Team Engie finish sixth in the GC32 World Championship in Muscat

by Sébastien Rogues on 7 Mar 2017 Sébastien Rogues and Team ENGIE are in Muscat, the Sultanate of Oman, having competed in the first foiling catamaran event of the 2017 season, the GC32 World Championship.

As the only French team taking part in the race, Team ENGIE finished in sixth place with two victories after 16 rounds. The light winds of the past few days dashed the team’s hopes for the fourth sport, but their sixth place result is still a great achievement. Team ENGIE’s next step is Act 1 of the Extreme Sailing Series, where they have been invited to join the competition alongside some outstanding teams.

It was a considerable challenge to be competing in the inaugural event of this new season, against the world's best sailors from the GC32 discipline.

“We are continuing our good performance from the end of last season”. Having entered in the world championship’s first edition of this highly complex and high-level discipline, Team ENGIE, led by Sébastien Rogues, has not disappointed and is satisfied with the results of the first leg of their circuit in Oman. “The World Championship has been a great achievement for us. We first spent a week training here in Muscat during which we worked on important points for our progress in the 2017 season.

The only disappointment was that on Sunday morning we were hoping for fourth place in the overall ranking, but ended up in sixth place. We made a few mistakes in the light winds and I believe we should have been more skilful and bolder in our approach. These are not the best conditions for the boat. We prefer strong winds! We felt that our level has stepped-up, and this is very important. We were able to win rounds, even on the third day. This is highly encouraging for Team ENGIE. When we see the level of this first world championship, we can be happy with our performance. We are continuing our good performance from the end of last season and that is also important. We feel that we have reached our objectives in terms of progress”, said Sébastien, who together with his crew, are now starting to prepare for Act 1 of the Extreme Sailing Series, the first round of which will be on Wednesday.

“The lions are going to be let loose in the arena, we are going to have to be opportunistic”
For four days, from Wednesday eighth to Saturday 11th March, 8 teams including Team ENGIE and Team Tilt, will compete against each other on this circuit. Both of these teams have also entered in the GC32 Racing Tour, and find themselves head to head again on this equally demanding but slightly different race course.

“It is an extraordinary opportunity to be able to be competing in this event with the phenomenally high-level teams that the competitors represent. The level at the Extreme Sailing Series, especially at the top of the fleet, is perhaps a little more equal, but this experience is going to be a real plus for us. Our goal is to win the maximum number of rounds and to have fewer bad rounds. The courses will be extremely short, very tactical and technical. The lions are going to be let loose in the arena, we are going to have to be opportunistic. We do not know the format of the regattas; it is very different to what is done on the GC32 Racing Tour. We will need to have good starts. All in all, we are very fortunate to be able to take part”.

This interlude in the Sultanate of Oman will certainly be a real plus for Team ENGIE, who will next be competing in the first leg of the GC32 Racing Tour from the beginning of May. This new experience will further strengthen Team ENGIE’s cohesion and inspire the team to take on 2017 with great determination.

Results of the GC32 World Championship, Muscat (Oman)
1 – Oman Air, 47 points
2 – Alinghi, 61 points
3 – SAP Extreme Sailing Team, 62 points
4 – Red Bull Sailing Team, 78 points
5 – Team Tilt, 90 points
6 – Team ENGIE, 92 points
7 – Land Rover BAR Academy, 98 points
8 – Tawera Racing, 108 points
9 – Argo, 120 points
10 – SVB Team Germany, 148 points
11 – Youth Vikings Denmark, 155 points