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| French Sailor’s Long, Eclectic Course Leads to America’s Cup | French Sailor’s Long, Eclectic Course Leads to America’s Cup |
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| ALAMEDA, Calif. — “I like to be a free electron,” Loïck Peyron said. | ALAMEDA, Calif. — “I like to be a free electron,” Loïck Peyron said. |
| At 53, Peyron has certainly bounced around the sailing world and its challenges: from the single-handed privations of the Vendée Globe round-the-world race to the intense teamwork required to claim the Jules Verne Trophy to the hundreds of other races in the multihulls that he understands as well as any other sailor. | At 53, Peyron has certainly bounced around the sailing world and its challenges: from the single-handed privations of the Vendée Globe round-the-world race to the intense teamwork required to claim the Jules Verne Trophy to the hundreds of other races in the multihulls that he understands as well as any other sailor. |
| It has been a remarkably eclectic run, and the albatross-size wingspan of Peyron’s career is perhaps wider than that of any of the other men who will try to win the America’s Cup between now and September. | |
| Peyron first dreamed of the Cup when he was a boy on summer vacation in the south of France in 1970. The Frenchman Baron Marcel Bich was challenging for it in Newport, R.I., and Peyron built himself a small dinghy with a sheet stolen from his mother for a sail. Peyron said his father jokingly wrote on the sail, “le pessimiste, Newport.” | Peyron first dreamed of the Cup when he was a boy on summer vacation in the south of France in 1970. The Frenchman Baron Marcel Bich was challenging for it in Newport, R.I., and Peyron built himself a small dinghy with a sheet stolen from his mother for a sail. Peyron said his father jokingly wrote on the sail, “le pessimiste, Newport.” |
| It would take nearly 40 years for Peyron to make it into the America’s Cup itself, serving as co-helmsman with Ernesto Bertarelli, the owner of the Swiss team Alinghi, which was beaten by BMW Oracle in a contentious giant multihull duel in Valencia, Spain, in 2010. | It would take nearly 40 years for Peyron to make it into the America’s Cup itself, serving as co-helmsman with Ernesto Bertarelli, the owner of the Swiss team Alinghi, which was beaten by BMW Oracle in a contentious giant multihull duel in Valencia, Spain, in 2010. |
| “The way Larry won it on the water was impressive; the way in which they invited themselves into the final was not,” said Peyron, referring to Oracle’s billionaire owner, Larry Ellison, and the legal machinations that preceded the event that year. “But that was another problem, a legal problem. After that, the way in which they reacted and tried to revolutionize and give a face-lift to this old grandmother of an event was superb.” | “The way Larry won it on the water was impressive; the way in which they invited themselves into the final was not,” said Peyron, referring to Oracle’s billionaire owner, Larry Ellison, and the legal machinations that preceded the event that year. “But that was another problem, a legal problem. After that, the way in which they reacted and tried to revolutionize and give a face-lift to this old grandmother of an event was superb.” |
| The odds at this stage are heavily against him and his latest employer, Artemis Racing, which is struggling to recover from the loss of its first boat in a capsizing that resulted in the death of a British crew member, Andrew Simpson. | The odds at this stage are heavily against him and his latest employer, Artemis Racing, which is struggling to recover from the loss of its first boat in a capsizing that resulted in the death of a British crew member, Andrew Simpson. |
| The surprise and disappointment is that Peyron, a star in his native France, is not running his own team in this Cup. When it became clear that it was going to be contested in 72-foot catamarans, it seemed as if France, with its long-established taste for multihulls, finally might play a central role in a sport historically dominated by English-speaking nations. | The surprise and disappointment is that Peyron, a star in his native France, is not running his own team in this Cup. When it became clear that it was going to be contested in 72-foot catamarans, it seemed as if France, with its long-established taste for multihulls, finally might play a central role in a sport historically dominated by English-speaking nations. |
