Corum – Victory in Venice

VICTORY IN VENICE – AC World Series / Venice- Monday 21st May 2012

The French ENERGY TEAM achieved their first major victory in the America’s Cup World Series this Sunday afternoon in Venice. The crew led by Loïck Peyron, who had been in the lead in the overall rankings since Thursday, confirmed their top class ability by winning the fifth Fleet Race Championship, which took place in Venice. ENERGY TEAM completed this event in Venice in the finest way by achieving a victory, finishing 8 seconds ahead of the American Defender ORACLE TEAM USA Spithill.

The atmosphere was euphoric last night in the French team, as the crew of ENERGY TEAM comprising Loïck Peyron, Christophe André, Arnaud Jarlegan, Devan Le Bihan and Arnaud Psarofaghis, can be proud of their victory. They achieved this after a bitter struggle at the end of the race against James Spithill’s Oracle that is likely to be remembered for along time. After being up to 5’29” behind in the middle of the race, the Americans came back to be dangerously close. During the final leg, the two boats battled it out in a series of gybes as they approached the finishing line. Fortunately, the French team kept their calm to keep the attacker behind their one-design boat. With the wind practically absent at the end of the race and on the final gybe, the French managed to keep their opponent in check and pick up just enough air to cross the finish eight seconds ahead of the American boat.

Loick Peyron: ” We made a few mistakes, but that probably made it all the more interesting for the spectators. The conditions were very complicated and there was a lot of pressure on us. How do I feel right now? Happy, of course. We gave ourselves a bit of a scare at the end, with Oracle right behind us and closing the gap. We weren’t feeling very confident, when the wind dropped off at the finish and with Oracle piling the pressure on us. I’m very happy with this win, and very pleased to have got off to a good start and also with all the work done by the crew. It’s really encouraging for a little team like ours to achieve this victory. We’re on top of the world tonight. It will probably only be temporary, but this is a highly symbolic result! “

Antonio Calce – CEO and Shareholder of Corum: What an incredible performance! Our partnership with Energy Team is a source of pride for Corum, who took the challenge to support a project of this magnitude. It is the attention to details, precision and proficiency that made the difference. I congratulate all members of Energy Team for their success, their heart and their talent.

AC WORLD SERIES – VENICE FLEET RACE CHAMPIONSHIP Overall final rankings (after 7 races)

1 – ENERGY TEAM : 74 points

2 – ORACLE TEAM USA SPITHILL : 58 points

3 – EMIRATES TEAM NEW ZEALAND : 54 points

4 – ARTEMIS RACING : 52 points

5 – LUNA ROSSA PIRANHA : 43 points

6 – LUNA ROSSA SWORDFISH : 43 points

7 – TEAM KOREA : 37 points

8 – ORACLE TEAM USA BUNDOCK : 22 points

9 – CHINA TEAM : 18 points