"We still hold the cards," says Philippe Mourniac, director of the French Sail GP team.

The F50s finally set sail and begin this French round of the Sail GP even though the mistral, too strong yesterday, deprived the twelve crews of their training phase.

And at home, the French team, sixth in the standings, are keen to get a result: " We've done a lot of work on the overall setup, then on the boat to be ready to deliver a performance ," explains Philippe Mourniac. "We have specific preparation for all the Grands Prix, on the statistics of the race zone, the experience we may have, either because we've already been to this Sail GP, or because we've sailed on this race zone on other boats. I grew up opposite, in Sainte-Maxime, so I've also brought my own personal touch, the experience of decades of sailing in this gulf ."

Take as many points as possible

If they are favorites, the Tricolores remain cautious: " Favorites, I don't know, but what is certain is that since the beginning of this season 5, we are in what we define as a learning process, so we are taking the steps one by one." Since the American tour, Los Angeles, San Francisco then New York , he believes that they have "all the cards in hand to do well here. That means being able to be in the top 3 and being able to enter the Grand Prix final, hoping to win it. We are one of the few teams that have several assets in their game " he believes, aware that the westerly wind that accompanies the race could allow them to achieve incredible performances, or even a new feat.

" The French set the record a few years ago here, flirting with 100 km/h. It was beaten at the last Grand Prix in Sassnitz by the Danes. The legendary 100 km/h barrier has fallen. We can bet that with all the technological developments that the Sail GP circuit brings to the equipment, this record will fall again. But the priority of priorities is the result on Saturday evening," warns the coach.

All in the same boat

One of the particularities of these races is that the shore staff can interact with the crew during the race: " We don't have time to write novels, it's too fast and it's too noisy. On the other hand, we have defined a vocabulary to intervene on aspects of adjustments, maneuvers or tactics, in relation to the knowledge we have of our boat, and what we are able to observe, to spy a little on the others because we have access to everyone's data. We can tell the crew almost in real time that such a boat is doing such a thing, and that it seems to be going well. There are constant exchanges. We are all really part of the boat ."

Les Bleus did not race in the first two Grands Prix, the first by choice, the second because a wing of their catamaran broke during a training maneuver in Portsmouth, England. They have no other option but to have a good race in Saint-Tropez if they want to play a role in the grand finale: " We are in a situation that is not mathematically simple, we have used up all our joker. That does not prevent us from still holding the cards. We redefined a goal for the four European Grands Prix: we had to reach the final at least three times. If we can do it four times, we will not deprive ourselves of it. We have to go and get points. "