New York bound
The start of the Krys Ocean Race prologue will take place to the North of Fort Adams, at the exit from Narrangansett Bay at 1700 hours local time. From here, the fleet of one-design trimarans will set a course to the South-West and Block Island, before making for New York and the Verrazano Bridge, which marks the entrance to the Hudson River. During this 150-mile section of the course, Sébastien Josse and his five crew will have to be particularly vigilant, given the large number of fishing pots and nets there are in the area. As regards the weather, it still appears somewhat tricky to get a precise idea of the conditions, which will accompany the sailors: “The weather system for this prologue is hard to describe with any real degree of certainty as it’s an unstable situation. There is a great deal of storm activity in this area at the moment, which isn’t providing us with any very precise grib files. We could have south-westerly wind or north-westerly, though the trend is for medium to light breeze. This stormy atmosphere is largely explained by the fact that there are some significant variations in temperature. This morning, it’s very hot and you can see that the clouds are slowly gathering”, observed the skipper of Edmond de Rothschild Group, before explaining his crew’s aim for this nocturnal navigation to New York: “This prologue is designed so that the fleet will make the Krys Ocean Race start venue together and the results won’t count towards the event’s standing. As such we won’t have any particular pressure on our shoulders when we set off. The 150 miles which make up the course announced this morning by Jacques Caraës, the Race Director, will be a great opportunity for a final warm-up prior to the start of the race to Brest on 7 July.”
North Cove Marina, an enclosed park
Selected as the technical base for the MOD 70s, Newport has seen the final technical preparations taking place for the five competing teams. Indeed, with the option of an enclosed park being retained by the organisers, this means that once the trimaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild is tied up in New York, the men of Gitana Team will no longer be able to make any technical interventions on the boat: “We’re already in race configuration as a result of the park now being closed. The sailing team’s personal effects are already onboard along with the provisions, though we do have some fresh food to embark a few hours before the start”, concluded Sébastien Josse.
The arrival of the MOD 70 fleet on the waters of the Hudson River is scheduled for the early hours of tomorrow (local time), the instability of the weather conditions means that there is some doubt as to an exact time of arrival.
* In summer, Newport and New York operate on GMT-4 hours.
The crew of Edmond de Rothschild Group
Sébastien Josse (skipper, helmsman)
Antoine Koch (navigator - helmsman)
Christophe Espagnon (trimmer - helmsman)
David Boileau (trimmer - helmsman)
Thomas Rouxel (trimmer - helmsman)
Florent Chastel (bowman)
The programme for the Krys Ocean Race
Monday 2 July (1700 hours local time, 2100 UTC): Prologue between Newport and New York
Tuesday 3 July (around 1000 hours local time, 1400 UTC): Finish of the prologue
Thursday 5 July (1500 – 1700 hours local time, 1900 - 2100 UTC): New York Speed Match
Friday 6 July (1200 hours local time, 1600 UTC): Press conference for the start broadcast on the race site
Saturday 7 July (1100 local time, 1500 UTC): START OF THE KRYS OCEAN RACE
Friday 13 July: first ETAs possible in Brest
Saturday 14 July (1800 UTC): Prize-giving for the Krys Ocean Race
Monday 16 July (0800 – 1500 UTC): Brest City Race (2 races scheduled)
Thursday 19 July (0800 UTC): Closing parade Tonnerres de Brest