Shake up at Areva

Theirry Peponnet stands down from skipper's role of French America's Cup challenger

The Areva Challenge team spent Monday and Tuesday in debrief meetings to take stock of the team’s situation and to prepare for the future in the most effective way.

Each department endeavoured to objectively evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, to determine its goals, and to submit proposals for reaching those goals. After analyzing the elements raised in these meetings, and the results of the 2006 Acts, the management of Areva Challenge made the decision to reorganize the afterguard.

A new coach will come on board to take over the preparation of the team and the development of the afterguard. Marc Bouët, coach up through the end of Act 12, returns to his position at the French Federation of Sailing (FFV).

In agreement with the management of the team, Thierry Peponnet, up until now, the skipper and helmsman, will continue his collaboration with the team by placing at the disposal of the team, his experience and competency. This role will be more defined in the weeks to come.

Sebastien Col now becomes the skipper of Areva Challenge and will take on this position when FRA 60 returns to training in Valencia in September. At his side, Tanguy Cariou and Nicolas Charbonnier will work with the tactics and strategy in a configuration that will be further detailed this summer. Lastly, Jean-François Cuzon remains at the post of navigator.

Over the course of the next few weeks and months, the team will consider the possibility of reinforcing the afterguard with new team members.