Gitana Team

By securing a win in the fifth edition of the Tour de Belle-Ile, the 70-feet trimaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild, has snatched her first victory against her adversaries in the Multi One Design class. Sébastien Josse and his seven crew sailed a blinder and on the finish line they were one minute forty seconds ahead of Michel Desjoyeaux’s team.

Under threat for a while due to the weather conditions announced on the race zone in Qingdao, the fourth and final day of the China Grand Prix did indeed take place. At the end of these races, The Wave Muscat secured its first victory of the season and with it control of the 2012 championship. Red Bull and Edmond de Rothschild Group respectively took second and third place in the Chinese competition after a final raced with daggers drawn

The second event, out of the eight which make up the Extreme Sailing Series 2012, begins tomorrow Tuesday 17 April on the Olympic race zone of Qingdao. A month and half on from the Muscat Grand Prix, the season’s inaugural meeting, a total of nine teams will be competing in the four-day competition on Chinese waters. With each of them having found their bearings, it’s highly likely that there will be turbulent times ahead and the top spots are sure to be fiercely contested.

For the second year running, the Extreme Sailing Series is kicking off its world tour in the Sultanate of Oman. The start of the 2012 season will begin offshore of The Wave Muscat marina on Tuesday 28 February. For four days, Pierre Pennec and his men on Edmond de Rothschild Group will pit themselves against the seven other crews.

This year ultimate victory just slipped from the grasp of the crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group. However, Pierre Pennec and his three crew certainly don’t have anything to be ashamed about in their very fine second place given the fantastic line-up that made up the fleet for this year’s Extreme Sailing Series and the intensity of this 2011 season.