Tour de France a la Voile - Race around isle of Groix cancelled

by ASO Sailing News on 15 Jul 2013 In the Tour de France a la Voile, the racecourse remained glassy and all twelve teams came back to Lorient’s submarine base after today’s racing was cancelled. Tomorrow’s offshore leg is in everybody’s mind, as the fleet will sail from Lorient, Brittany, to St Gilles in Vendée for 84 miles and a scoring factor of three.

It’s going to be an early waking up call tomorrow morning leaving the dock at 4:30am and starting the race at 6am. Five to 10 knots of northeast wind is forecast before an afternoon’s shift to the west. It will probably be a long spinnaker ride on the direct route to St Gilles. The route is free of mark until Normoutier 'to let the sailors the possibility to play with the sea breeze' explained race director Christophe Gaumont.

All competitors will do their best to score well tomorrow, for the last offshore leg of the Tour in the Atlantic Ocean. Groupama 34, Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite, Sodebo, Courrier Dunkerque 3 and Team OmanSail are 81 points apart. TPM-Coych is fighting against Nantes St Nazaire E.Leclerc and Ville de Genève Carrefour Addictions. The four amateurs have their own battle with Normandie leading the ranking.

Pierre Brasseur, TPM-Coych navigator: 'It’s looking light. We’re going to leave with a light boat, take any possible opportunity and stay focused. We want to do better after our last leg (12th from Brest to Lorient). We were doing well and we lost it all: it was frustrating but spirit is still high.'

Neils Palmieri, Ville de Genève Carrefours AddictionS navigator and tactician: 'My Swiss files are not forecasting much wind! It’s going to be a long tack from Lorient. Trimming and speed will be everything, with an eye on the land’s effects. An afternoon’s shift is planned with the sea breeze coming. In any case we will have to sail off the coast to avoid the lulls in the morning and catch the sea breeze in the afternoon.'

Malo Bessec, Groupama 34 bowman: 'The start will be super early and it’s breaking our rhythm down! Most legs started in the evening so far. We will have to be awake and ready for it, waking up at 3am and having breakfast at 3:30am. The offshore leg won’t be long with only 84 miles. Good tactics will be needed and seaweeds in the keel have to be avoided.'

Overall ranking after 18 races before jury:
1 Groupama 34, Cammas Franck 718 Pts - Blue Spinnaker
2 Bretagne Credit Mutuel Elite, Troussel Nicolas 688 Pts
3 Sodebo, Coville Thomas 671,8 Pts
4 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Souben Daniel 670 Pts
5 Team Omansail, Pouligny Cédric 637 Pts
6 Toulon Provence Mediterranee - Coych, Bernaz Jean-Baptiste 574 Pts
7 Ville De Geneve - Carrefour Addictions, Mettraux Elodie-Jane Et Groux Nicolas 560 Pts
8 Nantes - Saint Nazaire - E.Leclerc, Douguet Corentin 560 Pts
9 Normandie, Choquenet Baptiste 521 Pts
10 Martinique - Be.Brussels, Wolters Delphine Et Moures Matthieu 488 Pts
11 Iskareen, Dittmers Christiane Et Bruhns Sönke 483 Pts
12 Bienne - Voile – Srs, Peter Luzius Et Kunz François 455 Pts

Offshore ranking after five races before jury:
1 Bretagne Credit Mutuel Elite, Troussel Nicolas 410 Pts - Green Spinnaker
2 Groupama 34, Cammas Franck 400 Pts
3 Sodebo, Coville Thomas 388, 8 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 18 races before jury:
1normandie, Choquenet Baptiste 521 Pts - Pink Spinnaker
2 Martinique - Be.Brussels, Wolters Delphine Et Moures Matthieu 488 Pts
3 Iskareen, Dittmers Christiane Et Bruhns Sönke 483 Pts
4 Bienne - Voile – Srs, Peter Luzius Et Kunz François 455 Tour Voile