The French syndicate Cup has finally disembarked
in Lorient, and with its two America's Cup Class
boats (FRA 69 and 79) joined the old FRA 46 (former
Sixième Sens) at its French base, le défi
Areva team is eager to resume training.
But before that it's time to retain and build
on the talent and experience the Team have developed
within the sailing team. But considering the poor
performance of the former afterguard, the main
question is now to decide who will drive the boat.
Xavier de Lesquen, general manager of le Défi
confirmed that they would be replacing Philippe
Presti and Luc Pillot and said he wants to recruit
Paul Cayard for the coming America's Cup.
De Lesquen flew to San Francisco to meet Cayard
and he said "contacts are well established"
with the America's Cup veteran.
Paul Cayard is known for leading the Italian America's
Cup team, Il Moro di Venezia, to the America's
Cup in 1992. As manager and skipper of the Il
Moro di Venezia syndicate, Cayard captured the
Louis Vuitton Cup, winning the right to race for
the America's Cup finals.
Cayard's last 10 years have seen him move through
the upper echelons of the sport, winning maxi
and 50-foot titles, racking up four America's
Cups and being a major force in the Starboat class
and match race circuit when he chose.
French's America's Cup challenge could made a
big credibility gain with the signing of Paul
Cayard but the dream would only become reality
if the team could give financial and sports garanties.
Counting
cost of the cash factor (12/28/02) (source
: NZ
Herald)
When Le Defi grimace at the modesty of their
America's Cup purse, they glance down syndicate
row for inspiration. Team New Zealand, they keep
reminding themselves, have won sailing's coveted
trophy on budgets a fraction the size of the big
American and European players.
For the French, with one of the smallest campaigns
battling the new billionaires, it provides much
needed perspective.
This campaign their budget doubled from three years
ago to €25 million ($50 million), yet they remained
one of the least wealthy camps on the street, unable
to compare their finances with the likes of Italian
rivals Prada, whose coffers soared to €95 million.
Already Le Defi have begun work on putting together
their next challenge, and their affable director
general, Xavier de Lesquen, knows even more money
will be needed next time. But he is sure that while
their team may never match the big spenders, it
takes more than money to win.
"We are not looking for that amount of money. "We
are completely sure that with a bigger budget, not
a huge budget, but a slightly bigger budget and
with good timing and with good organisation we can
do quite well in the future."
French teams have tried to win the America's Cup
for more than 30 years, since the king of the ballpoint
pen and disposable lighter, Baron Marcel Bich, put
together a string of challenges.
It was only six years ago that Le Defi was created,
when highly-regarded sailors Luc Gellusseau and
Pierre Mas met de Lesquen, a former naval engineer-turned-senior
civil servant, who was part of a Government taskforce
investigating how France could win the America's
Cup.
Three years ago, Le Defi exceeded expectations by
squeezing into the semifinals ahead of the New York
Yacht Club's boat, which had earlier buckled on
the Hauraki Gulf.
But when the cup ended, like Team New Zealand, their
talents were raided and they lost sailors and crew
to other European syndicates - and also their helmsman,
Bertrand Pace, to Team New Zealand.
In the past three years there has been a new team
created, as well as the signing on of a controversial
new sponsor, French nuclear company Areva.
Getting knocked out in the quarter-finals, had not
been all bad news for the sponsors, de Lesquen said.
"The amount of coverage and return for the companies
is very, very important. "Even with our results
the returns are very good for our partners. "We
know the media coverage was huge, it was six times
more than expected in six or seven key countries."
That, according to an Areva survey, turned into
exposure worth €25 million, significantly better
than their sponsorship commitment of €15 million.
De Lesquen said in this campaign the main problem
for the French was not the size of their budget,
but the fact the money was secured late, which impacted
on planning, design and research.
So he now wants to find funding quickly for the
next challenge, probably in 2005-2006, to secure
his team. He will not say whether the French will
try to lure Pace home.
"After 2000, we were financially weak compared to
the newcomers and the other teams, so we knew we
were not able to keep some of our key people. Bertrand
was one of them."
"Of course we miss him, but it's a professional
sport. We know for all these people it is a question
of money, of salaries, but it is also a question
of being in a very good team".
"Bertrand must have had some marvellous times inside
the best sailing team in the world. We have no difficulty
with that, we think he has made a very good choice."
De Lesquen is relaxed about the America's Cup staying
in New Zealand. While a European venue would be
good for sponsors, New Zealand remains a cheap host
- much cheaper than Europe and certainly less expensive
than having to fund a challenge to the United States.
He said he would be watching to see how the challengers
and Team New Zealand fared over the coming weeks.
To develop his crew it would be important to pick
up skills from the top syndicates.
"We started this campaign with not an experienced
crew, but at the end we had a very positive team",
he said. "We really want to keep some key people,
we want to keep that momentum. But on the other
hand we know that in a lot of technical and sports
aspects we need to have some input from the best
teams here."
"So that might mean even the financial minnows
will try to capture some of the top crew",
he said. "We will try to speak to the right people
and the best people to try to go further, faster".
