Team ENGIE are heading for the Balearic Islands
For the second year running, the foiling catamarans on the GC32 Racing Tour are heading for Majorca in the Balearic Islands for the 36th edition of the prestigious Copa del Rey. Team ENGIE are more motivated than ever after their slight underperformance in Villasimius in Sardinia, and are ready to fight it out on the start line. From Wednesday 2nd to Saturday 5th August, all eyes will be on Palma and a new competitor on the circuit, the Australian team .film Racing, skippered by Simon Delzoppo. In addition, Sébastien Rogues will now be able to count on the technology support of SAP, who are joining the team for the end of the season. Fasten your seat belts, the event promises spectacular racing!
The latest event of the GC32 Racing Tour in Sardinia at the end of June was a disappointment for Team ENGIE’s crew, who will be using their frustration to fuel their determination to gain a place on the podium in Palma, aiming to win as many different races as they can. With 10 races in Villasimius and then 11 in Riva, compared to the 20 races that were planned, the competition leaves very little room for error and each new regatta resets the counters to zero. It is crucial that the crews are as consistent as possible. When the GC32s took part in the Copa del Rey for the first time in 2016, the race committee was only able to run 12 of the 22 scheduled races. Hopefully this year will be more favourable in terms of weather, to offer competitors ample number of races and fine flying.
“We want to regain our place in the rankings and the bay of Palma is a wonderful place to sail. This is an important step for us to bounce back after Villasimius. This is a key event for Team ENGIE. During this competition we will need a calmer approach, trust in our ability to sail and focus on good communication on board. We just need to make sure we get our basics right. We want to show what we are capable of. This dose of frustration is an incentive to battle it out on the water. The arrival of a new team, together with Simon Delpozzo’s Australian crew on .film Racing, proves that this circuit always attracts the world’s elite sailors. It is a real plus for us, and a great challenge to be able to compete against this new crew,” confided Sébastien.
During this third event of the GC32 Racing Tour, Sébastien will be able to display the name of a new partner on the sails of his catamaran, the company SAP.
“SAP is a new partner for Team ENGIE. This partnership will translate into a significant technological contribution. The idea is to install many sensors on the boat, at various strategic locations, in order to collect a lot of data. All this information will help us in analysing and interpreting the data. This technological approach will also help us in our future projects,”Sébastien added.
Overall ranking GC32 Racing Tour 2017
1 – Realteam – Switzerland – 3 points
2 – Team Argo – USA – 6 points
3 – Team ENGIE – France – 9 points
4 – Mamma Aiuto! – Japan – 10 points
3 – Armin Strom Sailing Team – Switzerland – 10 points
6 – Movistar Ventana Group – Spain – 10 points
7 – Team Tilt – Switzerland – 14 points
8 – Malizia – Monaco Yacht Club – Monaco – 15 points
9 – Team France Jeune – France – 20 points
10 – Team BDA – Bermuda – 22 points
11 – Código Rojo Racing – Argentina – 23 points
UPCOMING CALENDAR
2017 GC32 Racing Tour Calendar
36 Copa del Rey Mapfre – Palma de Mallorca, Balearics (Spain): Wednesday 2nd to Saturday 5th August
GC32 Orezza Corsica Cup – Calvi, Corsica (France): Wednesday 13th to Saturday 16th September
Marseille One Design – Marseille (France): Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th October
36 Copa del Rey Mapfre – Teams entered
ARMIN STROM Sailing Team (SUI)
Realteam (SUI)
Team Argo (USA)
Mamma Aiuto! (JPN)
Malizia – Yacht Club de Monaco (MON)
Código Rojo Racing (ARG)
Team ENGIE (FRA)
Team France Jeune (FRA)
Team BDA (BDA)
Team Tilt (SUI)
.film Racing (AUS)
THE GC32
The GC32 is a 32 feet long foiling catamaran (just under 10 meters), capable of lifting off the water with 8 knots of wind (Force 2). This little gem of technology is capable of attaining speeds unconceivable still not long ago. Sailing the boat, which is highly technical and very physical, requires the crew to be completely involved.
