Grands Records - It Was A Close Run Thing!
30 April 08:30

Part one of the transcription of the press conference held at the Moulin Blanc marina in Brest, following the arrival of Geronimo soon after claiming the Jules Verne Trophy, having circled the world in 63 days, 13 hours, 59 minutes and 46 seconds, beating the record set by Bruno Peyron and the catamaran Orange in 2002 by approximately 18 hours.

M. François Cuillandre, Mayor of Brest:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I would just like to say a few words before handing over to Olivier, because it is him you’ve come to listen to… I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the city of Brest and all its citizens, of saying how happy I am to welcome Olivier, his crew and his boat back safely to Brest. Let’s give him the warm welcome his achievement deserves”.
(Ovation)
“Given the sailing conditions you have had to endure for so many days, I am particularly happy and honoured to welcome the Jules Verne Trophy back to Brest".
(Applause)
“Olivier, the trophy may not be here at the moment, but l would like to present you with this Jules Verne medal on account (laughs) ... no, don’t laugh, it does say Jules Verne on it, even though it refers to a navy ship of the same name. I have great pleasure in offering it to Olivier until the Trophy arrives here in Brest. Thank you”.
(Applause)

Olivier de Kersauson: "Thank you. Let’s hear it for the Mayor!"

Jacques Tixerant for Capgemini:

“What can I say except congratulations? Congratulations for having managed so well with what you have always referred to as a very rough round-the-world voyage and for bringing home the boat, her crew and, of course, the Trophy. We also owe a huge “Thank You” to Olivier and his crew for some of the most emotional moments of the last two months – happy for them on those days when they could surf for over 500 miles, anxious for them as they spent days unsighted in thick fog and, of course, great concern for their survival as they approached and rounded Cape Horn”.

“What is Capgemini looking for in all of this? Simply that you, Olivier - and all of you in the crew - will allow us to share in reliving such moments. Thank you”.

(Applause)

Philippe Lavie for Schneider Electric:

"On behalf of Schneider Electric, which has worked with Olivier de Kersauson to build this fantastic project over 3 years, I would like to say that every moment has been worth it, since one of its many objectives has always been to bring the Jules Verne Trophy home to Brest. This crew has achieved that in a most outstanding way, having shown exemplary courage and professionalism in handling the enormous risks they have taken. In achieving that, they have earned and deserve the respect of Schneider Electric and everyone else”.

“I would echo Jacques Tixerant in saying that we look forward to enjoying future adventures and achieving future objectives. Well done and congratulations to all of you”.

(Applause)

Olivier de Kersauson:
"I never want to repeat the experience we had in the Southern Ocean, but at least half our voyage around the world involved some magnificent surfing, for which this boat has such a wonderful talent.

(Ovation:) Bravo Olivier!!

“As for the second half of our trip… Well, it was a nightmare relived every day: not knowing when we would get through, not knowing what the wind would do and not knowing whether we would have any wind or not… We had no surfing, no enjoyable sailing with the boat – even as we approached the finish, we didn’t know whether the wind would turn in our favour or not. So it’s been rather a severe experience. Just now, we were passing the coast of Ushant where you meet the ocean, where we should have been with the boat this morning when the current and the wind were working together, but what we had was almost uncrossable. If sailing was always the way we have had it in the last month, I wouldn’t sail at all. And I wouldn’t be the only one. We had a wonderful time in the first month, it was truly magnificent, but that’s the way it goes – and you can’t have everything all the time”.

"In terms of sea conditions and weather, it’s certainly been interesting. In terms of weather, things have gone really well. Pierre Lasnier, who worked with us, has done some incredibly accurate forecasting, which in some particularly complicated circumstances has allowed us to anticipate conditions accurately on the basis of a weather forecast, which is pretty rare. In this final stretch through the Channel, we were able to anticipate things correctly. We came from the North - from 51 North. It seems we’ve always had to go the long way round. No one ever achieves anything in complete isolation – and I mean never. When I heard there was snow, I could hardly believe it, because it meant that winter had arrived - and winter in the Southern Ocean… We sailed those waters even later with Sport-Elec, but we’d never experienced this arrival of cold air from the south. We went further south, we were thrown about, we went south again, but never did we have a decent day’s surfing, and the boat suffered all the time. We certainly had every reason to give up. At one point we said to ourselves: “we’ll never get through; we’ll have to go via Panama”; but that would have been no joke either. I believe that what we did with the boat was quite complicated. It was a close run thing. But we’re happy we didn’t go via Panama”. (Laughs)

Bravo! Bravo... (Applause)

Geronimo's latest news are on http://www.trimaran-geronimo.com