Javier Sansó boucle la deuxième étape en cinquième position
Virbac-Paprec 3 en route vers La Rochelle
Un programme chatoyant jusqu’à samedi
C’est à 15h 12mn 22s (TU+2), que Javier Sansó a franchi la ligne d’arrivée à bord d’ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered. Dernier concurrent classé de cette deuxième étape, il aura surtout validé la pertinence de son concept.
C’est le verre à moitié vide ou plein selon le regard que l’on porte. En franchissant la ligne près de vingt-quatre heures après ses adversaires, Bubi Sansó peut mesurer le chemin qui lui reste à parcourir pour être au niveau des meilleurs au départ du prochain Vendée Globe. Mais son bateau vient d’être mis à l’eau et c’était la première course du skipper espagnol sur sa nouvelle monture. La prise en main d’une telle machine demande du temps et c’est somme toute logique que Bubi n’ait pas trouvé d’emblée les clés pour rivaliser avec des garçons qui cumulent les milles, tant en entrainement qu’en course. Mais surtout, Javier Sansó a démontré que le concept d’un bateau de course équipé à 100% en énergies renouvelables était parfaitement réaliste. Et c’est déjà sa première victoire.
Un schéma à reconduire
A l’occasion d’une conférence de presse en présence de Jack Dillenbourg, adjoint au Maire de la ville de La Rochelle chargé des Sports et de Dominique Wavre, skipper et administrateur de l’IMOCA pour l’occasion, l’organisation de l’Europa Warm’Up a dévoilé le programme des festivités durant la semaine. Jeudi, les skippers des monocoques ont invité les enfants des écoles rochelaises à venir visiter les bateaux et plonger dans les entrailles de ces monstres de carbone. Qui sait s’ils ne recueilleront pas quelques confidences des navigateurs, souvent diablement discrets sur leurs petits secrets de fabrication. Mais que ne feraient pas les navigateurs pour les jeunes pousses ? Vendredi, les monocoques sortiront de l’écrin du bassin des chalutiers pour quelques chronos dans le pertuis d’Antioche. Samedi, ce sera la fête sur les quais, avec tout d’abord un grand tournoi de pétanque à 13h30 devant le café de la Renommée ; tournoi qui pourrait associer skippers et quelques joueurs de l’équipe de rugby de l’Atlantique Stade Rochelais. A partir de 14h, le quai Eric Tabarly bruissera des musiques de la Fanfare Sociale quand les producteurs locaux proposeront des dégustations. A 16h, ce sont les skippers qui seront au centre des attractions avec une séance de dédicaces, suivie de la remise des prix officielle. Un objectif commun : accueillir un très large public. La fête se terminera par un concert à bord du France 1 manière de clôturer en beauté la semaine… Les skippers ont, en tous cas, été séduits par l’accueil des Rochelais et l’ont fait savoir. Alors, La Rochelle, ville étape de l’Europa Warm’Up en 2014 ? L’hypothèse n’a rien d’incongru.
Ils ont dit :
Jack Dillenbourg, adjoint au Maire de la ville de La Rochelle chargé des Sports : « Le format d’une telle manifestation est éminemment séduisant. Voir ces monocoques dans le bassin des chalutiers, entendre les skippers parler de leurs exploits avec une telle simplicité, nous sommes évidemment très heureux de pouvoir accueillir l’Europa Warm’Up, même si compte tenu des circonstances, nous avons dû travailler dans l’urgence. C’est aussi la vocation de La Rochelle d’accueillir des grands événements voile… Alors un retour de la course dans deux ans, cela mérite d’être étudié.»
Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), quatrième de l’étape : « La course n’a pas toujours été facile, mais elle est particulièrement instructive. C’est un format parfait : une première étape en équipage qui permet de valider des choix techniques avec les personnes compétentes à bord et une deuxième en solitaire pour tester notre capacité à prendre en main ces machines qui sont quand même incroyablement complexes.
De cette deuxième étape, je retiens du bon et du moins bon. Le pire, c’est la perte de mes deux spis juste après les Açores. Cheminées Poujoulat s’est retrouvé avec les ailes coupées, notamment dans la dernière partie du parcours. Autre souci de moindre envergure, le fait que mes voiles en carbone perturbent les émissions des ondes radio. J’ai attaqué la descente depuis le Fastnet sans avoir pu mettre à jour mes informations météo. Le meilleur, cela reste ce grand bord de portant dans du vent soutenu entre les Açores et le Fastnet. On a vu qu’il fallait attaquer et cette course a montré combien le niveau est élevé et homogène. J’ai fait des pointes à 30 nœuds, il fallait quand même tenir le bateau…»
Javier Sansó (ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered), cinquième de l’étape : « On a eu pas mal de soucis avec les pilotes qui ne fonctionnaient pas très bien. On l’a constaté avant même d’arriver aux Açores. En revanche, sur le plan des performances, le bateau est parfait. Je n’ai eu aucun souci de production d’énergie, les panneaux solaires couplés aux hydrogénérateurs. On a eu trois jours sans un rayon de soleil et tout a bien fonctionné. C’est dommage d’avoir été séparé du reste de la flotte du fait de mes pilotes. J’ai pu tester néanmoins beaucoup de choses. Enfin, il faut dire que le niveau de la flotte était incroyable. Pour moi, le futur vainqueur du Vendée Globe se trouve parmi ces gars-là.»