TEAM ENGIE
Sébastien Rogues – Skipper, Helm
Born in 1986, Sébastien Rogues started dinghy sailing at the age of 6. In 2007, just turned 21, Sébastien launched his career in high-level sailing with the ambition of becoming a professional skipper. After having acquired his first boat, a Mini 6.50 Pogo 2 series, Sébastien achieved promising results in solo races of the Mini 6.50 circuit. He then started on the highly contested Class 40 circuit, which allowed him to consolidate his offshore experience and clock up some fine victories such as the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Fastnet Race on board his Mach 40 GDF SUEZ. In 2015, Sébastien turned towards multihulls: the trimaran Diam 24 and the catamaran GC32. He was one of the first to embark on the technological shift in the world of competitive sailing today. Sébastien is the first French skipper to have involved his team in the GC32 adventure.The 2016 season presented him the opportunity to put into practice what he learnt during the many competitions against with the world’s elite in multihulls and numerous trainings on other fast boats, mainly on Flying Phantom.
Gurvan Bontemps – Tactician
Gurvan began his career with the Tornado, with which he did 2 Olympic preparations from 2000 to 2007. He has an impressive F18 record including a second place in the 2014 World Championships, a French Champion title in 2013 and 2014, and a 5th place at the 2013 World Championships. In this discipline, he also won the Martinique Cata Raid 2013-2014. He focused his 2015 season on the Flying Phantom, winning the Raid des Corsaires, Foiling Week and Eurocat. At the same time, Gurvan has participated in numerous sailing projects, including a role as a helmsman, trimmer on the Maxi 80 Prince de Bretagne in 2013, a position as head of the GC32 Gitana Team in 2015, and a helmsman position at the GC32 trainings of Groupama Team France in 2015.
Jean Baptiste Gellée – Mainsail Trimmer
At the age of 29, Jean-Baptiste has already accumulated over 15 years of competitive sailing, including 8 years of high-level Laser practice. In 2004, he was crowned champion of France Espoir Laser (under 18). In 2006, he finished 4th in the Isaf Youth World Championship. In 2008, he came 4th in the European Youth Championship (under 21). He then joined the France Espoir team, a training team at the highest level that he remained with until 2011. Jean-Baptiste participated in the Tour de France à la Voile for the first time in 2014 aboard the APCC Voile Sportive and finished 2nd in the rookie ranking. Last year, Jean-Baptist was Skipper of the Diam 24 Radio VINCI Autoroutes, on which he ranked 14th.
Antoine Joubert – Headsail Trimmer
Antoine started his career with Formula 18 with two Junior World Championship titles in 2008 and 2009. He also won 7th place in the World Championships in 2011. He then did 3 seasons in M34 with the crew of Courrier Dunkerque where he became the French team champion in 2011, won the Spi Ouest France in 2013 and finished second in the Tour de France à la Voile in 2011 and 2012. In 2015, Antoine did the Diam24 season with Cheminée Poujoulat and the Flying Phantom season with Team Momentys (including a victory in the Geneva Rolle, second place in the Eurocat Carnac alongside Franck Cammas)
Benjamin Amiot – Bowman
At 28, Benjamin Amiot brings a solid experience to racing catamarans. At 15, he started competing in Formula 18, which is what he has sailed most on until today. He won the title of world vice-champion in 2014. For the past three years he has been sailing on Flying Phantom and GC32. In 2015, he raced under the colours of the Phantom shipyard, became a crew-member on the GC32 Gitana and Zoulou then trimmer and tactician on the Diam 24 Prince de Bretagne before competing in two Grand Prix on board the D35 Ladycat powered by Spindrift racing.
SÉBASTIEN ROGUES – SAILING HISTORY
Soon to turn 31, the skipper, who is a member of his local Yacht Club de la Baule, has already established an impressive sailing record, gaining a place on podiums and victories for several years in Mini 6.50 and in Class40.
2016
– 5th GC32 Riva Cup (crewed – GC32)
– 8th GC32 Malcesine Cup (crewed – GC32)
– 8th 35 Copa Del Rey (crewed – GC32)
– 3rd La Reserva de Sotogrande (crewed – GC32)
– 5th Marseille One Design (crewed – GC32)
2015
– 5th GC32 Bullitt Racing Tour (crewed – GC32)
– 4th Marseille One Design (crewed – GC32)
– 5th Trofeo di Roma Cup (crewed – GC32)
– 4th Kiel Cup (crewed – GC32)
– 21st Tour de France à la Voile (crewed – Diam 24)
– 4th Cowes Cup (crewed – GC32)
– 4th Austria Grand-Prix (crewed – GC32)
– 10th Grand-Prix de l’École Navale de Brest (crewed – Diam 24)
– 20th Grand-Prix Atlantique (crewed – Diam 24)
– 7th Spi Ouest-France (crewed – Diam 24)
– 7th Martinique Cata Raid (doubles with Matthieu Souben – catamaran F18)
