Over thirty boats entered for the Tour de France à la Voile 2015

by Fabienne Morin on 7 Dec 2014 It’s been four months since the finish of the last edition in Nice and the announcement of the Tour de France à la Voile new boat, the Diam 24.And the trimaran builder, Vianney Ancelin, has had his order book full. Furthermore, the entry list for the 2015 edition has been filled in just a few hours.

A big success for Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O) which aimed to gather a large fleet with this new Diam 24 trimaran. The 31 entries have been revealed today at the Nautic (Paris Boat Show) and the race director Jean-Baptiste Durier has announced the line-up and the venues of what is set to be a remarkable edition.

A historical line-up

It has been more than seven years (July 2007) since the Tour de France à la Voile has had such a large line-up. 'This enthusiasm is reflected by the amazing momentum following the announcement of the new format', says Jean-Baptiste Durier. They will be 31 teams to take part in this first edition on a Diam 24. Beyou, Cammas, Lemonchois, Riou, Rogues, Seguin, Stamm and Tabarly are amongst the skippers who didn’t want to miss out. The title holder Daniel Souben, will also be back, with Thomas Coville.

Aside those renowned skippers, there will be some female sailors like Anne-Claire Le Berre and Laure Caucanas, some other classes specialists (Bérenger, Moriceau, Rogues) and some enthusiastic Corinthians. Damien Seguin will lead a disabled sailing project. Whilst the reflexions on the change of boat were still in their early stages, A.S.O was already aiming for a varied line-up. In 2015, the whole family of sailing will be gathered together in this Tour, and it goes even beyond with the double world freeride skiing champion Aurélien Ducroz.

A show for the general public, on land and on the water

The spectators will enjoy some high level racing on the water, as all these sailors want to write their name in the history book of the race. And the public will be closer from the action than ever. The Diam 24 will 'take the spectacle closer to the shore, and therefore to the public', said Jean-Etienne Amaury, president of A.S.O during the announcement today.

The stadium racing will be set right in front of the beach or in front of the pier to offer a perfect grandstand. The cities where the Tour de France à la Voile will stop are very enthusiastic about the race format revolution. The idea is to make the show more accessible to the general public. In each town, one day will be dedicated to the short and spectacular stadium racing, with live commentary and music. And the other day will see some coastal expedition races to showcase some iconic parts of the French coast.

On land, the Tour de France à la Voile will offer more entertainement than ever throughout the Race Village and beyond, with concerts, beach attractions, and event-branded cars full of goodies. Over the 9 Acts of the 2015 edition, the Diam 24 will be either berthed in the port or lifted out of the water in a public paddock area that will give everyone the opportunity to meet the crew and get as close as possible to the boats.

9 Acts between Dunkirk and Nice

The next edition will be made of 9 Acts, and the fleet of the Diam 24 will visit the three maritimes seaboards (the English Channel, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean). The event will start in Dunkirk, where the Tour will stop for the 30th time, whilst the last Act will be set in Nice. In the meantime, the skippers will compete in Fécamp, Roscoff, Pornichet, Les Sables d’Olonne, Roses, Gruissan and Marseille. The Tour de France à la Voile 2015 will be spread over three weeks from 3rd July to 26th July.

Entry list of the Tour de France à la Voile 2015:

• 30 Corsaires, skipper: Alexia Barrier
• Armor Lux – Comptoir De La Mer, skipper: Erwan Tabarly
• Beijaflore Team, skipper: Nicolas Bérenger
• Cheminées Poujoulat, skipper: Bernard Stamm
• Combiwest, skipper: Frédéric Guilmin
• Courrier Choc D’Ixelles, skipper: Antoine Carpentier
• Defi Ycsl, skipper: Benoît Champanhac
• Diam Is Girls Best Friend, Laure Caucanas
• Dynamique Voile, skipper: Emeric Dary and Thomas Cardrin
• Fondation FDJ – Des Pieds Et Des Mains, skipper: Damien Seguin
• GDF Suez, skipper: Sébastien Rogues
• Grandeur Nature, skipper: Frédéric Duthil
• Groupama, skipper: Franck Cammas
• Latitude Neige / Longitude MER, skipper: Aurélien Ducroz and Laurent Voiron
• Lorina Boissons Artisanales, skipper: Bruno Staub
• Maître COQ, skipper: Jérémie Beyou
• PRB, skipper: Vincent Riou
• Prince DE Bretagne, skipper: Lionel Lemonchois
• Sea 4 Sail, skipper: Aymeric Chappellier et Romain Motteau
• Sodebo, skipper: Thomas Coville et Daniel Souben
• Team Le Berre, skipper: Anne-Claire Le Berre
• Techneau, skipper: Arnaud Daval
• West Courtage – Ecole Navale, skipper: Christian Ponthieu and Simon Moriceau
• Z3Phyr, skipper: Charles Hainneville
• Absolute Dreamer, skipper TBC
• Agrival, skipper TBC
• Omansail, skipper TBC
• Spindrift Black, skipper Yann Guichard
• Spindrift White, skipper TBC
• Vannes Agglo- Golfe Du Morbihan, skipper TBC
• Sponsor TBC, skipper : Loïc Fequet