Tour de France à la Voile – High Pressure in the Med

by A.S.O./Tour de France à la voile on 19 Jul 2017 Wednesday is the biggest travel day of the 40th Tour de France à la Voile, time for the eight hour road trip from Les Sables d’Olonne on the Atlantic Vendée coast of France to the Mediterranean and the bay of Roses in the NE of the Province of Girona, close to the French border.

The long journey to the Med has a compensatory rest day afterwards but this is the stage of the nine venue Tour that the 29 teams start to feel a general feeling of fatigue. Ahead there are two days of racing in Roses where the Tour has visited seven times before, before moving to Le Grau du Roi-Port Camargue 23rd and 24th July, Marseille 26th and 27th and the big finish in Nice 28-30th July.

One team which should feel instantly at home are the Barcelona based New Territories. They may back in Catalonia, where Olympic medal winning Portuguese skipper helm Hugo Rocha is based, but he reveals with his typical grin that he has not raced in Roses so recently.

“The truth is I raced here at the Optimist World Championships in 1986 and that was my first and last championship here until now. But we are very much at home, for us all it good to be back in Spain. I am sure that the summer sea breeze pattern is very much like it is elsewhere on this coast and from that point of view there is not going to be any big advantage!”

“Things are going well enough for us. We have been doing OK in the stadium races but it is the coastals which have been letting us down. We are able to start well in the stadium but maybe here we can do better in the coastal race.”

Spanish crew-member Fran Palacio originates from Gijon in NW Spain but is also one of the Mediterranean’s sought after racing sailors. He has sailed for many years with Rocha and won two world titles but also raced previously on the GP42s with Spanish Olympic medallist Jose Maria van der Ploeg.

Since the 40th Tour opened on Friday 7th July in Dunkirk, 10 events have been played (five Coastal Raids and five Nautical Stadiums). Two teams have won multiple victories: Team SFS (four wins) and Team Lorina Limonade – Golfe du Morbihan (2 wins). Other crews who have tasted victory are, Team Lorina Mojito – Golfe du Morbihan, Beijaflore and Vivacar.fr-CEFIM.

After the five Acts in the English Channel and the Atlantic, the top two on the General standings are very close. Trésors de Tahiti is only two points ahead of Team SFS. There is everything to play for in the Med.

“Our record speaks for itself. We are consistent, we lead and we don’t take unnecessary risks. We are making steps forward all the time on the water and off.” Says Pierre Pennec of Trésors de Tahiti. 'With Team SFS, we have both stepped a little clear of third and fourth overall. In the Mediterranean the points can go everywhere, so we feel good to have a little cushion.' At 17 points of the Tahitian leaders, Team Oman Sail are third with Fondation FDJ-Des Pieds et Des Mains only one point behind.

“We are sailing better now than at the start of the Tour and we are very satisfied with our performance even if we can do even better in terms of speed. In the Mediterranean, we will do our best to hold on to the first two, 'says Stevie Morrison.

What of the 2016 Tour Champions? Team Lorina Limonade – Golfe du Morbihan have tasted the highs and lows this Tour. The team led by Quentin Delapierre and Matthieu Salomon completely misfired in Dunkirk, notably with a 29th and last place in Nautical Stadiums which immediately put them on the back foot. They rallied well in Fécamp, fourth twice, and then completed a superb Act in Jullouville with a superb double. But they faltered on the Coastal Raid in Les Sables d'Olonne in 21st. They are some distance off the lead, eighth overall and 45 points shy, 28 points away from the podium.
'It's not at all what we had imagined in the pre-season. Mentally, it's very hard, 'says Bruno Mourniac, one of the Limonade team.