Tour de France a la Voile - Courrier Dunkerque 3 moves up

by Fabienne Morin on 11 Jul 2014 Daniel Souben and his team are doing a real coup on the second offshore leg of the Tour de France à la Voile, between Dieppe and Granville in Normandy. They made a perfect tactical choice to finish 15 minutes ahead the second Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite. And with a high scoring coefficient 5, they take advantage of Groupama 34’s average performance (6th) to climb up the leaderboard with a comfortable 22 points lead.

It was the longest offshore leg of this 37e Tour de France à la Voile. 177 miles from Dieppe to Granville. And right from the start of the game, there was a card to play. Courrier Dunkerque 3 played the right one going offshore for a right-hand windshift with the two Corinthian teams Toulon Provence Méditerranée - COYCH and Normandy-Acerel, while the rest of the fleet stayed at the bottom of the white chalk cliffs trying to avoid the reverse tide. Groupama 34 was ahead of the inshore group, followed by Team Omansail and Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite. In the morning, the fleet gathered off Barfleur, near the D-day landing beaches, led by Courrier Dunkerque 2,5 miles in front Crédit Mutuel. Double winner of the Solitaire du Figaro Nicolas Troussel stayed inshore once again to avoid the strong current and managed to pass Team Omansail. Fabien Henry and his crew onboard Groupama 34 made a few tactical mistakes but are coming back in the game. They were fourth after passing Toulon Provence Méditerranée - COYCH and Normandy – Acerel. But then they rounded a mark the wrong way, has to do a penalty turn, and dropped back in sixth. Once through the Raz Blanchard, the boats started to bear away and hoisted their spinnaker for a last 60 mile blast downwind to the finish line.

Courrier Dunkerque 3 finished the race after 22 hours and 15 minutes at sea, which was less than originally expected, thanks to improving weather conditions. In the end, the competitors didn’t have more than 17-20 knots of wind and they finished the race under a big blue sky and perfect downwind sailing conditions.

This high scoring race reshuffles the overall ranking. Daniel Souben and his team don’t only take the lead, they escape with a 22 point lead, with Team Omansail second equal in points with Groupama 34.

Second skipper of Groupama Fabien Henry says his sixth place is due to a serie of tactical mistakes and a lack of boat speed. He and his team were very disappointed at the finish in Granville.

Despite its second place, Bretagne – Crédit Mutuel Elite remains fourth overall, but is now only 6 points behind Groupama and OmanSail.

Overall ranking:
1 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben 362 pts
2 Groupama 34, Franck Cammas 340 pts
3 Team OmanSail, skipper, Sidney Gavignet 340 pts
4 Bretagne - Crédit Mutuel Elite, skipper Nicolas Troussel 334pts
5 Normandy – Acerel, Baptiste Choquenet 314 pts
6 Ville de Genève – Carrefour Addictions, Nicolas Groux 304 pts
7 Toulon Provence Méditerranée, Florian Simonnot 304 pts
8 Nantes Saint-Nazaire, Jean-Baptiste Gellée 276 pts
9 Be Brussels Bienne Voile, Delphine Wolters et Yann Burkhalter 260 pts

Offshore leg ranking:
1 – Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben 197 pts
2 – Bretagne – Crédit Mutuel Elite, Nicolas Troussel, 186 pts
3 – Team Oman Sail, Sidney Gavignet, 184 pts (…)

Technical ranking:
1 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben 165 pts
2 Groupama 34, Franck Cammas 165 pts
3 Team Oman Sail, skipper, Sidney Gavignet 156 pts (…)

Amateur ranking:
1 Normandy - Acerel, Baptiste Choquenet 314 pts
2 Toulon Provence Méditerranée, Florian Simonnot 304 pts
3 Nantes Saint-Nazaire, Jean-Baptiste Gellée 276 pts
4 Be Brussels Bienne Voile, Delphine Wolters et Yann Burkhalter 260 pts Event website