Deauville International Week - Final

by Kate Jennings on 11 Jun 2007 Bright summer sun, a Scandinavian chill and the normal slight chop familiar tothe Baie de Seine encouraged the Race Commitee to increase the number of starts given from early this morning on this final day of racing at Deauville International Week.

The 500 racers have really been put to the test since the start of the week with fog and low-lying cloud colouring the racing. The teams simply relished the four or five races (for the Mumm boats) contended today. In a slightly steadier wind, the leaders in the 7 series managed to consolidate their positions. In this way Deauville crowns a number of recognised champions, of which the most renowned have to be the English sailor Louis Browne (Mumm 30), the Irish sailor Brandon Foley (IRC 1) and the Brest sailor Patrick Bot (J80).

With 8 to 11 races validated per series, Deauville, host for the occasion of the National IRC, the J 109 Euro Cup and the Mumm European Cup, has once again proven its ability to host and organise top level races. Both the French and International racers were absolutely delighted with the event and have already pencilled it into their diaries for next year.

IRC 1: Total domination by the Irish.

'It was the French we met at Cowes, who encouraged us to come here' explained Brandon Foley, skipper of Tiamat, the Irish Mills 30, second in last year’s Commodore’s Cup behind the French team. 'We knew we had a good boat to sail here with and this confirms that'. Fast upwind, Tamiat also adapted itself really well to the light winds from the start of the week. The crew, a close unit who have been together for over 7 years on all kinds of craft, took great pleasure in coming to sail in Normandy prior to racing in the Irish national next week.

'The race zone is very interesting and our families have really enjoyed spendingtime in Deauville whilst we've been sailing.'

J109: Upsets in the ranking

A regular performance avoiding any big mistakes were the key ingredients for success today. Unfortunately this morning's leader Jeff Dakin didn't have the recipe and saw any hope of a podium place fade after two disastrous races, with one OCS and one 11th place. The English sailor Matthew Boyle took his chance. His J 109 Shiva controlled Jon Perry right up to the last race, and he took victory by a single point. The Le Havre skipper Christophe Thébaud saved the honour of the French, by taking third place in this top level series.

Bot and Szellos alone on the J80 planet

Two crews have really stood out in what was another very rich J/80 series. A teacher at the Naval College, Patrick Bot has been engaged in a fearsome duel throughout the 11 races this week with local sailor, Deauville skipper Philippe Szellos. The two sailors have alternate between victories and second places, leaving the Cherbourg sailor Fabrice Simon far behind to take bronze in peace. We had to wait until the very last race of the day though to see Bot take victory by a short boat-length ahead of Szellos.

Louis Browne is European Champion.

The British sailor Louis Browne, European champion here in Deauville last year, has alternated between a very good and a mediocre performance. This was a rather unusual situation for this undisputed Mumm specialist. With two victories during the very last races, he outperformed the ambitious Saint Malo team lead by François Lebourdais by 4 points as well as the gallant Dunkirk sailor Daniel Souben. The latter, at the head of the general ranking this morning, didn't seem to perform quite so well in the steady breeze today, perhaps due to not having completely mastered his new set of sails.

Another notable victory came in the 747 OD fleet this time with Gilles Dutoit (Techneau) winning against the Fécamp sailor André Noel Robert (Astelle) in the very last race once again. Gilbert Blossier (Sealogis Pen Ru), just two boat lengths ahead of Didier Dardot (Parsifal) and Dunkirk sailor Philippe Bourgeois, went on to take victory in the IRC 3 after 9 races. Mathieu Labat (Onyx developpement) narrowly missed victory in the IRC 2 fleet, the crown finally going to British sailor Mike MacCarthy (Checkmate).

Quotes from the Boats:

François Lebourdais, Mumm 30: 'Saint-Malo Purflo Team SNBSM' second in the general ranking:
'We had a superb final day. We made up what we lost on Friday. This second place is really satisfying. It will enable us to tackle the Tour de France à la Voile with renewed confidence'.

Patrick Bot, J/80 'Ecole navale CG 29', winner:
'We battled all the way to the wire against Philippe Szellos and his crew. Prior to the final race of the day we were on equal points. We won on the line!'

