side, and Seb and Christophe on the other side, allows two worlds to meet, even if Christophe also has a lot of experience in multihull now. Our goal is to do the best possible result, to get a maximum of experience, and to enjoy. I think there is enough room to reach a good result, and in any case that will be our motivation. »
The first official races will be starting tomorrow, (Wednesday, December 7th).