Little America's Cup - Groupama C wins first two races in Geneva

by Groupama Franck Cammas/Sail-World NZL on 15 Sep 2015 Defending champion, Groupama has won the first two races sailed in the 27th edition of the Little America's Cup, being sailed from the Societe Nautique de Geneve, Switzerland.

On the shores of Lake Geneva, prior to the start of the first race, mild concern was etched on the faces of the seven crews competing in the 27th Little Cup, or better known as the Little America's Cup competition, with a fairly strong south-westerly wind prompting the competitors to be cautious.

A few hours later, the results were not up to much. Whilst one of the class' stalwarts, Steve Clark, was forced to lay down his arms after breaking the wing of his C-Class Cogito2015/Aethon, in the second race of the day. Others like the Besson - Vandame duo didn't even score in either of the two races contested.

In a breeze reaching 28 knots at its peak, Franck Cammas and Louis Viat sailed Groupama C to victory in both races. I

Impressing rivals and spectators alike, the duo from Lorient certainly dashed the competition's hopes today: 'When we rounded the first windward mark and realised what a significant lead we had, we eased off the pace a little to limit the risk of breakage. It was a good decision because we've made it back to the dock this evening with the boat in tip-top condition, which isn't the case for everyone,' Louis Viat explains. 'With our new foils, designed by the Groupama design office, we're fantastically quick, especially upwind. This boat is a fighter plane'.



Alongside Louis, Franck is knee-deep in interviews but a few minutes later, the skipper of Groupama takes some time out to share his first impressions with us: 'It was war out on the water. Aside from the first tack, we were always very careful. We pulled off a peak speed of 31.8 knots but that wasn't the aim. We did win two races though and that's a good thing'.

With a downpour currently hammering down on the Société Nautique de Genève, some of the crews are checking the gear whilst others are getting out their repair kits. Suffice to say that it's likely to be a long night for them until 11:30am on Tuesday, which heralds the scheduled start of race No.3. The forecast is giving a medium breeze of around fifteen knots.

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Ranking for the Little Cup after the first two races:
1. Groupama Sailing Team, 2 points
2. Axon Racing, 5 points
3. Norgador, 12 points
4. Cogito 2015, 12 points
5. Rafale - ETS, 13 points
6. Sentient Blue, 16 points
7. Team Gstaad Yacht Club, 16 points

End of Day 1 - 2015 Little America's Cup :



French review of Day 1 and Cogito damage :



Axon Racing :



Aethon Damage and Steve Clark :

ETS Rafale damage :