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Press Release N°
1 RAPHAELA LE GOUVELLO , May 19, 2003
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From Brittany to Tahiti
via Peru…
The crossing of the Pacific
ocean, solo :
Raphaela le Gouvello, the windurfer woman is preparing
her departure.
«It’s coming
now, finally, ant it is going to be a great moment for me
and for all of us»
These are Raphaela’s words to announce her future
departure from the Peruvian coast to sail to Tahiti with her
sailboard, solo.
After her first crossing of
the Atlantic ocean, solo, with a sailboard in 2000, a crossing
of the Mediterranean sea in 2002, Raphaela le Gouvello
will leave on August 5, 2003 from Lima to Tahiti (4,300 nautical
miles) for a duration of about 3 months, on the track of the
mythical journey of Thor Hejerdahl with his famous Kon Tiki.
The sailboarder will present
her future crossing of the Pacific solo, at a press
conference organized with her partner the Region of Brittany,
on May 29, 2003 at 18h, during the event of The Gulf
Week of Morbihan.
Public partners are involved
in this great ocean adventure: Region of Brittany,
French Ministries of Ecology and Sustainable Development,
Sport, Oversea Territories and the French embassy in Peru.
Various technical and technological
partnerships have also been achieved. Among them, the
Program for Technology Transfer of the European Spatial Agency
has developed a system to upright Raphaela’s board when
it is capsized. This innovation will be presented on May
29, at 16 h in the basin of the old harbour of Vannes.
The project of the sailboarder
is also supported by scientific institutes and educational
teams (Ifremer, IRD-Legos, CDDP29 and 56)
to provide educational materials to the schools who will follow
the crossing.
This world First follows the
example of Raphaela’s former crossing of the Atlantic
ocean and the Mediterranean sea. Beyond the outstanding sportive
dimension, the human adventure and the possibility
to introduce the public to environmental issues, in particular
ocean preservation, are features that Raphaela and
her association Odyssée du vent (which handles Raphaela’s
project) want to promote.
Photo Gilles Martin-Raget
…and do not forget
May 29, 2003, in Vannes!
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