Tour de France à la Voile teams are now fully in the game

by A.S.O./Tour de France à la voile on 7 Jul 2014 The Tour de France à la Voile nine teams are now warmed-up and fully in the game. Despite the wet and cold conditions on this second day of racing, the crew did not lack energy on the Dunkirk race course today and they are getting more familiar with their new one-design sails.

The fleet sailed two inshore races in some shifty and gusty wind conditions. Sidney Gavignet, who finished fourth in 2013 edition, is back this year to take his omani team on the podium. And Team Omansail was in top form. After a third in the first race, they won the second one with good tactics and perfect control over their chaser Groupama 34.

The competition amongst the pros is getting tighter, and consistency is be more important than ever. Yesterday’s leader Courrier Dunkerque 3 took a bad start in the second race, made some tactical mistakes and took a penalty downwind against Bretagne - Crédit Mutuel Elite. And it cost them a lot. They finished sixth and lost their overall leadership.

Winner of the first race of the day, Groupama 34 is, without question, the most consistent team so far. With a fourth as a worse result in five races, they logically go up at the top of the leaderboard.

Ville de Genève – Carrefour Addictions is not as consistent, but the Swiss team can be pleased with its third place in the last race. After a good start, they managed to keep up with the leaders which gives them some confidence for the rest of the event.

The four Corinthian teams have nothing to be ashamed of. Even though they are at the bottom of the leaderboard, they have their own race within the race and on the water, they show good speeds and good spirit. « It’s the first time I was sailing with the new one-design sails and it was not easy because the wind was very shifty today, but the crew is fantastic and we managed to keep up with the rest of the fleet. The atmosphere onboard is great and we are having fun. Even if we are last overall, we didn’t anything and that’s the most important », said Camille Lacrampe, headsail trimmer onboard BE Brussels – Bienne Voile.

The fleet came back at the dock at 2pm this afternoon so that the teams can rest and get ready for the first offshore leg in the 2014 Tour de France à la Voile. Tonight at 8pm, they will be heading to Dieppe, in Normandy, 116 miles down the track. And the weather forecast predicts more upwind conditions… and more rain.

Quotes of the day

Fabien Henry, second skipper onboard Groupama 34
« We started well today with a win in race 1. We are taking the lead overall and that would be great if could keep it until the end. Now we are going to get some sleep and prepare ourselves for tonight. We only have one change in the crew, with Julien Villion standing in for Tanguy Cariou »

Sidney Gavignet, skipper onboard Team Oman Sail
« In the second race, we had a good start, as always with Damien Iehl. We had a good speed upwind and we are very pleased with our performance. And it’s interesting to note that we had a majority of Omani sailors onboard today, with four Omanis and three Frenchmen ».

« Yesterday we proved we had a great potential but we made a few mistakes that cost us a lot, even though we were fighting amongst the top boats. It was good to make that mistake because now we know what we should not do so we can make sure we won’t do it again ».

« We are going to rest a bit before tonight. It’s going to be a wet leg upwind and we will welcome some fresh blood onboard, with Gilles Favennec and Gérald Véniard »

Daniel Souben, skipper onboard Courrier Dunkerque 3
« We had a bad start in the second race and we struggled to take the right hand side of the race course. Then we had a penalty when we crossed Bretagne Crédit Mutuel downwind so we had to do a 360 and we lost a lot of time. We managed to come back a bit, but it was too late. We finished sixth and we are now three points behind Groupama 3. We are disappointed but we will have to work harder to get back ».

Nils, tactician onboard Ville de Genève – Carrefour Addictions
« We took a good start in the second race and we are very happy with our boat speed. In fact, we find it easier in those strong wind conditions. We are starting to build our confidence. Now we know we can play amongst the leaders ».

Overall ranking :
1 Groupama 34, Franck Cammas 120 pts
2 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben 117 pts
3 Team OmanSail, skipper, Sidney Gavignet 111 pts
4 Bretagne - Crédit Mutuel Elite, skipper Nicolas Troussel 110 pts
5 Ville de Genève - Carrefoux Addictions, Nicolas Groux 104 pts
6 Normandy - Acerel, Baptiste Choquenet 103 pts
7 Toulon Provence Méditerranée, Florian Simonnot 99 pts
8 Nantes Saint-Nazaire, Jean-Baptiste Gellée 95 pts
9 Be Brussels Bienne Voile, Delphine Wolters et Yann Burkhalter 85 pts

Technical ranking :
1 Groupama 34, Franck Cammas 120 pts
2 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben 117 pts
3 Team OmanSail, skipper, Sidney Gavignet 111 pts (…)

Amateur ranking :
1 Normandy - Acerel, Baptiste Choquenet 103 pts
2 Toulon Provence Méditerranée, Florian Simonnot 99 pts
3 Nantes Saint-Nazaire, Jean-Baptiste Gellée 95 pts
4 Be Brussels Bienne Voile, Delphine Wolters et Yann Burkhalter 85 pts