Brest Classic Week 2010 - A successful first edition!

by Rivacom on 19 Jul 2010 Brest Classic Week’s first edition came to a close this afternoon. During this final day, the 40 crews competed in a coastal course, spanning a dozen or so miles, in a 10 to 12 knot SW'ly breeze. Ultimately, Dione, a newcomer to the Classic Yacht circuit, emerged as the winner in the overall ranking in Class A, while the young crew of Bim Bam from Brest took victory in Class B.

With some exceptional conditions, some varied courses around the harbour of Brest and the Iroise Sea and some battles worthy of professional match racing, this first edition of Brest Classic Week thoroughly lived up to expectations.

In Class A, there was some intense fighting from beginning to end between Stiren skippered by Gildas Rostain and Dione helmed by Stéphane Even. The winner of the Transat Classic in 2008 and the Belle Plaisance in Bénodet last June, finally bowed to the newcomer of the Classic Yacht circuit. As regards Class B, the local boat Bim Bam, driven by the young sailor Stéphane Lainez, literally sailed through the event, winning all of the five races run.

The ranking

Class A: 1. DIONE (EVEN Stéphane); 2. STIREN (ROSTAIN Gildas); 3. OLBIA (CHALANDRE Christian); 4. BILOU BELLE (OLLU Jean Jacques); 5. ORANA (DU ROTOIS)

Class B: 1. BIM BAM (LAINEZ Stéphane); 2. CARIACOU (JENNINGS Andrew); 3. DOROTHY (ROWELL Lance); 4. MIRELLA (YVON Nicolas); 5. LADY MONE (MICHEL Gilles)

Quotes from the boats...

Stéphane Even, Dione, first in Class A: I got a great deal of pleasure from participating in this Brest Classic Week. My victory is a source of great satisfaction. The crew came through for me in a way which exceeded my expectations.

I was very well supported on every side and the boat was quick... so there you have it! This week of racing was full of discovery for me. The race starts are full-on! I've been won over. The chequered history between me and this boat is rather atypical. The more I get to know her; the more I fall for her. I'm very happy. Very, very happy. The organisation was very good. It was a fabulous event.

Gildas Rostain, Stiren, second in Class A: We're happy to see the arrival of Dione on the circuit. It spices up the racing. Today we messed up our start. We set off three seconds too early and had to make amends for that.

We found it hard to recover. Despite all that we did manage to make up some ground on the downwind leg and caught up with Dione on the windward section. However, we did get in a bit of a muddle at the finish. We targeted the wrong mark... Anyway, this past week has been highly enjoyable! We'll be back!

Dominique Bidet, Olbia, third in Class 1: It was great. Some fine courses, superb weather... Everything came together. The evenings were very nice too.

Océanopolis is superb. This Brest Classic Week has been a fantastic experience. We form a good group of friends and we really enjoyed ourselves. We have a small boat so in elapsed time it's a bit heavy going for us but ultimately, in corrected time, we came third. Hearty congratulations to the organisation, it was very good. The harbour is an incredible place to sail in.

Jean-Jacques Ollu, Bilou Belle, fourth in Class A: The Port du Château is a very fine place, very different to the marinas we're used to. We like seeing the cranes and the merchant ships... As such it was a real pleasure to be here. It was only the first edition but I think it's been a great success. With forty boats, the presence of a good number of English sailors and absolutely perfect weather and organisation... the week has had more than its fair share of magical moments...

Hervé Du Rotois, Orana, fifth in Class A: The past week has gone well. We're disappointed because we were in the running for a podium place, but we broke a spreader yesterday. We nevertheless managed to finish the race, albeit somewhat laboriously and in last position, which caused us to lose any chance of the top spot in the general ranking. It's been absolutely great in any case. We had a bit of air everyday... Extraordinary weather. The organisation was brilliant.

Edouard Vichot, Westward, eighth in Class A: We've received a very warm welcome. The people here are very nice. Everything went well... the conditions were extraordinary, reminiscent of the Basque country almost (laughs). The courses were great... I haven't got a lot more to say because everything was great. We had a good fight on our hands. There have been some newcomers to the circuit which upset the hierarchy a bit. Bim Bam in particular came off really well as they sailed a perfect race.

They're a bit better equipped than us with our old wooden blocks, but we weren't in it solely for victory. We're just here to enjoy ourselves and that's exactly what we did.