| But instead of uniting forces, as Team New Zealand has done with tens of millions of dollars in governmental support, the leading French sailors started competing challengers: Aleph and Energy Team. Energy Team was founded by Peyron and his older brother Bruno, also a prominent offshore sailor in France. But even the Peyrons’ star power was not enough to generate the financing from home necessary to mount a viable challenge for the 34th Cup. | But instead of uniting forces, as Team New Zealand has done with tens of millions of dollars in governmental support, the leading French sailors started competing challengers: Aleph and Energy Team. Energy Team was founded by Peyron and his older brother Bruno, also a prominent offshore sailor in France. But even the Peyrons’ star power was not enough to generate the financing from home necessary to mount a viable challenge for the 34th Cup. |
| Neither French team made it to the starting line, and the Peyron brothers’ failure was also, in some fashion, a failure of the America’s Cup organizers to limit costs and encourage participation. Only three challengers are involved in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the winner of which will face Oracle Team USA in September for the America’s Cup, and none of the challenging syndicates is from Asia. It is quite a comedown from the 11 challengers in the last Louis Vuitton Cup, in 2007. | Neither French team made it to the starting line, and the Peyron brothers’ failure was also, in some fashion, a failure of the America’s Cup organizers to limit costs and encourage participation. Only three challengers are involved in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the winner of which will face Oracle Team USA in September for the America’s Cup, and none of the challenging syndicates is from Asia. It is quite a comedown from the 11 challengers in the last Louis Vuitton Cup, in 2007. |
| Peyron said Energy Team’s goal was to raise about $52 million, well below the reported operating budgets of Artemis and the defender, Oracle Team USA. | |
| “We were very far away financially,” Peyron said in a recent interview at Artemis’s base. | “We were very far away financially,” Peyron said in a recent interview at Artemis’s base. |
| “It was complicated, and it still is,” he said. “The explanation is simple. It’s because France is a bit of an exception in the world of sailing. It has been so well nourished by other events for so many years: the Vendée Globe, the Route du Rhum, the Transat. The French sailing heroes are not the sailors who have been in the America’s Cup. Never. The America’s Cup has always been a game that did not interest people.” | “It was complicated, and it still is,” he said. “The explanation is simple. It’s because France is a bit of an exception in the world of sailing. It has been so well nourished by other events for so many years: the Vendée Globe, the Route du Rhum, the Transat. The French sailing heroes are not the sailors who have been in the America’s Cup. Never. The America’s Cup has always been a game that did not interest people.” |
| The high-speed approach embraced this time has given the Cup a more adventurous edge, clearly more in line with the extreme sailing events that the French relish. But it still was not enough to open the commercial gates. | The high-speed approach embraced this time has given the Cup a more adventurous edge, clearly more in line with the extreme sailing events that the French relish. But it still was not enough to open the commercial gates. |
| “We are 100 percent commercial; we need sponsors,” Peyron said. “If companies are going to invest euros, we have to give them a guaranteed return, and today, politically in France, it would be difficult. There is already the timing in terms of politics and the economy, and there is also a cultural problem in France, a very French problem. We don’t like the rich.” | “We are 100 percent commercial; we need sponsors,” Peyron said. “If companies are going to invest euros, we have to give them a guaranteed return, and today, politically in France, it would be difficult. There is already the timing in terms of politics and the economy, and there is also a cultural problem in France, a very French problem. We don’t like the rich.” |
| Three of the four teams in this Cup are owned by extremely wealthy men: Luna Rossa Challenge by Patrizio Bertelli, the chief executive of the fashion brand Prada; Artemis by Torbjorn Tornqvist, a Swedish oil trader with strong Russian business connections; and Oracle by Ellison, the technology mogul who has been ranked by Forbes as the world’s fifth-richest individual, with a net worth estimated at $43 billion. | Three of the four teams in this Cup are owned by extremely wealthy men: Luna Rossa Challenge by Patrizio Bertelli, the chief executive of the fashion brand Prada; Artemis by Torbjorn Tornqvist, a Swedish oil trader with strong Russian business connections; and Oracle by Ellison, the technology mogul who has been ranked by Forbes as the world’s fifth-richest individual, with a net worth estimated at $43 billion. |
