ISAF Sailing Worlds, Santander - Groupama duo claims 22nd

by Groupama Sailing Team on 21 Sep 2014 For their first participation in the Olympic mixed double format in a World Championship, Franck Cammas and Sophie de Turckheim have secured 22nd place, a performance that was rather a far cry from their usual quality and standard. Essentially contested in breezy conditions, which isn't their strong point, the Groupama duo remains as positive and determined as ever to continue their work with the French team. Ultimately, their aim is to be able to compete on a level footing with Billy Besson and Marie Riou, the fabulous 2014 world champions, who utterly dominated the competition.

Whilst the Nacra 17 is only on its second year of existence, the general standard of the world's elite is continuing to progress. This was reflected at the European Championship in La Grande Motte last July as well as this World Championship in Santander, where the standard of control and performance achieved in the breezy conditions has been spectacular.

And at this little game, what particularly stands out is the superiority of Besson and Riou, who are as agile as they are quick, whilst some of the others struggle to remain upright at times.

Aboard Groupama 17, Franck and Sophie have made considerable progress on the beats, but haven't yet nailed all the automatic reflexes downwind and during the transition phases, particularly when rounding the leeward marks: 'It's getting better and better, but we're still losing ground in the transition phases,' comments the skipper of Groupama. However, at this stage of the game, every metre lost costs dearly in terms of final positions.

As such, the question is how are they going to make up for this handicap? 'It's obviously important to train in breezy conditions, but nothing beats racing for that. That's where you learn the most as you're giving your all and there are stakes at play,' adds Franck.

Alongside him, Sophie is also realistic: 'Obviously we're disappointed but we're not demoralised. We still have time before the selection for the Rio Games. Aboard the boat we're communicating better and we remain very strong in the light and medium wind. It's down to us now to keep up with our efforts and draw up a solid racing programme'.

Under the watchful eye of Franck Citeau, who heads a team which has two crews entered into the Medal Race with Moana Vaireaux and Manon Audinet in tenth place in addition to Besson et Riou, the French Nacra 17 group is competing at the very top level along with the English, Australians and Italian crews.

With less than two years until the Olympic Games in Rio, their current performance augurs very well for the future, which is a thrilling prospect for the French Sailing Federation, whose racers are also earning a sizeable medal haul in the men and women's windsurfing competition. With at least three gold medals to its credit, France is the lead nation ahead of Holland and Australia.