Dominique Wavre (skipper et administrateur de l’IMOCA) : « Moi qui ai choisi La Rochelle comme port d’attache de mon Mirabaud, je suis particulièrement content de voir les IMOCA investir les pontons du bassin des chalutiers. Je suis épaté de voir le niveau de performance des concurrents. Je suis tout aussi bluffé sur la manière dont l’équipe d’organisation a réussi le tour de force de monter une course impeccable tant au niveau organisation que suivi médiatique en aussi peu de temps. Je serais très fier de voir cette épreuve revenir à La Rochelle. »
Classement général provisoire Etape 2 (avant validation du jury) :
Rg
Bateau
Date d’arrivée
Heure d’arrivée
Temps de course
1
PRB
03-juin-12
11h 22mn 50s
7j 18h 22mn 50s
2
MACIF
03-juin-12
12h 33mn 58s
7j 19h 33mn 58s
3
Banque Populaire
03-juin-12
15h 11mn 15s
7j 22h 11mn 15s
4
Cheminées Poujoulat
03-juin-12
17h 16mn 17s
8j 00h 16mn 17s
5
ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered
04-juin-12
15h 12mn 22s
8j 22h 12mn 22s
ABD
Virbac-Paprec 3
ABD
Groupe Bel
Javier Sansó crossed the La Rochelle finish line of the Europa Warm’Up race at 13h 12m22 s (UTC) to complete his first major competitive test with his new Owen-Clarke designed ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered. He finished with an elapsed time of 8 days, 22h, 12m on a theoretical average of 10.79kts.
Spanish skipper Sansó may have crossed the finish line around 24 hours after the fourth placed skipper Bernard Stamm, but Sansó now has a good measure of what he needs to achieve for himself and his boat prior to starting his second Vendée Globe this coming November.
The Europa Warm’Up has been something of a baptism of fire for the Palma, Mallorca based Sansó, not just in making his first major race with the boat, but in immediately putting himself up against the cream of the IMOCA Open 60 crop in terms of the best optimised boats, most experienced skippers, newest boats and the up and coming stars. He will have discovered the level he wants to reach is high, but meantime he has certainly proven the reliability and efficiency of his 100% renewable energy IMOCA Open 60, and so to that extent at least Sanso can consider his first victory to be completed.
In La Rochelle, where the race finished, a press conference unveiled the week’s plans for the Europa Warm’Up’s programme there. The city’s assistant director for sports Jack Dillenbourg, accompanied by IMOCA’s Dominique Wavre reported that schoolchildren will get their chance to visit La Rochelle on Thursday to crawl all over these carbon monsters. Who knows if any will choose to reveal some of the dark, hidden secrets which to date have remained known only to the sailors and their shore teams. On Friday the boats will come out of the fishing boat dock to take to the waters off La Rochelle for timed racing.
They said :
Jack Dillenbourg, Deputy Mayor for Sport in the City of La Rochelle: “The format of this event is very attractive. Seeing these boats in the fishing boat basin and it is easy to understand these stories. We are obviously very pleased to host the Europa Warm’Up although given the circumstances we had to work at speed to be ready.”
Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), fourth placed: « This race has not always been easy or straightforward, but it has been insightful and instructive. The format has been great. The first, crewed stage validates the technical choices with the right people on board and the second stage, solo, tests our ability to take full control on these machines, which are – after all – very complex. This second stage? Well I remember the good and the not so good. The worst bit was losing two kites after the Azores. Cheminées Poujoulat ended up with her wings chopped a bit, especially over the last bit. Another thing is that my carbon sails seem to interfere with the comms. I came from the Fastnet unable to really update my weather info. The best was still the great downwind sailing in strong winds between the Azores and the Fastnet. We saw just how high and even the level is. I hit 30kts at times but you need to look after the boat”.
Javier Sansó (ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered), in fifth: « We had a lot of trouble with autopilots which did not work very well. This was obvious even before reaching the the Azores. However, in terms of performance, the boat is perfect. I have not had any problems with generating power, using solar panels and hydrogenerators. We had three days without a ray of sunshine and everything worked fine. It’s a shame to have been separated away a bit from the rest of the fleet because of my pilots. I’ve learned many things, however. Finally, it must be said that the level of the fleet was incredible. For me, the future winner of the Vendée Globe is one of those guys. »
Dominique Wavre (skipper and director of the IMOCA): « I have chosen La Rochelle as the home port of Mirabaud, and I am particularly pleased to see the IMOCA’s bring pontoons into the fisherman’s basin. I’m amazed to see the performance level of the competitors. I’m just as amazed as to how the organization team has managed the feat of running a flawless race with a great media operation in such a short time. I would be very proud to see this event return to La Rochelle. »
Leg 2 Final standings before jury:
Rank
Boat
Finish date
Finish time
Elapased time
1
PRB
03-June-12
11h 22mn 50s
7d 18h 22mn 50s
2
MACIF
03-June -12
12h 33mn 58s
7d 19h 33mn 58s
3
Banque Populaire
03-June -12
15h 11mn 15s
7d 22h 11mn 15s
4
Cheminées Poujoulat
03-June -12
17h 16mn 17s
8d 00h 16mn 17s
5
ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered
04-June -12
15h 12mn 22s
8d 22h 12mn 22s
ABD
Virbac-Paprec 3
ABD
Groupe Bel
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Press Release/ Monday, june 4, 2012
Bubi’s baptism of fire
Javier Sansó crossed the La Rochelle finish line of the Europa Warm’Up race at 13h 12m22 s (UTC) to complete his first major competitive test with his new Owen-Clarke designed ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered. He finished with an elapsed time of 8 days, 22h, 12m on a theoretical average of 10.79kts.
