On 8 September, two months until the start of the Vendee Globe, the Gitana monohull got a taste of the ocean again during sail trials in the bay of Quiberon, Brittany. It was a moment of enjoyment for the Gitana Team who have worked without respite this summer to prepare the boat. During the six weeks between now and Gitana Eighty’s arrival in Les Sables d’Olonne, Loick Peyron will go for a series of test sails to validate the final adjustments and run through the basics again.

Gitana Eighty must conform to a number of safety rules and specifications, and having changed its keel over the course of the summer, some tests awaited the boat on its relaunch.

The Gitana Team performed a so-called 90 degree test: “This consists of heeling the boat over to 90 degrees in order to check the vessel’s righting moment. Once the boat is canted over with the help of a crane, we measure the traction at the masthead with a dynamometer. The aim of all this being to check that in the event of capsize, the weight of the keel is sufficiently high to enable Gitana Eighty to right itself without assistance,” explained Loick Peyron.

From hereon in, the coming weeks promise to be hectic for the Frenchman, with particular emphasis on the new set of sails the 60 footer will have for its circumnavigation.

For further information, visit www.gitana-team.com .