Normandy Sailing Week - The Diam 24 ODS Open Festivities!

by Kate Jennings on 12 Jun 2015 Today saw the start of the first event of this Normandy Sailing Week 2015. In a 10/15-knot easterly wind on flat seas, the spectacular DIAM 24ODs let battle commence. After four intense races it was the Combiwest team who pulled out all the stops, setting themselves up nicely for the next stage in proceedings. The crew of Groupama and the locals of the competition on Normandy Elite Team complete the podium for this first day.

What a cracking first day! 10 to 15 knots of breeze, glorious sunshine, flat seas, a course fronting onto the beach and some red-hot crews… all the ingredients were in place to ensure a dazzling spectacle and what a showstopper it proved to be…!

The 16 DIAM 24ODs were champing at the bit on the start line of the first race at 14:00pm local time. After a general recall, four incredibly intense races were unleashed. With the competitors fiercely jockeying for position it was very tough to pin down a likely winner, a point highlighted by tonight’s results, which reveal a different podium on every one of the races and never the same winner.

In the constant toings and froings of the windward-leewards, it was Combiwest who came off best in their bid to thwart the disturbed air created by the Le Havre’s coastline. The crew led by Fred Guilmin managed to make the most of any puffs of breeze whilst skillfully avoiding the wind holes.

Hoisting itself onto the podium (second in the first race and first in the fourth) Groupama is currently lying in second place. Finally, the local crew from Le Havre aboard Normandy Elite Team completed the top trio. These three crews have set themselves up nicely for the next stage of proceedings in what promises to be an action-packed Normandy Sailing Week!

At 09:00am local time tomorrow, hostilities will pick up where they left off with the DIAM 24OD crews linking onto a long-distance adventure challenge along the coast between the white cliffs of Etretat and Deauville. Next, it will be the turn of the J/80s and the IRC and Osiris racer-cruisers to take centre stage in a series of windward-leewards off Le Havre. To round off this second day of the event, the long nocturnal race will set sail at 20:00pm.