| But Peyron does not sound bitter about the failure of his team to make the financial cut. | But Peyron does not sound bitter about the failure of his team to make the financial cut. |
| “There’s no frustration at all; none; truly,” he said. “I much prefer to be here with people where I can exploit 100 percent of my potential rather than losing energy with my brother or someone else trying to scramble for the means to pull this off.” | “There’s no frustration at all; none; truly,” he said. “I much prefer to be here with people where I can exploit 100 percent of my potential rather than losing energy with my brother or someone else trying to scramble for the means to pull this off.” |
| Though Artemis apparently remains well financed, it is scrambling to get its second and now only boat ready to take part in the Louis Vuitton Cup. | Though Artemis apparently remains well financed, it is scrambling to get its second and now only boat ready to take part in the Louis Vuitton Cup. |
| Peyron is quite accustomed to danger at sea. He has raced around the world alone, finishing second in the first edition of the Vendée Globe in 1989-90 and then failing to finish on two other occasions. In the first Vendée Globe, he provided emergency assistance to the sailor Philippe Poupon in the open ocean, righting his ketch after it had been knocked on its side during a storm. | Peyron is quite accustomed to danger at sea. He has raced around the world alone, finishing second in the first edition of the Vendée Globe in 1989-90 and then failing to finish on two other occasions. In the first Vendée Globe, he provided emergency assistance to the sailor Philippe Poupon in the open ocean, righting his ketch after it had been knocked on its side during a storm. |
| Last year, he was captain of the crew of 14 that won the Jules Verne Trophy on the 130-foot Banque Populaire V, the world’s largest racing trimaran. The trophy is awarded to the crew that sails around the world fastest, and Peyron’s team finished in 45 days 13 hours and just under 43 minutes to return the trophy to the Peyron family. (Bruno Peyron was the one who helped conceive the event and first won the trophy in 1993.) | Last year, he was captain of the crew of 14 that won the Jules Verne Trophy on the 130-foot Banque Populaire V, the world’s largest racing trimaran. The trophy is awarded to the crew that sails around the world fastest, and Peyron’s team finished in 45 days 13 hours and just under 43 minutes to return the trophy to the Peyron family. (Bruno Peyron was the one who helped conceive the event and first won the trophy in 1993.) |
| After icebergs and the perils of the southern ocean, San Francisco Bay would seem a much less daunting prospect, but it was where Simpson died May 9, with Peyron, one of the two helmsmen, following the team’s AC72 in a chase boat when the capsizing occurred, trapping Simpson under the wreckage. | After icebergs and the perils of the southern ocean, San Francisco Bay would seem a much less daunting prospect, but it was where Simpson died May 9, with Peyron, one of the two helmsmen, following the team’s AC72 in a chase boat when the capsizing occurred, trapping Simpson under the wreckage. |
| “The danger was known in this case,” Peyron said. “We’ve already seen one capsizing a few months ago, and we know these boats are not very stable because the wing sails are too big. The pity is that with smaller wings, they could be safer and faster.” | “The danger was known in this case,” Peyron said. “We’ve already seen one capsizing a few months ago, and we know these boats are not very stable because the wing sails are too big. The pity is that with smaller wings, they could be safer and faster.” |
| Peyron, married with four children, has chosen to keep taking the risks, chosen to remain one of professional sailing’s free electrons. It is a passion as much as a profession, and when his America’s Cup duties with Artemis are finished, he plans — unsurprisingly — to try something new by competing in his first Moth world championships in October in Hawaii. | Peyron, married with four children, has chosen to keep taking the risks, chosen to remain one of professional sailing’s free electrons. It is a passion as much as a profession, and when his America’s Cup duties with Artemis are finished, he plans — unsurprisingly — to try something new by competing in his first Moth world championships in October in Hawaii. |
| Then, in November, he and his wife, Christine, plan to cross the Atlantic in a catamaran. | Then, in November, he and his wife, Christine, plan to cross the Atlantic in a catamaran. |
| “She’s never sailed across,” Peyron said. “It will be just the two of us, en amoureux.” | “She’s never sailed across,” Peyron said. “It will be just the two of us, en amoureux.” |