But it should not be forgotten that the two crews were facing their rivals for the first time this season in this configuration: on Gitana 11, Loick Peyron took the helm at the start of the week and on Gitana 12, Thierry Duprey du Vorsent and his crew were contesting their first Grand Prix of the season after one month's repair work which kept the trimaran out of the Trophée des Alpes Maritimes and the Trapani Grand Prix.
Loick Peyron, Gitana 11 skipper
“A truly interesting weekend in sailing terms… confirmation was provided, if necessary, of the little green man's domination and also of the fact that, on a personal level, this is a profession that one can easily forget… I've got work to do to get back up to speed, but I've got a great team of pros around me, led by Frederic! The results were decidedly average on the last day, due to highly unstable winds that we didn't know how to handle! I'm still waiting for quite a few of my automatic reflexes to return, as the slightest error can be very costly on these boats, so it's essential to make as few as possible. Today, we missed a good chance to overtake Géant. That was the key moment of the round, Frederic saw it, but I hesitated, and it was a mistake that should never have been made. And then the wind that descended was the final nail in our coffin… That said, I'm lucky enough to have a dual role as skipper of Gitana 11 and Gitana team general manager, so I have a genuine good reason to be content in view of the performance put in by Gitana 12. They sailed really cleanly on this round, showing there's real potential for the crew and for the boat!”
Thierry Duprey du Vorsent, skipper of Gitana 12
“Today came as a lovely ray of sunshine at the end of the Grand Prix after what was a difficult day for us yesterday. The first day of the Grand Prix on Friday was surprising as we were always in touch, but yesterday was disappointing because the opposite was the case and we were never in with a chance. And today, we had a bit of luck, especially compared with yesterday when we had none at all, so it's good to finish on a positive note! The manoeuvres went much better than yesterday. Everything we've done this week has started to bear fruit and everyone joined in the manoeuvre plans. When you consider that all 11 of us hadn't got together on the boat since the start of the season, I feel we did alright with just 48 hours' racing by way of training!”
The two trimarans will leave Marseilles' Old Port in the morning of Monday 26 June to return to La Ciotat. The next stage of the Cafe Ambassador Multi Cup, the Grand Prix du Portugal, takes place at Portimao from 14-16 July.
Provisional ranking for the Grand Prix de Marseille :
1st – Groupama / Franck Cammas 34 points
2nd – Géant / Michel Desjoyeaux 28 points
3rd – Gitana 11 / Loick Peyron 26 points
4th – Gitana 12 / Thierry Duprey du Vorsent 20 points
Provisional ranking for the Cafe Ambassador Multi Cup:
1st - Groupama 22.5 points
2nd - Géant 16 points
3rd - Gitana 11 11.5 points
4th - Banque Populaire 11 points
5th - Gitana 12 5.5 points