Spindrift heads to Copenhagen for 2016 World Match Racing Tour

by Spindrift racing on 4 May 2016 By taking third place at his first event in the opening round of the 2016 World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) in Fremantle, Australia, Yann Guichard and his team showed their ambition and motivation in this new type of dueling event on M32 catamarans. A month later and it is competition time again, with the second meeting in Copenhagen (Denmark) being held from May 9 to 14.

But in the meantime, starting tomorrow, the Spindrift team will be competing in the M32 Series - a circuit where a dozen boats participate in a series of fleet races. This additional competition, being held from 5-7 May, will allow the team to continue to develop and train on the M32 catamaran, with the aim of performing even better in the next WMRT events.

You were on the podium for your first competition on the WMRT, does this add extra pressure for the next event in Copenhagen?
“There is no special pressure on us after Fremantle. It’s true that it was a good result to finish third, because we have a lot to learn on this circuit, as everything is new to us: the boat, the support, the courses and the match racing. Now, we’ll take the good things we did in Fremantle to try to be as competitive as possible in Copenhagen.”

Participating on a circuit at this level will help you to develop new skills as a sailor - what are you expecting for this next event?
“Sailing on different types of boat is important for keeping this team at the highest level. The M32 catamaran is totally new to us: it has a mainsail but no jib, which means it sails differently. In Fremantle, we had lots of things to learn, every day and every race allowed us to improve and we’ll try to take the best of what we learnt to continue progressing. We’ve been training hard in Brittany to try to make us as competitive as possible in Copenhagen.”

As a multihull specialist - what do you think of the M32 and the World Match Racing Tour?
“Multihulls are part of the DNA of the Spindrift racing team, they’re what we love and what we know. It was important for us to join the World Tour, one of the most international tours. We’re the only French entry of 20 teams competing this year, so it was important for us to take part in this circuit, which is extremely high-level and brings together the best sailors in the world. But we come to this circuit feeling quite humble because, even if we know multihulls, we have no experience of match racing. So, we have to continue to learn and keep in mind that our goal is to perform as well as possible in at the final event of the season in Marstrand, Sweden at the beginning of July – that’s where the title of world champion is at stake.”

You had to quickly replace a member of your crew, can you tell us why?
“Sébastien Marsset, our bowman, was injured during training in La Trinité-sur-Mer. It’s nothing serious but he can’t join us for the upcoming events. So, Paul Dagault, a young sailor, will replace Sebastian and fill the bow position. Paul is someone with experience and has sailed a lot in RC44. I sailed in the AC45 with him and I know his skills. He is very determined and very tough.”

What lessons do you learn from the M32 that you can then translate onto the maxi-trimaran Spindrift 2 to be even more competitive?
“Even though the ultimate objective of the team is still the Jules Verne Trophy record with Spindrift 2, sailing all kinds of boats can develop your skills, especially if it’s a multihull. While these three boats don’t have the same dimensions, they’re all crewed races where, as with the maxi-trimaran, the right decisions must be taken quickly to avoid mistakes. It also allows you to ask questions of yourself compared to other sailors or teams, who sail differently. This is what makes sailing beautiful: you’re learning from the first day to the last - we’re still learning all the time.

The M32 is a fantastic boat and it helps us to keep working on the cohesion of the crew. On a voyage around the world, the challenge is to maintain a tightly-knit team throughout the journey. We know that there can be ups and downs and I think that learning to get to know each other better and sailing together is essential. We’ll have to sail more than 200 days a year together before the start of the Jules Verne Trophy, so it's important for us to be together on these different boats.”