Normandy Sailing Week - Groupama 34, first in the offshore course!

by Kate Jennings on 12 Jun 2014 Groupama 34, skippered by Franck Cammas, crossed the finish line today at 11h35m27s GMT in the Normandy Sailing Week offshore course. Oman Sail skippered by Sidney Gavignet and Courrier Dunkerque skippered by Daniel Souben complete the podium. Having flirted with the top spot several times last night, Bretagne – Crédit Mutuel settles for fourth.

Accompanied by sunshine and around ten knots of north-easterly wind, two M34 duos crossed the finish line off Le Havre in quick succession. Groupama 34 skippered by Franck Cammas was the first to cross at 1135 GMT, followed 10 minutes later by the Omani crew skippered by Sidney Gavignet (Oman Sail). Franck Cammas and his crew completed the 134-mile course in 27 hours 28 minutes at an average speed of 5.02 knots.

The second duo, made up of Courrier Dunkerque (skipper: Daniel Souben) and Bretagne – Crédit Mutuel (Nicolas Troussel) had been neck and neck since 0630 GMT this morning and, after a bitter duel, crossed the finish line some 5hrs30m later at 1209 and 1210 GMT respectively! That one minute difference gave the Dunkirk crew the final step of the podium.

The M34 TPM Coych completed the course at around 1430 GMT and astern of it, Acerel – Normandy Elite Team and Nantes St-Nazaire are continuing to battle it out as they too prepare to make the finish line.

Don’t miss their finish and the outcome of this final duel, follow the cartography here.

With the offshore course just about complete, we turn our attention to the inshore racing! Tomorrow the seven Tour de France à la Voile one-designs will be embroiled in battle once more on the race zone off Le Havre. From Friday through until Sunday, the J80s, 7.5s and IRCs one to four will really flesh out the Normandy Sailing Week fleet in the Baie de Seine.

Franck Cammas, Groupama 34: 'It was a course raced in light airs and as forecast there was a lot of current and very little breeze. We never had to drop anchor, which in itself is quite a feat, and the tide turned in our favour at just about the right time. It was a fine battle this morning off Antifer with four boats bunched together. It was a fresh start to the race and we even ended up in third at one point. Then the wind kicked back in and together with Oman Sail we were well placed and able to extend away from our pursuers.

It wasn’t easy to make Dieppe yesterday, as the current was often stronger than the wind. We had to get in really tight to the shore and the wind shifted from time to time. You constantly had to make sure you were in the right spot at the right time so the aim was to make fewer mistakes than the others.

I’ve only sailed the M34 for two days this year so we had to rediscover our automatic reflexes. In this instance we had a lot of downwind conditions so there were a fair few hours at the helm, which wasn’t unpleasant. Our navigator Julien Villion did a great job.

It’s only the first race but we’re up against stiff competition so we’re going to remain vigilant over the coming days so we can keep an eye on Courrier Dunkerque and Oman Sail, who are sure to show us that they’re on their game and a force to be reckoned with! Normandy Sailing Week has all the ingredients to harden up the crew and rediscover our automatic reflexes with a view to the Tour de France à la Voile.'

Sidney Gavignet, Oman Sail: 'Groupama and ourselves really laid into each other! One overtook, then the other overtook, we took the inside lane, we took the outside lane, got caught in ridges of high pressure, in short it was thrilling! There was always something going on, especially with the currents, which we played with a great deal. We weren’t far off passing Groupama before Merville, where we’d really made up some ground, and then a small light patch enveloped us, we didn’t get a good grasp of a slight wind shift and Groupama left us for dust. After Cabourg we were on a direct course to the finish line so the green boat was able to cover us right the way to the finish.

What made the difference was that they have a crew that is nicely broken in compared with ours, which is ‘under construction’. We’d like to spare a thought for the three crews of youngsters who disappeared from our screen… It’s just learning the hard way! It was certainly very technical with the light airs and the currents and that’s where you appreciate how hard it must be for them. We’re very happy with our second place!'

Offshore ranking (prior to the jury’s decision) at 1430 GMT:
1st: Groupama 34 (Franck Cammas) - Finished
2nd: Oman Sail (Sidney Gavignet) - Finished
3rd: Courrier Dunkerque (Daniel Souben) - Finished
4th: Bretagne – Credit Mutuel (Nicolas Troussel) - Finished
5th: TPM Coych (Florian Simonnot) - Finished
6th: Acerel - Normandy Elite Team (Baptiste Choquenet)
7th: Nantes St-Nazaire (Jean-Baptiste Normandy Sailing Week