A few days before the start of the Volvo Ocean Race, Franck Cammas talks about the race, his boat, his crew and his background in sailing.
What kind of crew have you hoped to put together for this team? Describe the characteristics of your crew…
FC “First of all, the crew on Groupama… I am looking for a crew with a good skill, but it’s also important to have a good spirit and a good spirit for each other. And it’s important for the shore crew to work together. It’s important in this kind of team. I didn’t know the Volvo Ocean Race world before I arrived on this project, so I worked with Damian Foxall and Laurent F. who knew better, for sure, and there is a mix between the Volvo experience and the French experience. So it’s a different culture on our boat. It’s a rich culture and we have to work together to be confident with each other. When I don’t know the guy, the first thing I look is the experience and the curriculum vitae, then we have to work together. In the end, it’s more important to have the crew working very good.”
You have an incredible sailing resume in multi-hull boats: Jules Verne Trophy, Route du Rhum and now you face a new challenge with the Volvo…Is this the biggest challenge of your sailing career: to win the Volvo Ocean Race?
FC “This is the biggest challenge for our team. The teamchange a lot on this project --
a change of scale of the project for us. This is the biggest as well because it’s an international race and not just a French race. So the competitors against us will be the highest level and we have to work a lot harder to be at that level.”
Is there a sense of history of being the first French boat in the race in 17 years?
FC “I’m proud of the fact to be a French boat since 17 years, for sure it’s pressure for us. But I don’t think about that. I work and focus only on the performance of the boat and the team. In the end, we will see what happens.”
Describe the most important phase of your preparation...
FC “The most important phase of the preparation was to learn the Volvo Open 70. We’ve done a lot of boats in my career and I had to learn [this one]: the designer, to learn with the crew that we have now - like Damian Foxall. We spent a lot of time with Ericsson 4. We had Ericsson 4 to train, to learn the sails, the sails program, the appendages – stuff like that. To design the new Groupama 4. It was good work and I think now we are close to the best level that we could imagine two years ago.”
What makes the Volvo such a tough race in your opinion?
FC “The first factor that makes the Volvo a difficult race is the international level – first for me – and for sure the trip around the world is hard with the boats. Very hard as well. The level is as high as possible, so we have to push the boats all the time. 100% all the time! It’s very exciting for the crew and very exciting for the public, as well.”
What will it take to win this race for any of the teams?
FC “The key in this race is a lot of things. I think first of all we have to finish the race as we start with the same good spirit in the team, and the same technical preparation, as well, for the boat. So there are many key points, not only one. For sure, the performance of the boat is important. So now, before the pre-race is almost finished, this part. The crew work can improve all the time around the world. It’s important to keep in mind this work and this improvement all the time and keep in mind the crew spirit during the next 10 months.”
Describe your first memories sailing as a child …
FC “My first memory when I was a child sailing was in Marseille, was a very small boat, an Optimist in a sailing school. For sure, I was very excited because I read some books about around the world, like Eric Tabarly’s around the world in the Whitbread and I wanted to try this experiences. It was very good and I wanted to do it this way.”
About reading Erik Tabarly Book
FC “It was my first book in my life, I was only 10 years old so I just read. It was very complicated because there were a lot of words, special technical words about sailing but I learned a lot the sailing skill in this book and when I went on a boat, I knew already many things. It was great to imagine to do around the world. I wanted to try it."
From : Volvo Ocean Race
Credit : Y. Zedda
What kind of crew have you hoped to put together for this team? Describe the characteristics of your crew…
FC “First of all, the crew on Groupama… I am looking for a crew with a good skill, but it’s also important to have a good spirit and a good spirit for each other. And it’s important for the shore crew to work together. It’s important in this kind of team. I didn’t know the Volvo Ocean Race world before I arrived on this project, so I worked with Damian Foxall and Laurent F. who knew better, for sure, and there is a mix between the Volvo experience and the French experience. So it’s a different culture on our boat. It’s a rich culture and we have to work together to be confident with each other. When I don’t know the guy, the first thing I look is the experience and the curriculum vitae, then we have to work together. In the end, it’s more important to have the crew working very good.”
You have an incredible sailing resume in multi-hull boats: Jules Verne Trophy, Route du Rhum and now you face a new challenge with the Volvo…Is this the biggest challenge of your sailing career: to win the Volvo Ocean Race?
FC “This is the biggest challenge for our team. The teamchange a lot on this project --
a change of scale of the project for us. This is the biggest as well because it’s an international race and not just a French race. So the competitors against us will be the highest level and we have to work a lot harder to be at that level.”
Is there a sense of history of being the first French boat in the race in 17 years?
FC “I’m proud of the fact to be a French boat since 17 years, for sure it’s pressure for us. But I don’t think about that. I work and focus only on the performance of the boat and the team. In the end, we will see what happens.”
Describe the most important phase of your preparation...
FC “The most important phase of the preparation was to learn the Volvo Open 70. We’ve done a lot of boats in my career and I had to learn [this one]: the designer, to learn with the crew that we have now - like Damian Foxall. We spent a lot of time with Ericsson 4. We had Ericsson 4 to train, to learn the sails, the sails program, the appendages – stuff like that. To design the new Groupama 4. It was good work and I think now we are close to the best level that we could imagine two years ago.”
What makes the Volvo such a tough race in your opinion?
FC “The first factor that makes the Volvo a difficult race is the international level – first for me – and for sure the trip around the world is hard with the boats. Very hard as well. The level is as high as possible, so we have to push the boats all the time. 100% all the time! It’s very exciting for the crew and very exciting for the public, as well.”
What will it take to win this race for any of the teams?
FC “The key in this race is a lot of things. I think first of all we have to finish the race as we start with the same good spirit in the team, and the same technical preparation, as well, for the boat. So there are many key points, not only one. For sure, the performance of the boat is important. So now, before the pre-race is almost finished, this part. The crew work can improve all the time around the world. It’s important to keep in mind this work and this improvement all the time and keep in mind the crew spirit during the next 10 months.”
Describe your first memories sailing as a child …
FC “My first memory when I was a child sailing was in Marseille, was a very small boat, an Optimist in a sailing school. For sure, I was very excited because I read some books about around the world, like Eric Tabarly’s around the world in the Whitbread and I wanted to try this experiences. It was very good and I wanted to do it this way.”
About reading Erik Tabarly Book
FC “It was my first book in my life, I was only 10 years old so I just read. It was very complicated because there were a lot of words, special technical words about sailing but I learned a lot the sailing skill in this book and when I went on a boat, I knew already many things. It was great to imagine to do around the world. I wanted to try it."
From : Volvo Ocean Race
