Tick-tock-tick-tock

Le Defi Areva's Sebastien Destremau gives the insider's view with just moments to go before race one

Hello there

Time ...... a crucial ingredient ?

With just a few days to go before the first race of the Louis Vuitton Cup series, the pressure is building in the Viaduct Basin. At the Defi Areva compound, the amount of jobs done by the 89 team members on the team is massive...however it seems like the job list is growing even faster. No matter what happens, the boat will be on the starting line Tuesday October 1st, ready to race the first opponent at lunch time.

Time, it's the only thing that remains unstoppable and continues ticking....Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock

Around 8pm after a long and hard day 'at the office', a big 'chunk' of the team is going home whilst the composite team is taking over for the night shift. They put on their white particle suits and throughout the night they will, sand, paint, grind, build, repair, modify all the bits and pieces that the sailors and designers have decided to try out. It is becoming common for the composite or sailmaking teams to still be at the compound when the sailing team arrives for their 6.45am daily fitness session.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock

Technical meetings are followed by the coordination briefing. After a sailing session in heavy weather, some members of the team would like the mainsail's shape to be altered when others would prefer the mast trim to be changed. Or, the parts of a new system just received are not perfect, or did not arrive as previously scheduled. Or, a group of 30 French journalists is due to arrive for the weekend and the marketing team wants everything to be spot-on. All these subject are discussed during mini-crisis meetings where somebody will come-up with ..... THE solution.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock

The design and marketing teams are on a different planet. The half a dozen members of the design team are glued to their computer screen 12 hours a day working on different ideas of boat development. However, they feel like they are too often disturbed by team members storming into their office for a last minute question. They don't really have a choice as the rule says that any alteration to the boat will have to be agreed by the design team!!!

The marketing team also have their own agenda. Le Defi's communication plan is a fine balance between the demands and/or indulgences of VIPs and journalists. These people are extremely important for the team however, it does happen that team members feel like these people are a 'bit in the way'. Afterwards, the meeting afterward are quite .... amusing!!!

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock

After hundreds of hours spent on the water, the sailing team is wondering if they will be completely ready on day one. When a sailing session is cancelled due to a breakdown or bad weather, you can almost read on their faces a comment like " Gosh! The program will be changed ... again. When are we going to do what we were supposed to do today????"

Time remains unstoppable and the watch is ticking away .... Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock