Interview with Simon Sutherland - Force EDC

by Isabelle Musy on 1 Aug 2002 Simon Sutherland : ' We've achieved our goal by wining the student division, But it's also good to finish 10th overall. We're happy as it was our first time. We did not really know what to expect coming into the event and having not sailing Mumm 30 before. Having not sailed in the Tour Voile before. So we're really happy with how the things have gone and we're looking forward to coming back next year and try again.

Having a close look at tour results, I think the Atlantic offshore legs were probably where we won the student class. I think in one race we pout 40 points to the second placed student. That's probably where we won the student class and also established ourselves in the top ten in the offshore race.

We've picked up a lot of ideas for next year. You've got to be very organized. Have a good crew all lined up. Every thing must be in place before you come.
The level is high. We were up and down a lot. You can have a win one day and the next day you'll be back in the 20's or 30's. The top guys are the guys who stayed in the top ten every race. I think that it's harder than it looks to do that, especially in the Med with the winds shifting around a lot. That's where the top guys do very well. They always stay in the top bunch'.