Gitana : écurie de course au large fondée par le Baron Benjamin de Rothschild

Wednesday 21 July 2004

Both Gitana safe and sound

At the end of yesterday afternoon, as Gitana X was crossing the finishing line in Saint Malo, Gitana 11 was being hauled out onto the park of the CDK yard in La Forêt-Fouesnant, the Breton boat yard where she was built in 2001.

Repairs to Gitana 11will get underway so that she can line up on the start of the Grand Prix de Fécamp at the end of the month of August.

Composite material specialists will be getting down to work on the platform today, starting repairs to the dagger board casing and the transom damaged during the collision. The boat's engine, electricity and computers will undergo inspection and repair if necessary.

Upon their arrival, the six strong crew of Gitana 11 described with emotion the first days of the race and the fun they were having sailing up front when a collision incident forced them to call it a day 6 days into the race.

In the days to come, Gitana X and Gitana 11 programme will be drawn up, their sight firmly set on the next Grand Prix, a little more than one month away.