Tour de France a la Voile - Two new winners in Dieppe

by Fabienne Morin on 9 Jul 2014 In the Tour de France a la Voile, just a night sleep to recover from yesterday’s tough offshore leg, and the sailors were out on the water again. At 10am they took the start of an inshore race just off the beach of Dieppe. The young crew of Toulon Provence Méditerranée - COYCH rounded the first upwind mark ahead and managed the keep the rest of the fleep behind until the finish line, taking their first victory since the beginning of the Tour de France à la Voile 2014. Courrier Dunkerque 3 finished second followed by Team Oman Sail and Groupama 34 who failed to make the right tactical choice on the race course.

The second race started off with a more usual scenario. Groupama 34 led the fleet for the first turn but at the second upwind mark, Ville de Genève – Carrefour Addictions arrived on starboard tack and close the door on Groupama 34 who got stuck between the Swiss and Courrier Dunkerque 3 and was left with a penalty turn. Nicolas Groux and his crew won the race, Daniel Souben in second and Fabien Henry in third.

When Groupama 34 has an average day, it’s a bonus for Courrier Dunkerque. Daniel Souben, very consistent today, reduces the gap by half on the leaderboard. Team Omansail stays in third and Bretagne - Crédit Mutuel Elite fourth despite their bad results today. Nicolas Troussel and his crew are struggling with their boatspeed and their tactical choices and they are now only five points ahead of Ville de Genève – Carrefour Addictions.

Winner of the first race TPM Coych still lacks consistency. With an eighth place in the second race, they can’t climb up the leaderboard. They are still seventh behind Normandy – Acerel.

Later in the afternoon, the M34 had a practice race to welcome some guests onboard. A unique opportunity to experience the racing at the heart of the action and to enjoy the spectacular landscape of the white chalk cliffs along the Normandy coast.

Tomorrow, the fleet will leave Dieppe for Granville.

Fabien Henry, second skipper of Groupama 34: 'We didn’t perform in the first race because we missed a tactical opportunity on the first beat. There was a lot of variations in the wind strength on the water and we didn’t choose the right side of the course. It’s a shame because we took a good start in this race. On the second one, we also had a good start but then we fell in a light patch and Courrier Dunkerque 3 came back in the game. At the second upwind mark, the Swiss arrived on starboard and took the risk to close the door on us and it worked because we got stuck between them and Courrier Dunkerque 3 and we got a penalty against Courrier Dunkerque 3, so we had to do a 360. In the end, we are still leading overall, but only three points ahead of the second.'

Mathieu Renault, crewmember on Courrier Dunkerque 3: 'We were six points behind Groupama 34 and now we are three points behind. We’ve reduced the gap by half so we’re happy. In the second race, we had a good speed and Groupama 34 made a mistake against us and got a penalty. Ville de Genève – Carrefour Addictions was ahead but we chose to control the chaser than attacking the leader.'

Louis Clayesens, trimmer onboard Toulon Provence Méditerranée – COYCH: 'It’s always nice to win a race! We messed it up in the second one, but we’re still happy. We have a better boatspeed and we are reducing the gap over Normandy Acerel overall. The Corinthian ranking is important for us. It gives us a goal to head for.'

Nicolas Groux, skipper of Ville de Genève - Carrefour Addictions: 'We can do the best and the worse. We finished sixth in the first race and we won the second one! But we are satisfied because we had a good boat speed and we improve our crew work onboard. We are more confident.'

Overall ranking:
1 Groupama 34, Franck Cammas 240 pts
2 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben 237 pts
3 Team OmanSail, skipper, Sidney Gavignet 225 pts
4 Bretagne - Crédit Mutuel Elite, skipper Nicolas Troussel 214pts
5 Ville de Genève - Carrefoux Addictions, Nicolas Groux 209 pts
6 Normandy - Acerel, Baptiste Choquenet 204 pts
7 Toulon Provence Méditerranée, Florian Simonnot 199 pts
8 Nantes Saint-Nazaire, Jean-Baptiste Gellée 191 pts
9 Be Brussels Bienne Voile, Delphine Wolters et Yann Burkhalter 170 pts

Technical ranking:
1 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Daniel Souben 165 pts
2 Groupama 34, Franck Cammas 165 pts
3 Team Oman Sail, skipper, Sidney Gavignet 156 pts (…)

Amateur ranking:
1 Normandy - Acerel, Baptiste Choquenet 204 pts
2 Toulon Provence Méditerranée, Florian Simonnot 199 pts
3 Nantes Saint-Nazaire, Jean-Baptiste Gellée 191 pts
4 Be Brussels Bienne Voile, Delphine Wolters et Yann Burkhalter 170 Event website