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Franck, coming to Paris for a presentation
of the Route du Rhum,
just 32, 33 days before the start,
does it feel like it's not far off now?
It certainly immerses you in the event!
It's more than a month away
but it's true that it's an important event in France
and for the French it's the most renowned
transatlantic race there is.
You can sense the media pressure
around the event now, which is nice.
For me it's a great test bed this event,
because sometimes these big boats are made for it
and sometimes they're designed
to sail in crewed configuration,
so I think it's nice to see them sailing all together like this.
In fact I'd even go so far as to say
that I'd prefer to remove the classes
and have an 'open' race!
I'm happy because the boats are very different.
There's the technology and the sailors' expertise,
added to which the boats have changed.
that I mean that you can now sail big boats,
while a few years ago it was more difficult.
I can't wait to see how things take shape at sea.
In this instance, unfortunately Groupama 3 is too wide
to get through the locks to enter into the port of Saint Malo,
so we'll be forced to stay outside,
just at the entrance to the locks.
However, we will have our own special little port
so we'll have even more room
to invite lots of people to come and see her
and walk on Groupama 3's trampoline.
Personally I'm a bit wary
about making slightly rushed predictions
because the weather changes
and you can't make a forecast now.
Even 2 days before the start
I wouldn't have much of an idea who might win it.
Added to that there are some boats
which are intrinsically very fast
and will be driven at 70% of their potential
and then there are some bigger boats,
as is the case for Groupama,
which even when they're not driven
as hard as the others,
intrinsically have real speed
because they're beamier, bigger and more powerful,
so I'm unable to make a prediction.
That said, I think Franck Cammas
isn't in a bad position!
He may not be the favourite
for a stack of people,
but I still think he's a contender!
I'm heading off to the mountains tomorrow
to link-up with the Volvo crew,
who I'll be training with there
for the next week.
That will also enable me
to be physically prepared
for the Route du Rhum
and then I'll go off to Almeria
to complete the Extreme 40 season
the following week
with 5 days of sailing on Groupama 40.
At that point I'll return to Brittany
and finally I'll have the honour
of taking the boat to Saint Malo.
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