Guichard gave his all in the match racing
Posted on 07 December 2011
Two weeks after the very encouraging results in the World Series in San Diego, we met up with Yann Guichard, who was at the helm of the Energy Team AC45 in California.
Yann, how do you feel now about this World Series event in San Diego and the great results obtained by Energy Team?
YG: “It’s fantastic! I really gave it my all in the match racing. When I arrived, I was a bit overwhelmed by the event seeing all these top names of the Cup… but by the training week, things were falling into place. On Wednesday, if we hadn’t had the penalty, we would have achieved three podium places in a row. Above all, I felt like we were singing from the same hymn sheet aboard Energy Team. I’ve been racing now for twenty years and it’s not easy to explain, but you can feel when the crew is working in harmony, all pulling together and understanding each other. The closer we got to the race days, the greater our confidence. It was great to feel that, but it also the result of what we have been doing, what we have managed to set up, with particular goals each day. For example, we decided to work on the starts or on the sails, but not the two things at the same time. That’s why we didn’t necessarily try to win all the starts, in any case we didn’t want to pay with a penalty. Reaching the final was a result beyond our expectations, even if we know that we still have a lot of work to do.”
There’s been a lot of work on the headsails?
YG: “Yes, we’ve worked hard on the sails. We must not forget that the headsails represent 40% of the engine power. There were times when we were, playing around with things on the eve of a race. We turned up in San Diego with sails that were a bit different from everyone else and we managed to balance things just right and get some decent speeds.”
What do you think about the format of the World Series?
YG: “I enjoy this format where you need to take calculated risks, and attempt to pull something off. The boats are revolutionary, the format and media coverage are also revolutionary: I’ve got friends, who aren’t interested in sailing, but they were staring at the screens, because this is the first time sailing has been filmed in this way. The spectator is right at the heart of the action. After that, there is the pressure: you are sailing against the best in the world and you’re part of a big machine called the America’s Cup... but personally feeling the pressure on me is not something I worry about. Quite the reverse, as I sometimes need that to be able to push myself that bit harder. To sum up, I really enjoyed myself and now the whole team can hardly wait to take another step forward.”
Were your experiences aboard the D35 and Extreme 40 useful when you took the helm of the AC45?
YG: “Of course, it’s been very useful... you find yourself sailing against the same people, the pros from the Cup , who spend 300 days a year out on the water. The wing on the AC45 is amazing – I’m convinced that this is the future. You very quickly get to grips with it and the trimming is very close to what we do already on the D35s and Extreme 40s. It simply offers a better control of the power, and the AC45 is in the end a fast little multihull.”
Bruno Peyron talked about the benefits for Energy Team of training at the French Sailing School in Quiberon and that explains these very good results...
YG: “He’s right, that week of intensive training was vital. There was an approach to match racing that I didn’t know before. It was useful to learn what you can and cannot do in this sport, and the things that can go wrong. It was very important and was of great use to me in San Diego. We also studied the pre-start phase, which is very short, lasting just two minutes, and what sort of strategy to adopt. But the week of training in Quiberon was also a key factor in bringing the team together, communicating on board, knowing what I could get out of the crew and the other way round. People have to understand each other to be efficient, and if it is working, it is because everyone has done a good job, not just the helmsman. The helmsman can lose you the race by himself, but he cannot win alone. Everyone has their part to play. In San Diego, Arnaud Jarlegan (wing) Peter Greenhalgh (headsail trimmer), Devan Le Bihan (trimmer), Christophe André (bowman) and Jean-Sébastien Ponce (who was our coach) dealt perfectly with stepping up their performances. This team spirit suits me perfectly and Loïck (Peyron) also works along the same lines too.”
What sort of training will you be doing before the World Series in Naples in mid-April?
YG: “A four month break may seem like a long time, but this schedule is going to enable us to do a lot of work, probably starting in early February. We may be heading off to Valencia to find better conditions and in particular other teams. The real challenge for the smaller teams in in fact that. The four big teams have already been sailing for months on several AC45s, or amongst themselves. I think we can set up three or four training sessions before the next event in Naples in mid-April and Venice in May, where there will be a new factor: we’re going to be adding a top section to the wing and will then be proportionally the same as the AC72s, the big boats.”
So what do you think about the AC72s?
YG: “I think that when the wind is above twenty knots, it’s going to very tough... let’s not forget that you can’t take in a reef. It’s going to very hard to sail. But I think that we can look forward to what lies ahead, as we have had rather more experience on big boats, which is a real advantage in my opinion, in comparison to the other teams. With the experience of the French on big multihulls, we already know about this size of boat. No way will we be taking the risk of capsizing. Unlike the AC45s, the AC72s can’t be righted by a RIB…”
You replaced Loïck Peyron at the helm of Energy Team during his round the world voyage. What happens now?
YG: “This is not a challenge and everything is clear with Loïck. Everyone at Energy Team is pulling in the same direction and we’re going to be working together throughout the winter to find the best way of doing things. We mustn’t forget that the goal is the AC72 and the America's Cup, and I’m convinced we’ll both be on board for that, maybe with different roles and not just at the helm. Who is in which position ashore or at sea doesn’t matter... what really counts is ensuring that the whole team makes progress and gets faster and faster.”