Australian-British-Dutch team leads Student division in Tour de France a la Voile

by Isabelle Musy on 7 Jul 2002 Région Ile de France snatches another victory

Jimmy Pahun is a happy man as he snatched another victory in the second
offshore race from Cherbourg to Paimpol. The skipper of Région Ile de France
and his crew, made of single-handed offshore specialists crossed the finish
line off Paimpol on Saturday morning at 08:15 ahead of Antibes-NEC
skippered by Julien Farnarier and Nantes-St-Nazaire, skippered by
Pierre-Loïc Berthet.

The latter have shown consistency since the beginning of this four-week
regatta and therefore confirm their lead overall.

Student boat Force EDC, skippered by Aussie Simon Sutherland had another
good race. The team comprised of Australians, British and Dutch came home in
9th position. They stand in 5th place overall and lead the student ranking
division.

Both British boats Panther Team GBR of Rob Greenhalgh and Royal Thames of
Owen Modral had a disappointing race coming home in 25th and 31st position.
According to the crews, this 90-mile offshore has been mostly a boat speed
race.

'The tactical bit was at Cap de la Hague. Apart from that it was a speed
race. Pascal Bidégorry helmed the whole way and the others were focused on
trimming the boat's, commented Isabelle Autissier, navigator onboard Région
Ile de France. 'Every one onboard does a good job and we do not have any ego
problems. It could be the case with people used to single-handed racing',
added Autissier.

Pierre-Loïc Berthet, skipper of Nantes-St-Nazaire, was also very pleased
with the results: 'We didn't have a good start but managed to get back in
the race at the Raz-Blanchard. We sailed further offshore to get a stronger
current behind us and therefore passed some of the leading boats who stayed
inshore'. He then added: 'This race wasn't as tiring as the previous one as
it was obviously much shorter but it was demanding. There wasn't much wind
so we had to remain very focused and also we had to do many sail changes'.

The Swiss of Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention dropped from 2nd to 3rd
overall after finishing this second offshore race in 11th position

Student crew of Force EDC was slightly disappointed as they arrived ashore
though they had a good race: 'We could have done better. We were 7th but we
had a piece of weed stuck on the keel. We had trouble getting it off so we
lost a few places. Apart from that, the race went very quickly as the tide
was with us', said Australia's Simon Sutherland. 'Just like in the former
race, if you got in the front pack in the first beat, you were in good shape
for the rest of the race', added British Sam Stephens, navigator onboard the
leading student boat.

The next race scheduled is an inshore race tomorrow at 16:30.


Overall results after Race 6 with one discard

1. Nantes-St-Nazaire / Pierre Loic Berthet 466 points

2. Région Ile de France / Jimmy Pahun 454 points

3. Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention / Etienne David 426 points

4. Dieppe-Seine Maritime / Gildas Philippe 410 points

5. Force EDC / Simon Sutherland 409 points

6. Ville d¹Antibes ­NEC / Julien Farnarier 405 points

7. Marseille / Dimitri Deruelle 399 points

8. Défi Partagé / Thierry Bouchard 384,5 points

9. Cap Université- St-Quentin en Yvelines / Jean-Marie Gout 383 points

9. Kenzo / Marc Thiercelin / 383 points

=13th Panther Team GBR / Rob Greenhalgh 363 points

=19th Cassis Maugio Carnon / Bernard Mallaret 306 points

=24th Royal Thames / Owen Modral 273,5 points

Student division

1. Force EDC / Simon Sutherland 256,5 points

2. Cap Université St-Quentin en Yvelines / Jean-Marie Gout 244 points

3. Estdines.fr Port de Commerce de la Rochelle / Yann Dube 229,5 points

Amateur Division

1. CSC Essec / Hervé Gautier 251 points

2. Codiam ENSP DH / Jean-Claude Nicoleau 222 points

3. PSA Peugeot Citroën / Eric Blouet 218 points

=5th . Royal Thames / Owen Modral 201 points