Pre-race schedule announced for the Krys Ocean Race

Newport and New York feeder race to be held, while tomorrow the MOD70s compete in the Tour de Belle Ile

The Krys Ocean Race, the first major offshore competition for the MOD70 trimarans was formally launched at the French Consulate in New York yesterday in the presence of Consul Philippe Lalliot and American around the world sailor and America's Cup skipper Dawn Riley.

Five MOD70s are due to set sail on 7 July on the transatlantic race that runs between New York and Brest: Race for Water (Steve Ravussin), Foncia (Michel Desjoyeaux), Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sebastien Josse), Spindrift Racing (Yann Guichard) and Oman Sail (Sidney Gavignet).

In the build-up to the race there will be a number of events including a prologue race from Newport, RI to New York. The MOD70s will be berthed at the Newport Shipyard over 28 June until 2 July. This will coincide with the America's Cup World Series regatta being held over 26 June to 1 July. In Newport, the boats will undergo their scrutineering, (as no further work will be allowed on the boats once they reach New York).

The prologue event will start on 2 July on a 120 mile course from Newport to finish by the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour, arriving on the eve of Independence Day. Through the 4 July celebrations the fleet will be based at Manhattan’s North Cove Marina.

On the afternoon of 5 July the MOD70s will line up for some speed trials on the Hudson River. In the running of this, Race Director Jacques Caraës will be supported by the Manhattan Sailing Club under Commodore and Race Committee Chairman Michael Fortenbaugh.

The start of the Krys Ocean Race itself will take place at 1100 local time on 7 July, the gun fired by Philippe Lalliot and the Mayor of Brest François Cuillandre.

The race is expected to take six or seven days for the 70ft trimarans, who will reach Brest during the Tonnerres de Brest nautical festival.

Philippe Lalliot, Consul General of France in New York City commented: "The world of sailing, synonymous with epic journeys, but also with perseverance and endurance, is certainly one of those worlds that fire your imagination the most. Suspense and emotions will no doubt be part of this new, nautical adventure. I look forward to its opening impatiently and wish it the greatest success."

Dawn Riley, Chief Executive Officer at Oakcliff Sailing New York said: "The MOD70 class already is full of French Rockstars and I hope that we will see an American Team joining them shortly. We are all very excited that these multihull machines will be in New York."

However...this weekend some of the MOD70s (Foncia, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and Spindrift Racing) will be having their first unofficial line-up at the Tour de Belle Ile, France's equivalent of the UK's Round the Island Race, which is due to take place tomorrow. At present 502 boats are due to compete in this.

For Groupe Edmond de Rothschild the Tour de Belle Ile will be one of four warm-up events she will compete in before delivering the boat across the Atlantic to Newport.

“Aside from some training sessions with a few of the other boats, we’re still lacking references," explains skipper Seb Josse. "So the whole team keen to see how we get on in race mode. This winter, during our training in Agadir, Morocco, we focused on technique, the manœuvres and onboard communication. So all the manoeuvres are now automatic when we’re out on the water. The phase we’re now entering, with these four pre-season races, is a more psychological phase where we’ll be able to gauge how the crew copes under pressure. So we’ll be in competition mode, up against rivals who have the same technical qualities as us on paper, where it will be the crew that makes the difference."

After this Groupe Edmond de Rothschild will take part in the Grand Prix Guyader in Douarnanez over 3-6 May, before returning to La Trinite-sur-Mer for the start of the 300 mile long ArMen Race. The boats will then compete in the Trophee SNSM on 1 June.