A training in F50, but dry
Sail GP events only take place every month and a half. Arriving a few days before the competition, the French have little time to train. Marie Riou, Billy Besson and Matthieu Vandame then stopped in London to train for 48 hours on a simulator.
"It will have been our only "training" from San Francisco, but the system is amazingly realistic and we know that some teams have gone a step further with this simulator." explains Billy Besson, skipper of the French team.
A new flight system
This simulator training allowed the French team to discover the new flight system, in effect since San Francisco. Before, the flight controller - a position held by Marie Riou - regulated the ascents and descents of the appendages and managed the tactics. The helmsman, for his part, managed the foil height adjustment.
From now on, the tasks are almost reversed and the team members must relearn the actions and reorganize the roles of each other.
"I'm going to have to devote 100% of my time to flight height control in navigation says Marie Riou. Billy will be freed from this task, however, he will have to have an external eye on the water and the placement in relation to the opponents. It's a real reorganization to be implemented."
A tightened water body
In New York, the race zone is only 500 m wide. At 40 knots, it will only take 22 seconds for the six F50s to cross it. It will therefore be necessary to manoeuvre constantly to avoid crossing the prohibited areas.
It will also be necessary to take into account wind and current fluctuations, which may be significant in the event of light wind.
"We expect intense regattas Billy predicts. Intense like this city. The water level is narrow, the wind will be sheared, deflected by the buildings. In terms of strength, you can have everything, even storms. The game may be very open on a very small field... you'll have to do avec?!"
Mastering in-flight tacking
After two fifth-place finishes in previous events, the team led by Billy Besson knows it must master in-flight tacking.
"On paper, our performance may seem average. For the time being, we are in our place Billy humbly admits. We started from scratch, we had to learn to master this fantastic boat. But our progress is rapid and that's why we're here: to progress. We are very determined in this direction ". "We want to hook up the lead group, adds Marie. We want to show that we are present and that soon, we will have to rely on nous?!"
Reminder of the ranking after Sydney and San Francisco:
1/Australia - Tom Slingsby 93 pts
2/Japan -Nathan Outteridge 91 pts
3/ Great Britain - Dylan Fletcher 79 pts
4/USA -Rome Kirby 68 pts
4 / France - Billy Besson 61 pts
6/China -Phil Robertson 60 pts
