At the C-Class Catamaran Championship, finishing second and fifth, the two boats representing Switzerland largely exceeded their goal, and are now ranked among the best teams of the world as well from a sporting point of view as technological.
Ranked second, two points behind Franck Cammas, the day before the end of the race, Billy Besson and Jérémie Lagarrigue, along with the whole technical team of Hydros, did everything possible to change the outcome of the competition.
This morning, with 20 knots of wind and gusts at 30, Hydros decided- to everybody’s general amazement – to cut the upper part of their rigid wing in order to limit the pressure and to show Frank Cammas that they were going to be a threat until the last second of the race.
The start of the only race of the day was given in strong wind conditions which are not really adapted to these high technology boats. Billy Besson and Jérémie Lagarrigue decided to start racing alone, Cammas preferring to observe the action from the coast. Wise choice: victim of a damage of its steering system, the Hydros catamaran dug in and capsized, destroying the last hopes of the Swiss team.
'I believe that we were a little too aggressive', conceded Jérémie Lagarrigue at the end of the race. 'As Groupama was not racing, we should have sailed slowly, without taking any risk. But we are used to doing our utmost not to regret anything and to fight for Switzerland with pride. It is something we paid for, and we are disappointed.'
Besson/Lagarrigue could have taken the wing of the other crew -Heemskerk/Tentij- to finish the day, but Jérémie Lagarrigue, Hydros project manager, on the contrary, decided to leave the second Hydros crew the chance to fight for the third place.
However, as the team of SUI 11 was about to go sailing for the last races in fleet, the Race Committee decided to cancel and not to send the boats on water.
The Hydros team won the highly technological world of the C-Class over by their will and pugnacity: Swiss people never give up! The Swiss team made a conspicuous entrance in this very exclusive circle, and fulfilled their goals: a place in final, fiercely representing Switzerland and its know-how.
'The overall results are excellent; we achieved the main objectives we had set. The victory was not doable anymore so we just wanted to finish with panache, and I believe we did it', said Jérémie Lagarrigue at the end of this exciting day. We have showed many things, and learned even more. As from today, we will analyze our race, and learn from it which will be very invaluable for the future. Because the adventure will continue, that’s for sure!'
Exhausted and happy, Jérémie and Billy, along with Heemskerk/Tentij, absolutely wanted once again thank all the people associated with their project, starting with the team, the manufacturers, the designers of Hydros, and of course its sponsor, the Lombard Odier bank & Co.
Hydros website
by MaxComm Communication
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http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=115160
7:06 PM Sat 28 Sep 2013GMT
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