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Quotes from :

• Michel Desjoyeaux skipper : « The Tour is a model in french crew handed sailing. Many young sailors have grown to top level racing and became pro after sailing on the Tour. Multihull sailing is clearly part of the french sailing and technological culture, and now it is finally going international ! It’s great gather the two and revive this major event. The objective is to have more boats and more sailors. The Diam 24 complies with the necessary flexibility on a mobile event along the french coasts, taking into account the timing priorities for the entertainment on land ».

• Vincent Riou, skipper of the 60’ monohull PRB : « The Diam 24 is a light and fun sport boat. It’s full-on and it’s going to be a great show. I was looking for another boat on top of my 60 foot monohull. It’s an easy campaign to take on. The Diam 24 series has just started and it already attracts top people. And the Tour de France à la Voile is also an institution. I think the Diam 24 can rejunevate the event. It will be a great campaign to do the Tour on a multihull. I just love the idea ! »

• Daniel Souben, skipper of Courrier Dunkerque 3 : « We are at a time when the Tour has some difficulties despite the level of the competitors and the excellent media cover. We don’t have enough teams. So we can’t refuse the opportunity to rejunevate. The solution they found should allow attract many teams to the event and facilitate the mix of professionnals and corinthians. It will be a different format as we are going to lose the offshore legs. But it will bring some new competitors including a younger generation and some people from the multihull world. The Diam 24 in the Tour is a good thing, from a communication point of view, but also from the budget point of view. It’s definitely worth trying ».

• Eric Hainneville, President of the Diam 24 class : « The introduction of the Diam 24 as the new boat for the Tour de France à la Voile is a bit stressful for me, as a president of the Class. The bar is set high right from the start. We just want to be good enough so that no one is disappointed. As a sailor, it’s a fantastic project. I think it’s a recognition of the multihull as a proper racing platform. Sailing a multihull requires real sailing abilities. The America’s Cup helped a lot in this recognition. With Vianney Ancelin, we wanted a sensationnal boat, for a reasonnable price, simple and easily accessible. It was a real challenge. This boat will attract other types of sailors, both on the pro and on the corinthian side. It will give the Tour de France à la Voile a new dimension. I think it’s fantastic. There is a real mutual trust amongst us, the sailors, the class, and the race organisers ».

• Nicolas Honor, project manager of Oman Sail : « The fact that A.S.O is changing the boat is a good thing. Unfortunately today, the entries are decreasing every year on the Tour de France à la Voile. A.S.O had the courage to do something about it. Regarding Oman Sail, our project is more offshore sailing orientated, but we also have our MOD70 so the Diam 24 could be an interesting platform for us. We can readjust our omani sailors training program. We are more than 50% sure to do the Tour de France à la Voile again next year. But there are still some question marks because the Oman Sail program for next year hasn’t been established yet for the various circuits we are involved in. In brief, if we have an opportunity to do the Tour on a Diam 24, we will take it ».

• Sidney Gavignet, skipper of Team Oman Sail : « Moving to multihull is simply in the mood of our time. This change was necessary. To find a more affordable platform is logical considering the economic situation. I think the competition will be homogeneous. The big teams will prepare like big teams do and then we will have some sailors who don’t come from offshore sailing but from the sport multihull. I trust A.S.O to make the right choices ».

• François Gabart, skipper of Macif : « I did my first Tour in 2002 or 2003 and at the time I was sailing on Tornado. On the Tour I discovered offshore sailing, nightime racing, sailing with the tides and current… But I thought monohulls were a bit slow. AT the time I remember I told myself that it would be great to do it on small multihulls ! Therefore I think the evolution of the Tour de France à la Voile is very positive. And the future of sailing in general is multihulls. I bought a Diam 24 before even knowing it would be the new Tour boat. It’s an excellent boat, very accessible, both from a budget point of view and from a technical aspect. The Tour will be more popular, for the public and for the competitors. The mix has always been the Tour’s strength ! »

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