Grand Prix Guayder - Day three

by Vincent Borde on 7 May 2013 Grand Prix Guyader, in the bay of Douarnenez, the wind Gods proved to be fairly discreet after initially playing hard-to-get. With a single race run today, the provisional overall ranking had little chance of getting upset. And though Courrier Dunkerque is still leading the way ahead of Groupama 34 and Sodebo, it is worth noting a very fine victory for Ile de France, skippered by the lovely Jimmy Pahun.

On the pontoons this morning, the crews waited patiently. Whilst the fleet of Dragons left the dock in good time, the eight one-designs remained lined up nicely in front of the organisation's tents. This short, improvised break enabled some to chew the fat about all manner of sports from PSG's terrible match, to the umpire Leonardo, to the motorcycle grand prix and the young Marquez, leader of the championship...

It wasn't until around 1330 hours, that the fleet finally made it to the race zone, with the race start given an hour later, after that of the Dragons, who were beginning to find the time was dragging.

In a fairly shifty wind, both in terms of strength and direction, the places behind the leader were constantly changing.
Though Groupama 34 was positioned in second place at the end of the first lap, it was the Omanis who moved up into the runner-up spot, followed at the end by the ever opportunistic Courrier Dunkerque, decidedly very much at ease in the light airs.

Third at the finish, Franck Cammas remained very positive however: 'After some breezy races in La Trinité, it was interesting to sail in light airs. We're still lacking a bit of consistency and success too at times. However, we're making headway within the fleet which, though small in size, is very uniform and qualitative'.

Whilst the fleet of M34s will leave Douarnenez tomorrow, bound for Camaret, it will be a shorter course due to the gale forecast in the evening. As such the crew of Groupama would like to thank the organisers of the Grand Prix Guyader, for the quality of the welcome from the volunteers and the general good humour, which reigned throughout this event, the latter making remarkable gains in international prowess year on year.

Provisional general ranking for the Iroise Cup after the first five races
1/ Courrier Dunkerque (1,4,1,3,2) with 11 points
2/ Groupama 34 (2,1,2,8,3) with 16 points
3/ Sodebo (3,2,4,4,6) with 19 points
4/ Bretagne Crédit Mutuel (5,5,6,1,4) with 21 points
5/ Team Oman Sail (4,3,5,5,5) with 22 points
6/ Nantes St Nazaire (7,6,3,2,7) with 25 points
7/ Ile de France (6,7,8,7,1) with 29 points
8/ Ville de Genève (8,8,7,6,8) with 37 points