Larry Rosenfeld joins the Geronimo crew

by Event Media on 10 Apr 2006 The American Larry Rosenfeld has joined the crew of Geronimo, the Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran. He will be taking up the highly important position of navigator for the forthcoming record attempt between San Francisco and Yokohama in Japan. To be successful, the American will have to find the best route possible over a very difficult course.

Larry Rosenfeld is a very versatile American athlete and entrepreneur. He sails multihulls and, indeed, maxis. He is also a very talented businessman. He has been using new technology in his work for a long time. From the early seventies, he successfully developed manufacturing sails using a computer. Thanks to his technological prowess, he designed and manufactured many sails for the America’s Cup Hood sailmaker between 1974 and 1980.

In 1984, he established Concentra Corporation, which soon became the leader in software solutions for industry. His clients were then Airbus, GM, Ford and Boeing. When in 1998, the financial world announced the hugely successful sale of Concentra to Oracle, Rosenfeld was then able to dedicate his time completely to sailing, with an emphasis on multihulls racing, a sport which was then almost totally unknown in the U.S.

He cultivated this passion by joining up with his compatriot Cam Lewis. In 1999, they set the new record between Miami and New York with Bruno Peyron aboard Explorer. They then created Team Adventure, which culminated in entering The Race (3rd) in 2000. During an attempt at the Atlantic record, a mid-ocean collision with a submerged container which had fallen from a ship seriously damaged the maxi catamaran. However, even without a boat to call his own, Rosenfeld continued to show his skills as a router and navigator in many American events: the Bermuda Race, Mackinaw and many others.

In November 2005, Rosenfeld received an invitation from Olivier de Kersauson, Geronimo's skipper, to join her crew. 'This is something I just could not miss,' says Rosenfeld. 'The first challenge to set a new Los Angeles–Honolulu record (which Geronimo completed in 4 days, 19 hours and 31 minutes) was fantastic. Working alongside Olivier is something really intense. The experience he has had in nine round-the-world voyages is impressive. He has an amazing capacity to feel what is happening around him, which allows him to predict what the weather is going to throw at us,' he continues. 'As for me, I’m bringing in some new technological tools to collect and analyze weather forecasts. And, of course, I'll use my experience and my analytical skills to provide every advantage I can to Geronimo in this next fantastic undertaking. But, in the end, Olivier will be making the decisions and carrying out his pivotal analysis. It's a really interesting process.'

Of the route between San Francisco and Yokohama, Rosenfeld is aware he will have his work cut out for him. 'Setting this record will be difficult. We’ll be sailing a lot against the winds. We’ll probably have to battle it out against four or five fronts, one after the other, over the 4800-mile course. It’s a bit like steaming up the motorway in the wrong direction. Even if Geronimo is the most suitable multihull for this exercise, the boat can be placed under a lot of strain in these conditions. There are many different choices of route and my calculations show that it can be covered in between 10 and 16 days according to the choices we make. That’s another reason why it is such an exciting challenge!' he concludes.

According to Rosenfeld, there is a window of opportunity to begin the attempt starting on Wednesday or Thursday, the 12th or 13th of April.