Axon Racing to challenge Groupama Sailing Team in Little Cup 2015 final
by Thibault Tallieu 18 Sep 2015 19:04 AEST
12-20 September 2015
The qualifying phase of the LITTLECUP 2015 is nearly over. After 6 fleet races run over 4 days, it is no surprise that Groupama has qualified and will be defending its title in the final against the Swiss team Axon Racing tomorrow morning.
Setting the tone from the very 1st day of the competition, the Cammas/Viat Team kept its promise and sailed its way to the final without any difficulty. Its clear superiority was confirmed from one round to the next, as the crew clocked up win after win from Monday through to Wednesday.
After making short work of the first 5 rounds, the team got a little ruffled by the light wind which favoured the displacement craft and highly motivated teams on the 6th and last round.
Right in the middle of the race, the wind suddenly dropped, meaning the course had to be shortened, which played into the hands of Team Allemand on Sentient Blue who had got off to a particularly good start. A fine win which chuffed Thomas Paasch, Filip Walczak and their shore team, serving as a reminder – the day before the final phase – that no-one is invincible.
The battle for 2nd place and a ticket through to the "match races" against Franck Cammas and Louis Viat, was a particularly hard fight for the two Swiss teams. Neck and neck throughout the week, by Wednesday evening just one single point separated Axon Racing and Norgador after a day of fickle conditions. The teams were still very close in the 6th and final round today, but the "Benoîts" on Axon finished ahead of Norgador, bagging their place in the final.
"The final will be playing Icarus against Archimedes with Aeolus as judge out on the Lake", according to Christophe, a fine connoisseur present in the Village.
For the enthusiastic Benoît Marie, skipper of the Swiss Axon Racing team: "A whole new race starts over tomorrow, certainly the most difficult one of my life, but we'll do everything we can to win!". And Franck Cammas, conscious that it's not won yet, rounds off with: "If we are to beat Axon Racing, we need wind to fly, so we hope we're going to get more than 6 knots!"
The little final of the LITTLECUP will also sort out who's who between the teams Norgador and Sentient Blue. Conditions should be a little better, but a (little) wind could completely reshuffle the pack in the LITTLECUP 2015.
Coming up:
- Friday and Saturday: final and third place playoff
- Sunday: Geneva Fleet Race at 11h on Lake Geneva in front of the SNG
www.littlecup.org