Tour de France a la Voile - No easy task for Cammas and crew + Video

by ASO Sailing News on 6 Jul 2013 In the Tour de France a la Voile, Groupama 34 won both in-port races today in Dieppe but Courrier Dunkerque 3 and Sodebo took two great starts and it was no easy task for Cammas’ men to claim the victory back. Leading the amateur ranking, the German team Iskareen have got the pink spinnaker back.

'We took a good start in the first race and we were rather fast but Groupama is very successful at the moment,' commented Daniel Souben. Courrier Dunkerque 3 skipper took second and fourth today.

A similar thing happened with Sodebo (seventh and second) according to the bowman Martin Krite, a former crewmember of Cammas in the Volvo Ocean Race. 'We took a great start in the second race but sadly we had to let Franck Cammas pass us. It’s very painful for me. After sailing around the world with him in the Volvo, my only objective is to win against him!' (laughs)

Groupama’s success is becoming slightly overwhelming. Fabien Henry is sailing with Cammas this time around but won the Tour last year with TPM Coych. 'The others are competitive. We cannot let anything slip through, we are really givint it all. We are hiking hard and our tactician Tanguy Cariou called the tactics well on both legs.'

Shifty winds made things complicated for Cammas’ competitors today - 7 to 10 knots from the NW. After sailing upwind for 25 hours from Breskens to Dieppe, the sailors were tired too. 'The exhaustion of yesterday’s offshore leg may have come into play while we were well rested,' adds Henry.

Groupama 34 is still leading the temporary overall ranking followed by Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite, who took fifth and sixth today. Courrier Dunkerque 3 is third overall and OmanSail is fourth while Sodebo drops to the fifth place. Iskareen’s German crewmembers are delighted with their ninth and seventh places today: they are leading the amateur ranking again.

All M34 sailed a practice race later on this afternoon, a race ranked with a factor of 0. They will sail in-port races tomorrow morning in Dieppe (racing start at 10.30am) before leaving to Deauville in the evening (racing start at 9pm).

Fabien Henry, Groupama 34 helmsman and mainsail trimmer: ‘We are bot bored of winning! The others are competitive but the exhaustion of yesterday’s offshore leg may have come into play while we were well rested. We cannot afford to lose anything on the offshore legs and in-port races, especially with such an uncertain weather.’’

Daniel Souben, Courrier Dunkerque 3 skipper: ‘We are not unhappy about our day even though we messed the second one up. We could have done better. Groupama is very successful at the moment. We need to work more and be patient.’’

Martin Krite, Sodebo bowman: 'We took a great start on the second leg but sadly we had to let Franck Cammas pass us. It’s very painful for me… After sailing around the world with him in the Volvo, my only objective is to win against him!'

Simon Kosog, Iskareen: 'I’m loving having the pink spinnaker! We did well in the second race – good start, good upwind on the right of the racecourse, rounding the top mark in the middle of the fleet, good downwind legs too… We took seventh. Normandie is ur direct competitor in the amateur ranking. We were equals in terms of points this morning but behind them in the ranking. I think that we now have a few more points… It’s very, very nice!'



Overall ranking after 11 races before jury:

1 Groupama 34, Cammas Franck 397 Pts - Blue Spinnaker
2 Bretagne Credit Mutuel Elite, Troussel Nicolas 357 Pts
3 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Souben Daniel 354 Pts
4 Team Omansail, Pouligny Cédric 354 Pts
5 Sodebo, Coville Thomas 353 Pts
6 Ville De Geneve - Carrefour Addictions, Mettraux Elodie-Jane Et Groux Nicolas 319 Pts
7 Toulon Provence Mediterranee - Coych, Bernaz Jean-Baptiste 305 Pts
8 Nantes - Saint Nazaire - E.Leclerc, Douguet Corentin 300 Pts
9 Iskareen, Dittmers Christiane Et Bruhns Sönke 267 Pts
10 Normandie, Choquenet Baptiste 261 Pts
11 Martinique - Be.Brussels, Wolters Delphine Et Moures Matthieu 250 Pts
12 Bienne - Voile – Srs, Peter Luzius Et Kunz François 239 Pts

Offshore ranking after two races before jury:

1 Groupama 34, Cammas Franck 175 Pts
2 Bretagne Credit Mutuel Elite, Troussel Nicolas 165 Pts - Green Spinnaker
3 Team Omansail, Pouligny Cédric 160 Pts (...)

Technical Ranking after nine races before jury:

1 Groupama 34, Cammas Franck 222 Pts
2 Courrier Dunkerque 3, Souben Daniel 204 Pts - Spi Rouge
3 Team Omansail, Pouligny Cédric 194 Pts (...)

Amator ranking after nine races before jury:

1 Iskareen, Dittmers Christiane Et Bruhns Sönke 267 Pts - Spi Rose
2 Normandie, Choquenet Baptiste 261 Pts
3 Martinique - Be.Brussels, Wolters Delphine Et Moures Matthieu 250 Pts
4 Bienne - Voile – Srs, Peter Luzius Et Kunz François 239 Tour Voile website