After helmsman Quentin Delapierre and Kevin Peponnet, the Orient Express Racing Team unveils its crew for the America’s Cup in 2024.
The Orient Express Racing Team, a French challenge coveting the legendary America’s Cup next year in Barcelona, unveiled the crew of sailors on board on Thursday to try to win the trophy. If the names of helmsman Quentin Delapierre and Kevin Peponnet had already been made official by Orient Express last February, the French challenge announced Thursday the presence of François Morvan and Matthieu Vandame as trimmers.
«This is the base we’ve been working with for a year and a half“, told AFP Bruno Dubois, coach of the French challenge. These four men currently make up the French SailGP team, a prestigious regatta circuit organized aboard F50, foiling catamarans that can exceed 90 km/h on the water.
Seven cyclists
The quartet of navigators is completed by seven additional crew members, the “cyclists», responsible for producing during regattas the energy necessary to activate the ship’s systems (sails, foils, pilots). There are sailors Olivier Herlédant and Tim Lapauw, but also several high-level rowers.
The other challenges set out to conquer the silver ewer, the oldest sporting trophy in the world, also include sailors from SailGP in their ranks. This is particularly the case for the English with Ben Ainslie, the Americans with Jimmy Spithill and the “defenderkiwi with Peter Burling. With eleven stages organized by July 2024, the SailGP risks taking up precious preparation time for the sailors of the French challenge and for the management. But, observes Bruno Dubois, “we have ambitions on both». «The SailGP brings the Cup and the Cup brings the SailGP. These are competitions that go well together“, he adds.
Made official late in February, the French challenge moved to its operational base in Barcelona in early July, where sailing should begin in August, upon receipt of the AC40, a training monohull. The AC75, the final boat that will be used by the French in the America’s Cup, should be delivered in April 2024. The final stages of the competition will take place from October 12 to 20, 2024 in Barcelona.
