6e Sens: back to France
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After a great campaign on the other side of the world, the IACC 6e Sens is on the way home by cargo between Auckland (NZ) and her base in Lorient (South Brittany, France). For the French Challenge, the bottom line is more than positive: a place in the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, a crew who performed well despite early difficulties – and a boat of exemplary reliability. Sights on 2003?
In the beginning of April, 6e Sens will be back in her homeport of Lorient, where she was named in June 1999 after a 7-month build by Multiplast

She will be re-rigged straight away to go sailing again this summer. It will be the occasion to test her new bow section more thoroughly – it is finer for better passage through the waves and was grafted on last January in New Zealand – and to fine tune the options that should lead, in the short term, to a new French IACC. Luc Gellusseau, technical manager, is satisfied on two accounts. First of all both team and boat improved drastically as the races unfolded: at the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup, in November 1999, "we were a long way from being able to rival with the semi-finalists. Since then, 6e Sens has become a competitive boat in all weather conditions and on all points of sailing, with a little "plus" downwind. But the other reason to be satisfied is the reliability." Serge Paillard, another leading personality of Le Défi, doesn't hesitate to add: "Any minor technical problems we had were entirely our own fault. Multiplast's build quality was absolutely exemplary."