Volvo Ocean Race – Galway : The consecration

To win the Volvo Ocean Race is a very fine challenge when you're a novice in this format and French to boot! That's what is motivating and exciting for a team: achieving what nobody expects of you. We weren't a favourite or even an outsider at the start in Alicante. We were also in an easy position, especially as this first crewed race around the world was about learning the ropes prior to a planned second participation. We were here to discover the scene without any pressure on our shoulders, but to win was a surprise to everyone... despite putting a huge amount of work into the race over the past three years. We entered a tunnel where all we thought about was the race and we didn't think any further than that: our world may well be a bit empty for a few days after this coming weekend. However, after a victory such as this, we'll have many great memories and such trust in our way of working and in our strategy that we can cast our minds forward to lots of other challenges. This is an epic dream, which has come true today and I can honestly say that I didn't think we would win on our first attempt! We've become a good crew over the miles. Initially we thought that the Spanish were going to walk away with the race win but we knew that it was still very close between four boats, who all had a chance of winning. It's been an extraordinary race as there have never been so many uncertainties in a round the world race. And we'd still very much like to win the last In-Port in Galway on Saturday, just as a thank you to Thierry Péponnet, who told us to finish in front in the short races: we need to round things off in style! We're very happy to be able to compete in the last race without any pressure on our shoulders...

Franck Cammas
skipper de Groupama 4

We are very proud of this exceptional victory which represents a great deal to Groupama today. However, above all else it's a great sense of pride for all the Group's 50,000 representatives and 38,500 colleagues after all the work accomplished by the teams, both at sea and on shore. Indeed it is representative of the tenacity, the faith in an ambitious objective and the ability to rally together and motivate a team, whatever unknown factors come their way. It is also extremely symbolic in the period we're going through right now, which further adds to the beauty of this win. Thank you to Franck, to his crew and to all the teams onshore for having written a new and fantastic chapter in the history we've been building together for what is now some 15 years

Thierry Martel
Directeur Général du Groupe Groupama