British repair keel damage in Tour de France a la Voile

by Isabelle Musy on 4 Jul 2001 Things remain very open in this Tour de France à la Voile 2001 as the
results are variable. It is now a student boat leading overall. After
yesterday's beautiful tacking battle along Nomandy's cliffs led by Côtes
d'Armor's Vincent Biarnes to a last minute victory in the first offshore
race, the 38 Mumm 30 fleet raced two inshore races today. Swiss boat Ville
de Genève Carrefour Prévention grabbed the first one and Marc Audineau's
Ville d'Antibes Juan Les Pins won the second one.
The British who had spent the night fixing their boat after hitting rocks
yesterday came second in today's second race. As for the Kiwis, it has been
a rather disappointing day.


It was good sailing conditions today off the cliffs of Dieppe though the
start of the first race was delayed due to the lack of wind. The northerly
breeze eventually picked up and the gun fired at 15:07 pm. Once again the
black flag was up on the committee boat as a general recall had been
necessary with half of the boats over the line at the first start.
Most of the favourite boats started at the committee end except Sun
Microsystems Team New Zealand racing Crew helmed by Cameron Appleton. The
black boat rounded the first mark in sixth but lost places in the second
beat as they went to the left where there was more pressure to the right.
'We got tacked on a few times so we had no option but to clear air', says
Jeremy Lomas, tactician aboard the Kiwi boat. But the worst was to come at
the end of the first race when the black boat got closed up by a few leeward
boats at the bottom mark.
'We ended up gybing the wrong way and lost nine places', adds Lomas.
Simon Shaw's British University Sailing Team also encountered problems at
the end of the first race, dropping from third to ninth place.
'We had new crew working on the boat and it was the first time we had
dropped the kite in any wind. We smoked the halyard and the kite dropped
into the sea', explains Simon Shaw.
The Swiss boat Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention won the first race ahead
of Jean-Pierre Dick's Virbac-St-Raphaël-Générali.
At 17:00, the race committee started a second race. It is former 49ner world
top ranked Marc Audineau and his crew aboard Ville d'Antibes Juan Les Pins
who snatched victory in that one ahead of the Brits who sailed a very steady
race.
'We didn't have a great start but we tacked off into clear air and our boat
speed was well up on a lot of the boats. We sailed conservatively in both
races today, and we hope to continue to notch up good results more
consistently', adds the British skipper.
Yesterday's result was disappointing for the British Team 'The damage to the
keel when we ran aground slowed us down considerably. Also it was our first
offshore and we don't know the French Coast at all.'
The Kiwis finished 11th in today's second race. 'We were in the top five at
the top mark but got stuck on the outside while rounding it. Basically, we
got in a few bad positions today. We'll have to keep out of trouble and out
of protest', insists Jeremy Lomas who, however, has enjoyed today's racing.
'It was good conditions. It is our fault, we got in a couple of situations
we shouldn't have '.
'Well, it seems that the Kiwis are human too! They can also be beaten',
comments the Swiss skipper Etienne David.

Provisional overall results after race 6 and 7

1. Thales - Vinci - ESTP -ENSAM / Pierre Dalibot 337,5
2. Ville d'Antibes Juan Les Pins / Marc Audineau 332,25
3. Virbac- Saint-Raphaël -Générali / Jean-Pierre Dick 326,5
4. COYCH HYEROIS / Henri Fabien 321,5
5. Nantes-St-Nazaire-Bouygues Télécom / Mathieu Richard 309
6. Sun Microsystems Team New Zealand Racing Crew / Hamish Pepper 303,75
7. Ville de Genève Carrerfour Prévention / Etienne David 302
8. Région Ile de France / Jimmy Pahun 297,5
9. Saint James - Ports Manche / Pierre Alexis Ponsot 289,75
10. Baume & Mercier- Entract- Cassis / Bernard Mallaret 274,25
11. Côtes d'Armor / Vincent Biarnes 273,75
12. British University Sailing Team / Simon Shaw 272,75