Tour de France à la Voile - Bretagne Crédit Mutuel takes overall lead

by www.sail-world.com / ASO on 7 Jul 2012 In the Tour de France a la Voile, only a single race was sailed on a tricky day of light airs. There was victory for Région De Bruxelles – Capitale / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest and Bretagne Crédit Mutuel who became the new overall leader.

Région De Bruxelles – Capitale / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest and Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite started off well. They rounded the mark in front, Nicolas Troussel was in the lead with Bertrand Pacé just behind. Martinique Médiabat was third to send the spinnaker sailing towards the downwind gate.

The wind shifted south and dropped down. The spinnakers flapped but the first two boats manage to avoid the lull. The leg started in eight knots of wind but it got lighter and the comity shortened the second lap. The upwind leg was shortened from 0,9 to 0,45 mile. The wind rose a little and the Belgium team took the lead thanks to a good tactic – and a bit of luck. The shifts and the storms are changing the game. Courrier Dunkerque 3 and Côtes d’Armor Bretagne returned to the front. Île de France and Martinique Médiabat lost ground.

It ended quickly – even with light airs, the M34 covered half a mile in just a couple of minutes. Région De Bruxelles – Capitale / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest won their second technical race since the beginning of the Tour. Once again, Pacé led his young crew to victory. Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite finished second and the Swiss of Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention were third.

The postponement flag went up, along with the H one – there would be no second race during the morning. The boats came back to the port for a short break before sailing the ‘Midlogue’, a guests race for the Tour de France à la Voile 2012’s partners.

Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite is the new overall leader. They take the blue spinnaker from TPM Coych, who still have the Au Large leader’s green one. Troussel’s team now have both the leadership of the overall and technical rankings. On the amateur side, the Swiss of Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention kept their pink spinnaker.

Tonight, the teams are invited to Dieppe fish market by the local authorities for a traditional and very maritime evening.

Pim Nieuwenhuis – Tu Delft: 'It was really strange. We sailed nicely and limited the damages. We were sixth or seventh for the first lap with Martinique Médiabat, Fascinating Seas International and Île de France, behind BAE Systems and Bretagne Côtes d'Armor. Second lap, we are seventh or eighth, BAE Systems and Côtes d'Armor are ahead, Martinique and the Russians are far behind. The wind was different for everyone, very strange…'

Arthur Le Vaillant – Côtes d'Armor Bretagne: 'It was a complex morning from a tactic point of view. The wind was very shifty with more than 30 degrees of shift. The left side of the line was favourable and we took a great start next to TPM. Yet, we paid for our left option when the wind turned right. We were last after the first upwind but thankfully, the wind came back, we saw the next shift and picked the good side of the downwind gate. The wind turned left and pushed us – we take a nice fifth place. Bertrand sailed very well, it was really impressive! On our side that leg is good for our moral.'

Provisional general ranking after nine races:

1- Bretagne - Credit Mutuel Elite (Fra 18) - Nicolas Troussel / 225 Pts - Spi Bleu
2- Toulon Provence Mediterranee –Coych (Fra 07) - Fabien Henry / Tugdual Becquemie / 221 Pts
3- Courrier Dunkerque 3 (Fra 08) - Daniel Souben / 216 Points
4 - Bae Systems (Oma 4) - Cédric Pouligny / 215 Pts
5-Ville De Geneve – Carrefour Prevention (Sui 19) - Jérôme Clerc / Elodie Mettraux / 201 Pts
6- Ile De France (Fra 1) - Vincent Aillaud / 188 Pts
7-Nantes Saint Nazaire - E.Leclerc (Fra 6) - Corentin Douguet / 187 Pts
8- Bred / La Normandie (Fra 15), Skippé Par Arthur Herreman / Baptiste Choquenet / 177 Pts
9-Region De Bruxelles - Capitale / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Bel 2) - Bertrand Pacé / 173 Pts
10- Côtes D'armor Bretagne (Fra 14) - Josselin Le Moine / 169 Pts
11- Tu Delft (Ned 1) - Pieter Van Notten / 166 Pts
12-Iskareen (Ger 11) - Christiane Dittmers / Sönke Bruhns / 150 Pts
13-Martinique - Mediabat (Fra 2) - Mathieu Mourès / 136 Pts
14-Fascinating Seas International (Rus 023) - Léonid Klepikov / 131 Pts
15-Bienne Voile - Srs (Sui 22) - Lorenz Mueller / François Kunz / 93 Pts

Provisional amateur ranking after nine races:

1 - Ville De Genève - Carrefour Prévention, Elodie Jane Mettraux / Jérôme Clerc, 201 Pts- Spi Rose
2 - Bred / La Normandie, Arthur Herreman / Baptiste Choquenet, 177 Pts
3 - Region De Bruxelles - Capitale / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Bel 2) - Bertrand Pacé / 173 Pts

Provisional technical ranking after seven races:

1 - Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite, Nicolas Troussel, 155 Pts
2 - Courrier Dunkerque 3 (Fra 08) - Daniel Souben / 152 Pointsspi Rouge
3 - Bae Systems (Oma 4) - Cédric Pouligny / 152 Pts

Previonnal offshore ranking after two races:

1 - Toulon Provence Méditerranée - Coych, Fabien Henry, 71 Pts Spi Vert
2- Bretagne - Credit Mutuel Elite (Fra 18) - Nicolas Troussel / 70 Pts
3 - Ile De France (Fra 1) - Vincent Aillaud / 176 Pts, 70 Event website