Tour de France a la Voile - Rough ride for Groupama 34

by Vincent Borde on 11 Jul 2014 The 177 miles that made up the second offshore leg in the Tour de France a la Vole, linking Dieppe and Granville, was set to be tough, as much for the guys as the gear: strong wind, rough seas and punching tide. It has to be said that on the competitors' arrival in the former home port of French sailing legend Christophe Auguin, the sailors had suffered, some more than others...

Just the once won't hurt... though the reigning champion and previous leader in the overall ranking, Groupama 34, certainly came off the worst.

Conscientious, applied and motivated, the seven crew had already nailed the first offshore race between Dunkirk and Dieppe. Needless to say then that those watching the race pan out from shore had difficulty in imagining how such a team could finish anywhere lower than fourth.

And yet, whilst Courrier Dunkerque, second placed overall, was putting up a brilliantly flawless performance to secure the win, Groupama 34 crossed the finish line in sixth place, conceding 25 points to the new leader in the coefficient 5 race.

Questioned on his arrival dockside, Julien Villion, in charge of the navigation, explained how the race had developed: 'Soon after the start, the fleet split into two groups: one offshore with Courrier Dunkerque, which was awaiting a favourable right hand wind rotation and one with Groupama 34, Oman Sail and Bretagne Crédit Mutuel, who preferred to shelter from the current and the waves'.

'Up until we passed Barfleur, we were leading, notably just ahead of Oman. It promised to be an interesting night, particularly in relation to Courrier Dunkerque, which was slightly set back from us. Strangely, once night fell and whilst we were no longer pinching but cracked off, we were outpaced by all the boats that were alongside us. We tried everything, from trimming the sails to adjusting the rig, but there was nothing that could be done'.

'On top of all that, the tidal gate favoured the lead boats. As a result the fleet was scattered far and wide. Given that it never rains but it pours, I didn't always choose the right trajectories, in contrast with Bretagne Crédit Mutuel, which managed to come off well from the situation and even made up considerable ground on Courrier Dunkerque'.

Julien's voice is as lacklustre as his mindset is dispirited. You can sense that the navigator is bitterly disappointed. Indeed the story doesn't end there...

'In the final section of the course, a long 60-mile run under spinnaker in a good twenty knots or so of breeze, we were on the attack to make up ground on TPM and Normandie, which weren't far ahead. The crew gave their all and it worked. We passed TPM, then we were just a boat length shy of Normandie. We were fighting hand to hand. There was just one last mark to be respected around ten miles from the finish. I was convinced we had to leave it to starboard, which is what we did, whilst Normandie left it to port. At that point, we realised that one of us had to be in the wrong. Unfortunately it was me. We dumped the spinnaker, linked onto a beat to round the famous mark and then hoisted the spinnaker again. It was too late though. We were no longer in a position to catch TPM and Normandie and we finished sixth'.

A sixth place which cost dearly on the points' table: 25 down on the new leader, 20 in relation to Bretagne Crédit Mutuel and 15 down on Oman Sail. As such, Groupama 34 has dropped down to second place overall, tied on points with Sydney Gavignet's team and some 22 points down on Daniel Souben's team.

Suffice to say that they'll have to pull out all the stops to make a comeback. That though is something Julien Villion knows better than anyone else: 'I'm going to do all I can to put this behind me on the next offshore leg'.

Alongside him, Fabien Henry and the rest of the crew are obviously disappointed, but not demoralised! The Tour de France à la Voile is a long race. And Groupama sailing team is psyched like never before!

Provisional overall ranking after nine races
1. Courrier Dunkerque 3 with 362 points
2. Groupama 34 with 340 points
3. Team Oman Sail with 340 points
4. Bretagne - Crédit Mutuel Elite with 334 points
5. Normandy - Acerel with 314 points
6. Ville de Genève - Carrefour Addictions with 304 points
7. TPM - Coych with 304 points
8. Nantes Saint Nazaire with 276 points
9. Be Brussels Bienne Voile with 260 points