Christophe Dietsch, Altaïr, 11th in Class A: It was extraordinary on the water! A superb atmosphere with wind, sunshine and the maximum amount of pleasure sailing. We were racing as a family so we didn't have any great pretentions. Our objective was to finish in the top ten. We came 11th so it was almost a done deal. Most importantly though we had a ball!

Jean-Luc Desrues, Pernez 2, 12th in Class A: It was really fantastic. We come from Saint-Malo and generally pass between the Four and the Raz de Sein without ever making a stopover in the harbour of Brest. This week we've had a chance to discover it and it's fabulous. Racing here is intriguing.

Added to that, it's always enjoyable to see all these boats from different generations coming together. Furthermore, we were lucky enough to go to the Naval College. We sailed one race in the Iroise Sea, which was really nice despite the lack of wind that day. The evening at Océanopolis was certainly one of the highlights. It was a great idea. As a diver I'm very touched by that (laughs)!



Matthieu Feurprier, Pen Duick III, 13th in Class A: On a sporting level it really was fantastic. We managed to sail in excellent conditions everyday. The courses were varied and it was fast-moving... We relished the intense racing. The blend of sport and festivities was perfect. For Pen Duick III, it was fun as the competition was very interesting. There was some play with the currents, which the harbour of Brest is renowned for. We weren't disappointed. We're very happy to have taken part in the event and we hope it will last.

Jérôme Cathala, Bryell 2, 17th in Class A: Unfortunately we missed the first races due to not having enough crew. As such our ranking isn't very good. We're very happy however: a superb organisation, a magical race zone, perfect races, interesting wind conditions and a convivial atmosphere.... Everything was perfect and we hope that next time we can race the whole week.

Stéphane Lainez, Bim Bam, first in Class B: We staged a hold-up! (laughs) Today we overshot the start and had to perform a penalty. Yesterday we were forced to perform a 360° turn.

We set ourselves up with a few handicaps (laughs)! We certainly know the harbour of Brest by heart. This Saturday for example, we made the difference by playing with the little veins of current.

The others all set off along the sheltered part of the harbour and all ended up in the current, whilst we decided we could put up with losing a little ground at the start and then powered up further down the track. It's funny to win the first classic yacht race we've taken part in. Today the finish was fabulous: Pazienza, Dione and ourselves, all crossing the finish line at the same time. Everyone was clapping. It was incredible.

Jean-Claude Lardic, Deputy Mayor and Vice President of Brest Evénements Nautiques: We're extremely satisfied with this first edition of Brest Classic Week. On the whole we reached all our objectives. The Port du Château proved to be the perfect setting to play host to these marvellous classic yachts and the public came out in force to discover them.

The harbour is an incredible arena for watersports, which was once again proven this week. The press coverage has been excellent. We sensed a genuine infatuation from every level so we're very happy. The success of this first edition can only lead to another.

Loïc Blanken, co-organiser: This past week has been very interesting on a sporting level as the harbour of Brest provides a multitude of possible courses. There were a lot of manoeuvres, lots of short little legs and current... All that led to some thrilling racing.
Furthermore the weather was fabulous. I don't think we could have hoped for more from this first Brest Classic Week. To my mind it was a real success. Those involved in some way were delighted and enchanted. The public was treated to a real spectacle.

The Port du Château perfectly lends itself to this type of event and the locals flocked to the site. I think all the ingredients came together to produce something good. All those involved in the project were brilliant. The reception from the inhabitants of Brest far exceeded my expectations. Roll on 2012.

The jury comprising Anne Liardet and Michel Vanek (sailors), Gwendal Jaffry (Editor of Chasse-Marée) and François Lebrun (journalist at Echos), Hubert Stagnol (builder), and Loïc Blaken (co-organiser), awarded the Traditional Yacht Prize (Prix du Yacht de Tradition) of Brest Classic Week to the superb Giles design, which belonged to The Who's guitarist Peter Townsend.

This 18 metre boat was also named on a national level for the Traditional Yacht of the Year Prize (Prix du Yacht de Tradition de l'Année) in the 15-23 metre category, while Bim Bam was selected for the category of boats of less than 15 metres. The latter Prize will be awarded on 3rd December 2010 during the Paris boat show.

Event website click here

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