Spanish skipper Sansó may have crossed the finish line around 24 hours after the fourth placed skipper Bernard Stamm, but Sansó now has a good measure of what he needs to achieve for himself and his boat prior to starting his second Vendée Globe this coming November.
The Europa Warm’Up has been something of a baptism of fire for the Palma, Mallorca based Sansó, not just in making his first major race with the boat, but in immediately putting himself up against the cream of the IMOCA Open 60 crop in terms of the best optimised boats, most experienced skippers, newest boats and the up and coming stars. He will have discovered the level he wants to reach is high, but meantime he has certainly proven the reliability and efficiency of his 100% renewable energy IMOCA Open 60, and so to that extent at least Sanso can consider his first victory to be completed.
In La Rochelle, where the race finished, a press conference unveiled the week’s plans for the Europa Warm’Up’s programme there. The city’s assistant director for sports Jack Dillenbourg, accompanied by IMOCA’s Dominique Wavre reported that schoolchildren will get their chance to visit La Rochelle on Thursday to crawl all over these carbon monsters. Who knows if any will choose to reveal some of the dark, hidden secrets which to date have remained known only to the sailors and their shore teams. On Friday the boats will come out of the fishing boat dock to take to the waters off La Rochelle for timed racing.
Click on the images to download them.
Photos are rights free for editorial use, for use
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must be the credit
ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered
© Olivier Blanchet / Europa Warm’Up
Bernard Stamm and Jack Dillenbourg
© Olivier Blanchet / Europa Warm’Up
Dominique Wavre
© Olivier Blanchet / Europa Warm’Up
Jack Dillenbourg
© Olivier Blanchet / Europa Warm’Up
They said :
Jack Dillenbourg, Deputy Mayor for Sport in the City of La Rochelle: “The format of this event is very attractive. Seeing these boats in the fishing boat basin and it is easy to understand these stories. We are obviously very pleased to host the Europa Warm’Up although given the circumstances we had to work at speed to be ready.”
Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat), fourth placed: « This race has not always been easy or straightforward, but it has been insightful and instructive. The format has been great. The first, crewed stage validates the technical choices with the right people on board and the second stage, solo, tests our ability to take full control on these machines, which are – after all – very complex. This second stage? Well I remember the good and the not so good. The worst bit was losing two kites after the Azores. Cheminées Poujoulat ended up with her wings chopped a bit, especially over the last bit. Another thing is that my carbon sails seem to interfere with the comms. I came from the Fastnet unable to really update my weather info. The best was still the great downwind sailing in strong winds between the Azores and the Fastnet. We saw just how high and even the level is. I hit 30kts at times but you need to look after the boat”.
Javier Sansó (ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered), in fifth: « We had a lot of trouble with autopilots which did not work very well. This was obvious even before reaching the the Azores. However, in terms of performance, the boat is perfect. I have not had any problems with generating power, using solar panels and hydrogenerators. We had three days without a ray of sunshine and everything worked fine. It’s a shame to have been separated away a bit from the rest of the fleet because of my pilots. I’ve learned many things, however. Finally, it must be said that the level of the fleet was incredible. For me, the future winner of the Vendée Globe is one of those guys. »
Dominique Wavre (skipper and director of the IMOCA): « I have chosen La Rochelle as the home port of Mirabaud, and I am particularly pleased to see the IMOCA’s bring pontoons into the fisherman’s basin. I’m amazed to see the performance level of the competitors. I’m just as amazed as to how the organization team has managed the feat of running a flawless race with a great media operation in such a short time. I would be very proud to see this event return to La Rochelle. »
Leg 2 Final standings before jury:
Rank
Boat
Finish date
Finish time
Elapased time
1
PRB
03-June-12
11h 22mn 50s
7d 18h 22mn 50s
2
MACIF
03-June -12
12h 33mn 58s
7d 19h 33mn 58s
3
Banque Populaire
03-June -12
15h 11mn 15s
7d 22h 11mn 15s
4
Cheminées Poujoulat
03-June -12
17h 16mn 17s
8d 00h 16mn 17s
5
ACCIONA 100% EcoPowered
04-June -12
15h 12mn 22s
8d 22h 12mn 22s
ABD
Virbac-Paprec 3
ABD
Groupe Bel