Tour de France a la Voile - Groupama 34 wins Brest in-port race

by ASO Sailing News on 13 Jul 2013 In the Tour de France a la Voile, 'We didn’t really deserve the victory,' admitted Franck Cammas after winning the morning’s in-port race in Brest. Groupama 34's skipper knows his team came close to losing the race, TPM-Coych led for the majority. But Cammas took an option to the right side of the racecourse and eventually pushed ahead of the youngsters. Courrier Dunkerque 3 took third.

'Conditions are very complex here and we hoped for an improvement the whole race,' he says. All 12 teams were busy sailing in 10 to 15 knots from the NE and a weak current. Second overall, Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite learned the hard way: they finished seventh after being in the front pack most of the time.

Whatever the morning’s results are, the fleet now needs to focus on tonight’s leg to Lorient. This 113-mile long offshore leg leaves at 8:00pm (departure time from the dock at 7:00pm) and will be scored with a factor of three.

'The route is not difficult strategy wise but it will be all about trimming the boat, sails, mast, helm and stacking,' says Martinique BE Brussels navigator Michel Mergui – he won the Tour last year with TPM-Coych.

The M34 will sail downwind from Brest in less than 15 knots from the NE. They will sail around the west coast of the Sein Island before a reaching tack to the Glénan islands. Lorient’s finish line will be moored in front of Larmor-Plage after an upwind tack. ETA is around 11:00am tomorrow.

Franck Cammas, Groupama 34 skipper: 'We came back on the leaders only in the end. Conditions are very complex here and we hoped for an improvement all day long. We went for the right side in the end and it was the good one. We didn’t really deserve that victory because we were not good in quite a lot of areas. Today’s atmosphere wasn’t peaceful!'

Jean-Baptiste Bernaz, TPM-Coych skipper: 'We are happy with our result anyway! It was super tight in the end. We controlled our lead until the last upwind tack: there was a mark on the port side. We thought we had to control it and we messed up. Groupama did the best out of our mistake.'

Overall ranking after 17 races before jury:

1 Groupama 34, Cammas Franck 650 Pts - Blue Spinnaker
2 Bretagne Credit Mutuel Elite, Troussel Nicolas 613 Pts
3 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Souben Daniel 604 Pts
4 Sodebo, Coville Thomas 598, 9 Pts
5 Team Omansail, Pouligny Cédric 574 Pts
6 Toulon Provence Mediterranee - Coych, Bernaz Jean-Baptiste 532 Pts
7 Ville De Geneve - Carrefour Addictions, Mettraux Elodie-Jane Et Groux Nicolas 512 Pts
8 Nantes - Saint Nazaire - E.Leclerc, Douguet Corentin 499 Pts
9 Normandie, Choquenet Baptiste 464 Pts
10 Martinique - Be.Brussels, Wolters Delphine Et Moures Matthieu 439 Pts
11 Iskareen, Dittmers Christiane Et Bruhns Sönke 437 Pts
12 Bienne - Voile – Srs, Peter Luzius Et Kunz François 403 Pts

Offshore ranking after four races before jury:

1 Bretagne Credit Mutuel Elite, Troussel Nicolas 335 Pts - Green Spinnaker
2 Groupama 34, Cammas Franck 331 Pts
3 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Souben Daniel 313 Pts(...)

Technical ranking after 13 races before jury:

1 Groupama 34, Cammas Franck 319 Pts
2 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Souben Daniel 291 Pts - Red Spinnaker
3 Sodebo, Coville Thomas 283 Pts (...)

Amator ranking after 17 races before jury:

1 Normandie, Choquenet Baptiste 464 Pts - Pink Spinnaker
2 Martinique - Be.Brussels, Wolters Delphine Et Moures Matthieu 439 Pts
3 Iskareen, Dittmers Christiane Et Bruhns Sönke 437 Pts
4 Bienne - Voile – Srs, Peter Luzius Et Kunz François 403 Tour Voile website