Spindrift Racing to make another Jules Verne attempt in 2017

by Spindrift racing on 3 Nov 2016 As Spindrift racing begins its fifth anniversary celebrations, the team has today confirmed its programme for the 2017 season.

Once again the team, formed by Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard will be campaigning across the range of multihulls that make up the fleet of the Brittany-based team. The maxi trimaran Spindrift 2 and the MC32 will be at the heart of the programme, competing at a variety of events around the world.

“It is an ambitious programme, and we feel that we are in a really good place. We have spent five years honing our skills in multihulls and putting together a great team, both on and off the water. This year we will continue to sail against the best of the best of international sailors,” comments Yann Guichard.

For the second year running, Guichard will be participating in the World Match Racing Tour, and has again set his sights on the event Championship in July. The five Championship events will see the black and gold team competing against some of the worlds best match racers.

'We were straight in at the deep-end last year, and I was pleased with the way we performed. This year is all about continuing to develop our match racing and boat handling skills to make sure that we are on the podium at every event,' comments Guichard.

Following the success in the D35 Championship and 2016 win in the Mirabaud Bol d’Or, Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing will once again be competing on Lake Geneva and has set its sights on the Bol d'Or in June. However, success on this class will be no mean feat in this fleet of increasingly highly competitive teams.

And finally, the jewel in the Spindrift racing crown, the maxi trimaran Spindrift 2, will once more challenge for the Jules Verne Trophy in the winter of 2017.

'It was a difficult decision to decide not to go this year but, it was absolutely the right one. We will be attempting a number of European-based records later in the year before a final refit and starting preparations for the Jules Verne Trophy. We had originally intended to take part in The Bridge transatlantic race, but sadly the crew limit published in the Pre Notice of Race has precluded us from participating. Spindrift 2 is optimised for the Jules Verne Trophy and a crew of 12-14, so the new limit could lead to safety issues, as well as affect our performance. It is a shame to not be able to exploit the full potential of Spindrift 2 and at the same time, try to beat the Queen Mary II. So this year we will not do a transatlantic but concentrate instead on European records, such as the Round Britain and Ireland and Round Ireland, as part of our training for the Jules Verne Trophy,' concludes Guichard.