Veolia Environnement a nose ahead

Racing gets underway at the Krys Match in La Trinite between the three MOD70s and Gitana 11

In a 15-20 knot northwest wind building to 30 knots at the end of the afternoon, the Krys Match got underway today off La Trinité sur Mer, Brittany for the three MOD70 one design trimarans – Foncia, Veolia Environnement and Race for Water - plus Seb Josse's Gitana 11-Edmond de Rothschild Group.

Ahead after the first day of racing on the Baie de Quiberon is Roland Jourdain's Veolia Environnement, followed by Stève Ravussin's Race for Water and Michel Desjoyeaux's Foncia after three races.

At 1315 hours on the dot, the first race of the Krys Match got underway.

Despite being over early at the start of the first race, Veolia Environnement earned her position throughout the day’s races, displaying especially impressive speed upwind thanks to outstanding crewwork.

Jourdain commented: “Aboard Veolia Environnement today, we have good acceleration! It was a really great day! I’m lucky to have a fantastic team around me. Racing aboard an MOD70 is really extraordinary; in fact I don't think I've completely come down from my racing yet! You have to force yourself to tone it down! These last two weeks, we've sailed as much as we can. We’ve been practicing going through the manoeuvres with the help of the training centre in Port La Forêt. The reflex actions are coming gradually! Today, everything worked for us, but I know the competition isn’t far behind. Everyone’s progressing fast. It’s important we don’t rest on our laurels.”

Astern of Veolia Environnement, with whom they were neck and neck, was Race for Water and Foncia, Michel Desjoyeaux's team having experienced difficulties hoisting their gennaker today.

As Desjoyeaux commented: “What a joy it is to sail aboard a multihull, especially in La Trinité sur Mer! We’ve never sailed in these conditions before aboard our MOD70 Foncia. In fact, we’ve sailed very little since her launch due to racing on the D35 circuit. Today, it was a very good introduction which enabled us to gauge where we were in relation to our rivals. We had a few issues with furling our gennaker so we’ll sort that out for tomorrow’s racing! We’re learning, we’re learning!”

Longer at 77ft, Seb Josse's Gitana11-Edmond de Rothschild Group finishing first in each race, although not without difficulties. They had Veolia Environnement hot on their heels throughout.

Results:

1) Veolia Environnement (Roland Jourdain) 28 points
2) Race for Water (Steve Ravussin) 28 points
3) Foncia (Michel Desjoyeaux) 25 points