Doug Lord
Flight Ready
- Joined
- May 26, 2009
- Messages
- 16,679
- Reaction score
- 353
- Location
- Cocoa, Florida
These guys are going all out to convert their Mod 70 to full flying with the intent of doing the same to a larger tri. This is going to be a cool story as it progresses: http://www.gitana-team.com/en/event.news.aspx?eventid=95&newsid=1108
See the video here: http://www.gitana-team.com/en/event.videos.aspx?eventid=95
Whilst a number of their competitors will make their official return to the racetrack this Easter weekend during the traditional Spi Ouest France opener, the members of Gitana Team will have to wait a few more weeks before they can feel the adrenalin of competition coursing through their veins once more. Indeed their sailing season will kick off with the Tour de Belle-Ile on 9 May 2015. In the meantime, Sébastien Josse and his men certainly aren’t dawdling amidst a mixture of training sessions on the GC32 and the refit of the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild in Lorient. On the water and on land, there is a common goal: flight!
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More than that though, the lessons learned over the 3,500 miles of the race across the Atlantic will soon be put into practice in the new work on Gitana XV and thus it will pass to the second stage of the initial project, that of turning the boat into the first offshore racing trimaran to fly. With around a fortnight until her relaunch, scheduled for mid-April, Pierre Tissier, Technical Director of the Gitana Team, lifted the veil on the broad outlines of the winter refit: “Before we got going, we carried out a thorough check of the wear and tear on the boat after a pretty packed sailing season in 2014, that notably included two transatlantics. The platform was thoroughly inspected and all the systems were stripped down. They are classic tests but important ones. However, the main modifications are those made to accommodate the new appendages. In her 2015 version, Gitana XV will be equipped with new foils and the entire lifting surface system on the float rudders has been reviewed. Everyone has put a lot of work into it, from the design office in relation with Guillaume Verdier, to the team in the workshop bringing the architects’ plans to life and setting up the systems. Naturally we’re itching to see the results on the water.”
Since the last America’s Cup, flying boats have been very much in their prime in the multiple inshore races with a number of craft now available to race (GC32, Flying Phantom…). Offshore though, flying is still somewhat of a pipe dream. With the work carried out over the past winter on the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild, the Gitana Team has every intention of being part of the revolution that is about to hit offshore racing.
See the video here: http://www.gitana-team.com/en/event.videos.aspx?eventid=95
Whilst a number of their competitors will make their official return to the racetrack this Easter weekend during the traditional Spi Ouest France opener, the members of Gitana Team will have to wait a few more weeks before they can feel the adrenalin of competition coursing through their veins once more. Indeed their sailing season will kick off with the Tour de Belle-Ile on 9 May 2015. In the meantime, Sébastien Josse and his men certainly aren’t dawdling amidst a mixture of training sessions on the GC32 and the refit of the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild in Lorient. On the water and on land, there is a common goal: flight!
--------
More than that though, the lessons learned over the 3,500 miles of the race across the Atlantic will soon be put into practice in the new work on Gitana XV and thus it will pass to the second stage of the initial project, that of turning the boat into the first offshore racing trimaran to fly. With around a fortnight until her relaunch, scheduled for mid-April, Pierre Tissier, Technical Director of the Gitana Team, lifted the veil on the broad outlines of the winter refit: “Before we got going, we carried out a thorough check of the wear and tear on the boat after a pretty packed sailing season in 2014, that notably included two transatlantics. The platform was thoroughly inspected and all the systems were stripped down. They are classic tests but important ones. However, the main modifications are those made to accommodate the new appendages. In her 2015 version, Gitana XV will be equipped with new foils and the entire lifting surface system on the float rudders has been reviewed. Everyone has put a lot of work into it, from the design office in relation with Guillaume Verdier, to the team in the workshop bringing the architects’ plans to life and setting up the systems. Naturally we’re itching to see the results on the water.”
Since the last America’s Cup, flying boats have been very much in their prime in the multiple inshore races with a number of craft now available to race (GC32, Flying Phantom…). Offshore though, flying is still somewhat of a pipe dream. With the work carried out over the past winter on the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild, the Gitana Team has every intention of being part of the revolution that is about to hit offshore racing.
