ALL4ONE training off La Maddalena. Image copyright Frank Socha/www.franksocha.com
by Stephanie Nadin
Just a few days after their second place on the first competition of the Audi MedCup Circuit 2010 in Portugal, the French-German team led by Jochen Schümann, Sebastien and John Cutler is now in the starting blocks for the Louis Vuitton Trophy - La Maddalena, starting tomorrow on the incredible race course of La Maddalena, in the North of Sardinia, for two top level racing weeks (22 May-6 June).
After having just landed with their direct flight from Cascais on Monday morning, the ALL4ONE crew members trained the whole week with the 9 other teams competing in the event, representing the best professional sailing teams in the world (Emirates Team New Zealand, BMW Oracle Racing, Luna Rossa, Artemis, Synergy, Aleph, Mascalzone Latino, Azzurra and TeamOrigin), racing on board USA 87 and USA 98 (BMW Oracle Racing's boats), and ITA 90 et ITA 99, (Mascalzone Latino's boats), which are the two pairs used for this competition. Each pair of boats is equalized to offer a fair competition on even America's Cup Class boats.
The competition format is the same as the one used in the America's Cup, that is to say match racing races, offering fantastic duels to the public.
The competition will start with a Round Robin where all teams will race each other, followed by two elimination rounds, semi-finals and final.
ALL4ONE training off La Maddalena against Luna Rossa. Image copyright Frank Socha/www.franksocha.com
Jochen Schümann, ALL4ONE's Skipper and Sports Director: "we made good progress and had a couple of interesting practice situations against other teams like Luna Rossa and others this week. The conditions in Sardinia between the islands will be very challenging, because it is not really stable, and that makes it quite interesting with these huge boats to sail here between the rocks. We also now have two top teams joining the competition (Luna Rossa et BMW Oracle Racing), so that makes it even more challenging. Our goal is the same than in the previous Louis Vuitton Trophy Nice and Auckland, and we will fight to reach the semi-finals."
ALL4ONE finished 5th at the Louis Vuitton Trophy - Nice and 5th at the Louis Vuitton Trophy - Auckland.
The ALL4ONE team for Louis Vuitton Trophy - La Maddalena will be formed of:
Jochen Schümann GER - Skipper and Strategist (3 America's Cup campaigns, 2 wins, 3 times Olympic Gold Medalist, and 1 Silver Olympic medal)
Sebastien Col FRA - Helmsman (2 America's Cup campaigns, French Match Racing Team)
John Cutler NZL - Tactician (5 America's Cup campaigns, Olympic Bronze Medalist)
Philippe Mourniac FRA - Navigator (3 America's Cup campaigns, multihull)
Michi Müller GER - Mast (1 America's Cup campaign, Volvo Ocean Race)
Matti Paschen GER - Spinnaker Trimmer (1 America's Cup campaign)
Jean-Marie Dauris FRA - Bow (2 America's Cup campaigns)
Christophe André FRA - Mid-bow (1 America's Cup campaign, French Match Racing Team)
Albert Jacobsoone FRA - Pit (7 America's Cup campaigns)
Gilles Favennec FRA - Pit Assist (2 America's Cup campaigns, French Match Racing Team)
Carlo Castellano ITA - Grinder (3 America's Cup campaigns)
Jorge Ondo ESP - Grinder (1 America's Cup campaign)
Virgilio Torrecilla ESP - Afterguard Grinder (2 America's Cup campaigns)
Christian Scherrer SUI - Jib Trimmer (4 America's Cup campaigns, 1 win, Whitbread)
Peter van Niekerk NED - Mainsail Grinder (2 America's Cup campaigns, 2 wins)
Yann Gouniot FRA - Mainsail Trimmer (5 America's Cup campaigns, 1 win)
Olivier Douillard FRA - Traveller (2 America's Cup campaigns)
Racing is live everyday on www.all4onechallenge.com and www.louisvuittontrophy.com