Pierre-Antoine Morvan, Mumm 30 'Courrier Dunkerque', third:
'We were fairly disappointed by the end of our championship. We’ve had problems finishing our races since the start of the season. We do have a few reasons to be satisfied however: 'Courrier Dunkerque' goes quickly and is getting better and better. We've also fulfilled our objective, which was to finish in a podium position.'

Manfred Ramspacher, event organiser:
'For the second edition, the event sporting programme has been validated with one extra race in comparison to last year. 12 races were organised, which is something I'm very satisfied about. The Deauville race zone has once again demonstrated that it is capable of playing host to the finest top level international fleets despite being restricted by the lock gates and the weather conditions, which haven't always been that simple over the past 5 days'.

Louis Browne, winner in the Mumm 30:
'It’s thoroughly exciting. The leaders were constantly changing during this Mumm 30 European Cup, either in our favour or to the advantage of Dunkirk or Saint-Malo. At the start of the final race, we were 1 point down on François Lebourdais’ crew. Everything depended on this last race and we won! Our aim in coming to Deauville was to find some top level competition in view of our preparation for the World Championships and we got just that!'

RANKINGS

Group IRC 1 (GR1) after 8 races (of which7 were retained.)

1: 'Tiamat' (Mills 40) Costello Tim (7 pts) Clubs Etrangers (Race details:1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,)
2: 'Grand Cru II' (First 40.7 Gte) Dollar Robin (17 pts) Clubs Etrangers (Race details: 2,3,2,4,2,0,2,4,)
3: 'Avalanche' (Mumm 36) Lemoine Guillaume (22 pts) S R de Dives Houlgate (Race details: 3,4,6,2,4,0,4,2,)
4: 'Weerga' (Imx 40) Liezenga W.R. (22 pts) Clubs Etrangers (Race details: 5,2,3,3,3,0,3,3,)
5: 'Banque Populaire-Kunkel Palettes' (A 40) Legallet Jan (34 pts) Y C de Granville (Race details: 4,7,4,5,7,0,5,5,)
6: 'Ca Me Va Bien' (First 40.7 Gte) de Mareuil Maxime (41 pts) Societe des Regates du Havre (Race details: 7,6,5,7,5,0,7,6,)
7: 'Moonlighting' (Bavaria 42 Match) Nepveu Patrick (42 pts) S R Caen Ouistreham (Race details: 6,5,7,6,6,0,6,9,)
8: 'Degremont-Suez Source de Talents' (Figaro Beneteau 2) Monnet Jean Charles (57 pts) S R de Courseulles (Race details: 8,8,8,8,9,0,8,8,)
9: 'Mairie de Caen-Credit Mutuel' (Figaro Beneteau 2) Bulot Jean Francois (59 pts) S R Caen Ouistreham (Race details: 9,9,DPGi,9,9,0,9,7,)

Group IRC 2 (GR2) after 9 races (of which8 were retained.)

1: 'Checkmate' (Ker 32) Mc Carthy Mike (14 pts) Clubs Etrangers (Race details: 2,3,4,1,1,1,1,OCS ,1,)
2: 'Onyx Developpement' (A 35) Labat Mathieu (14 pts) C N Valeriquais (Race details: 2,1,2,2,2,1,2,OCS ,2,)
3: 'Morrina Iv' (Bavaria 35 Match Q) Berthiller Luc (24 pts) Y C de Granville (Race details: 4,4,1,4,3,OCS ,3,2,3,)
4: 'Emg Matinick' (Grand Surprise 7/8) Firmin Philippe (26 pts) Sport Nautique Et Plaisance du Havre (Race details: 3,3,4,3,4,4,5,1,4,)
5: 'Exec Avenue' (Bavaria 35 Match Q) Mercier Thierry (36 pts) Yacht Club de France (Race details: DPGi,DNF ,5,5,5,3,4,3,5,)

Group IRC 3 (GR3) after 9 races (of which 8 were retained.)

1: 'Sealogis Pen Ru' (Sun Fast 36 Q Plomb) Blossier Gilbert