Prysmian Group and Giancarlo Pedote sail for the Transat Jacques Vabre 2017
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Corporate
Giancarlo Pedote and Fabrice Amedeo sail aboard Newrest-Brioche Pasquier, accompanied as always by his historic sponsor Prysmian Group
Transat Jacques Vabre 2017 has started! The regatta in double kicked off from Le Havre, on Sunday 5 November and embodies 4 competitions: Class 40, Multi 50, IMOCA and Breaking. 38 boats in total. Giancarlo Pedote and Fabrice Amedeo sail aboard Newrest-Brioche Pasquier, accompanied as always by his historic sponsor Prysmian Group. Thirteen IMOCA sailed from the imaginary start line off Le Havre, Normandy, in the direction of Salvador Bahia, Brazil.
Giancarlo Pedote navigates alongside Fabrice Amedeo, the French skipper who ranked eleventh in the latest Vendée Globe, aboard Newrest-Brioche Pasquier. 4,350 miles not to be missed as explained by Giancarlo Pedote who tells the weather developments and announces the key points of this ocean crossing regatta.
"The cold front that passed over Le Havre on Saturday night and dissolved, throwed a stream of 15-20 knots from the Northwest on Sunday. These were the starting conditions that evolved in a regime of lighter winds coming from the North on Sunday afternoon. This change was caused by an anticyclone of the Azores placed farther north, more or less between the Azores and Cape Finisterre. Following a depression in the West of Iceland, this anticyclone covered with a ridge towards the tip of Britain generating very light winds the night between Sunday and Monday."
Pedote describes weather scenario changes: "After the depression positioned in the West of Iceland will move towards the coasts of Western Europe, the fleet will be affected by a Southwest flow of 25-30 nodes associated with a rather intense cold front that will touch the fleet Tuesday between 3.00 and 7.00 a.m. according to current forecasts. There will be a rotation of the wind on the right: the wind will move from the Southwest to the Northwest, and on that occasion it will be important to place very well our tack to start sailing downwind in low pressure tail with unsteady wind 25-30 nodes." This kind of wind requires a careful navigation.
"The descent towards the Equator will be pretty toned: we will need to make the right sails choices and try not to get surprised by gusts of wind. Later, when the wind begins to decrease in intensity, it will be important to make changes of sails at the right time to allow the boat to express its best target speed. At this point, the cold front will evacuate along with depression and we will head back to the stream high-pressure forming just behind the depression. Here we will have to "play" with the curve of the anticyclone and to place the gybe which will lead us to follow the flow of the trade winds, at the latitude of the Strait of Gibraltar."
Races are never just tactics and strategy and Giancarlo knows it: emotion, experiences and memories play their key rools.
"In 2009, I arrived in Salvador Bahia with Prysmian ITA 626, a mini Pogo 2. It was the first arrival overseas, the conclusion of my first solo Atlantic crossing, and it was really very exciting. The first crossing has a special flavor and is never forgotten. We throw ourselves in the first ocean crossing with an idea, then we arrive, I arrived on the other side having lived a reality very different from the one I had imagined. In these eight years, I have had the opportunity to do so many experiences, to sail on so many different boats, and now I can look at these years and embark towards Salvador Bahia taking with me all the previous experiences. Basically I can only draw a positive balance of everything that has happened since the first Mini Transat, and that makes me calm."
Giancarlo Pedote already partecipated to Transat Jacques Vabre, but this is his first ocean crossing as IMOCA.
In 2015, he won the competition in Multi50 alongside Erwan Le Roux on Fenêtréa – Prysmian. This year his partner is Fabrice Amedeo, who is not only a simple Navigator, but also a journalist of the popular French daily Le Figaro.
In 2015, he won the competition in Multi50 alongside Erwan Le Roux on Fenêtréa – Prysmian. This year his partner is Fabrice Amedeo, who is not only a simple Navigator, but also a journalist of the popular French daily Le Figaro.
"During this preparation period, Fabrice Amedeo turned out to be a good companion, earnest, who knows his boat. I'm happy to sail with him, we will try together to give our best."
Prysmian Group, as main and historic sponsor, will accompany Giancarlo Pedote in this regatta. The Company has been supporting Pedote since 2008.
Lorenzo Caruso, Corporate and Business Communications Director of the Group, stated:
"We are excited to take part again in the prestigious Transat Jacques Vabre thanks to Giancarlo, who for us is an integral part of Prysmian Group. His persistence and professionalism represent the spirit of the Group and, through this fruitful collaboration that combines the values of sailing and our business mission to always pursue excellence in performance, quality, competitiveness and innovation, we are ready to face this new adventure."
"We will follow Giancarlo", continue Caruso. "Every employee of the Group will have the opportunity to follow the race throughout which we will give updates on our Intranet and on our corporate website www.prysmian.com."
Everyone will be able to follow the regatta on the Official Website, and on Giancarlo Pedote's Facebook and Twitter.