Le
Défi is planning to get back to sailing (12/04/02) (source
: Le
Défi)
Le Défi Areva is planning to get back
to sailing in Lorient this coming Spring despite
a disappointing quarter-final elimination by Victory
Challenge in the challenger series.
"We are taking all our equipment back to Lorient,
the base is waiting for us there with all the infrastructure
necessary to get the boats operational again",
said Pierre Mas, the Sports Director. "There
will only be ten people there to unload the cargo
in January".
Pierre Mas insisted this campaign had laid solid
foundations for future success and he was determined
to take le Défi to the next America's Cup.
"There's still plenty to learn from these boats
before we start designing any new ones", he
said. "We haven't yet seen them perform to
their potential, so we will have to carry out more
tests on their keels, bottoms, rigging and sails
to confirm what we're after when we start work on
a new boat".
Now, if there's any lesson it's to start early and
to get the boats in the next venue early.
Le
Défi's training in the Hauraki Gulf is over
(11/27/02) (source
: Le
Défi)
The activity in New Zealand waters for le Défi
Areva is over and by the beginning of December the
boats and equipment will be ready to be shipped
back to France via cargo.
Whilst their colleagues are competiting for the
repechage, this it was the last training day with
the two yellow boats in the Hauraki Gulf before
the departure
Philippe Presti and Luc Gelluseau skippered FRA
69, Sébastien Destrémau and Philippe
Presti are on FRA 79 for four hours of intense concentration
making tiny adjustments.
From today everybody is busy packing up all the
equipment which has to be shipped to France - boats,
sails, tenders, rigs, etc... Five weeks are necessary
for the cargo ship to reach Lorient.
While Le Défi hasn’t committed to come back to the
next Louis Vuitton Cup, its sponsors this time are
said to be very interested in the next campaign.
Interested enough to approve the last tests with
FRA 69 and 79 despite being eliminated from contention
last week.
Le
Défi training for an extra session in NZ
(11/20/02) (source
: Le
Défi)
Le Défi Areva plan on staying around
the Viaduct Basin till the beginning of December,
despite being ousted from the Louis Vuitton Cup
on Monday.
Today, the three directors of the french Challenge,
Xavier de Lesquen, Luc Gellusseau and Pierre Mas
announced to the team there is still plenty of work
to be done, with an eye on their next campaign.
"We are working for the next Cup, probably in 2006",
explains Le Défi sport director Pierre Mas.
"This Cup is not an end in itself, but just
a step. The work is continuing and There are a lot
of things to learn".
The team will sail three days with FRA 69 and 79,
then the technicians will modify both Class America
before new navigations.
This program should be completed about December
4. Then, le Défi Areva will pack up and heading
back to France.
British
and French are ready for the next Cup (11/18/02) (Sources
: BBC&
NZ
Herald)
While the Swedes broke out the bubbly after
their win in the quarter-finals of the Louis Vuitton
challenger series, supporters of France's Le Défi
Areva and Britain's GBR Challenge yesterday struggled
to hold back tears of realisation that their America's
Cup dream was over.
For the French, semifinalists in the last series,
this event has not gone anywhere as smoothly. Their
fluorescent green yacht FRA69 was always down on
speed and they were unable to cement a strong afterguard.
Off the water the French struggled to find funding
- their budget was small - and, when they did, their
Areva nuclear sponsorship got them offside with
Greenpeace, whose inflatable protest boat collided
with the yacht at its launch in Lorient, France.
Le Défi head Xavier de Lesquen confirmed
his team’s interest in challenging again but added
that it was too early to make a definite commitment.
Indeed, it is too early to know where or when the
next America’s Cup will be held. The winner of the
Cup, whether Team New Zealand or a Louis Vuitton
Cup challenger, will decide the venue and the time
frame.
"It has been wonderful to be part of this regatta.
We have been late with our programme for sure, but
now we have to think about the future," he said.
"We know to compete with the other teams we have
to be better prepared."
Undeterred, GBR Challenge boss Peter Harrison said
his team was ready to go anywhere in the world in
its quest for the Cup, whether it involved challenging
or defending.
He insisted that Britain's first America's Cup entry
for 15 years had laid solid foundations for future
success. Despite the disappointment - and the massive
outlay of cash - he was determined to take GBR Challenge
to the next America's Cup.
"I'm planning on continuity, definitely," he said.
"I've taken lots of decisions within the team, which
will enable that to happen. The key thing I wanted
to do was kick-start Britain back into what I call
the World Cup of sailing".
Businessman Harrison stumped up £22m to revive Britain's
involvement in the competition but he stressed it
was money well spent to help put Britain back on
the America's Cup map.
"The only disappointment is that we didn't bring
GBR 78 here early enough and were always going to
be a one-boat programme", He said. "So if there's
any lesson it's to start early and to get your boats
here early. But we'll have a better opportunity
next time."
"The key to continuity is hopefully we have
shown, where we've got major global companies and
British companies, that there is value in supporting
and backing us for this World Cup of sailing".
"Given that, I am prepared to put in certain additional
monies and carry the campaign on. But I do need
partners and sponsors to join me."
Harrison said the GBR team would stay in Auckland
until December 31 and start preparing for the next
cup.
